Last night, we went up to see the castle and such, so getting there wasn't a problem. Between the walk up all the stairs and the long ticket line, we were starting the introductory tour at noon.
The castle was comprised of quite a few buildings, including one that housed the crown jewels (hidden for 111 years). There was also St. Margaret's Chapel, the National War Memorial, the National War Museum, the Great Hall, and miscellaneous chambers and dungeons and towers. We poked in them all, which made for a good way to work up an appetite.
We walked back down the hill (see how hills are going to be a theme today) and got some lunch. Besides my regular tuna melt, and Alex's British steak pie, we also got a haggis roll, and discussed the finer points of the differences between scrapple (a Pennsylvania sausage) and haggis. Alex still thinks it doesn't count, but I didn't like it enough to have it served on a plate in front of me.
We walked back up the hill to the Royal Mile, and continued down. I was getting a bit concerned that we didn't have much time until attractions closed, but we managed to squeeze in to St. Giles Cathedral and The Writers' Museum (where we looked at stuff about Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott, and the philosopher David Humes). No wonder Edinburgh is called the Literary City.
We finished up the Royal Mile at Holyroodhouse Palace, peeking in for a quick picture before the gates closed. Rick Steves recommended a hike up to Arthur's Seat, a huge hill/mountain in the park next door, so we started up a path.
We got up the (first) huge hill after half an hour, then started discussing the second and huger hill behind us. We weren't so confident that we climbed Arthur's Seat. Maybe it was just a foothill (or foot rest) instead?
With over two hours until our tour of a close, we decided to hike down our hill and up the even bigger one. We were high on adventure and not being in a city.
So we hiked more. We thought there was a gentler sloped hike up the north side of the Seat, so we headed up the trail. However, we started following the trails that headed more and more uphill. Pretty soon, we were at a 45 degree tilt, using our hands a bit to help us up the grassy and rocky mountain.
It got its most exciting when we were nearly rock climbing between two outcroppings of rock. A few minutes later, we reached the summit!
This was definitely Arthur's Seat. There was a plaque with the name on it.
We spent a bit of time cooling down and picture-taking. Then we headed on a better path downhill (though there was a bit of sliding down some gravel still).
We booked it back to our tour of Mary King's Close (which was not a small feat, considered with had just climbed a few mountains and it was yet another hill to get back up the Royal Mile).
Mary King was a widow and a seamstress back in the 1600s, and the alley ("close") was named for her. The alleys got paved over a while later, so we got to go underground and learn about her and her neighbors through the centuries. Fascinating, not terribly spooky, and we made it out for a glimpse of sunset and to wander and find something for our poor stomaches.
We avoided the hill on the way back to the guesthouse, but I doubt we've learned for good.
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