On Monday, we began our second day in Scotland with hopes of touring the Palace of Holyroodhouse, but the Queen was there, meaning no tours were to be conducted.  So, we walked to Edinburgh Castle and saw the prisons where (eventual) American POWs were kept during our Revolutionary War. Did you ever think about that?  The fact that colonists were taken as POWs and shipped to modern day Scotland to be imprisoned?  I hadn’t until I saw a carved flag in the wood.

We also saw where loyal dogs were buried, the Scottish crown jewels, the Stone of Scone (or “Stone of Destiny”), St. Margaret’s Chapel (built in the 12th century!), and the “one o’clock gun.”

A few hours later, we visited the National Museum of Scotland.  We didn’t have as much time there as we needed, but we marveled at the many exhibits from the natural history, textile, and archaeology sections.  The kids were into it, and so were the adults.

Then, it was time for dinner at the Elephant House, but the wait was enormous, so we opted for a picture in front of the place where Ms Rowling penned the “Harry Potters” instead; we ate at Pizza Paradise, which was fine.  Then, I bought a pipe that was made in Scotland and a Cuban cigar to enjoy with some coffee before our tour of Mary King’s Close.

The latter tour was very interesting, as it included live actors showing us how life in Edinburgh was hundreds of years ago in areas of the city that are now mainly underground (but can be toured in the sections that have been unearthed).  We saw where those afflicted with the plague had to gather and the varying living conditions for the poor vs. the affluent.  At one point, our guide was showing us an old saw maker’s shop through a window, and I looked off to the right, at the end of the “close” (or alley way).  I saw a lady in period costume, much like our guide, but she was translucent.  We looked at each other a few seconds; I glanced away; I looked back, and she was gone.  At the conclusion of our tour, I asked our guide about the hologram of the woman at the end of the hall, and she tilted her head.  “We don’t have–I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”  One of the children said they saw her, too, but no one else in our party did (though none were looking, either).

It was then time to walk back to our flat, but we took the scenic route along Holyrood Park, stopping briefly to ask a police officer which way to walk back to see Arthur’s Seat in the background.  He asked where we were from; we told him, and he said he’d just come back after living several years in Nashville, as he’d married a Vandy grad.  He likes Johnny Cash just like I like Johnny Cash.

It was 10:30 pm, but the park looked like this:

It was 3 hours past the children’s normal bedtime on a day that my fitbit showed 20,000 steps, and they’re gazing at swans in front of a pond with a castle in the background. See why we think Scotland is magical?  Because Scotland is magical.