Tuesday October 13th

This morning we got up and the first thing I did was check out my ankle. It was fine, and the bruise was coming out quite quickly. Swelling was still there but it wasn’t too bad. I suggested we go into the village to get something to strap it up with for the rest of the holiday, but fortunately, Mathew had a bandage and a safety pin in this “walking box”. As a walker, he always carries a box of useful things in case of emergency, such as plasters, a whistle, spare cash, a knife, and a bandage. So this is what I used, and it worked just fine. I was going to wear crocs today but the weather forecast predicted rain so I wore my usual Saloman shoes.

Today we went to Edinburgh. At first, we saw the park and ride and parked there, but when we got to the main building, we found it quite strange because there were no dedicated buses for the park and ride – just a timetable of all the buses which stop there. The building was only open for a few hours during the day too – so this wasn’t a real park and ride system here! It turned out to be a large bus stop with a big shelter which was only open for a couple of hours in the morning and a couple of hours in the evening.

We got back into the car and left, deciding to drive into Edinburgh – as much as Mathew doesn’t like driving into town centres, this "park and ride" would more than likely only make it harder for us to get back to the car, as the buses were usual buses just passing through the non -park and ride. Still, we managed to find a car park not too far from the Castle itself.

Its been 15 years since I last visited Edinburgh Castle so I don’t remember a great deal about it. It was very good though, and we had lunch in Queen Anne’s Café, and unfortunately missed the 1 o’clock cannon. Still, we had a nice lunch, and I thought I would go for the “Individual pavlova”, thinking it would be a small, meringue nest with cream and fruit, but no. It was HUGE! It was an 8 inch long, 3 inch wide meringue, lots of cream and loads of fruit! I couldn’t believe it. And Mathew sat there with his little modest shortbread biscuit…!!! ;o/ The pavlova was very nice though…!!

I like Edinburgh Castle – this was the first time on this holiday that I actually felt I was in Scotland. I know in this holiday we’re visiting places both in Scotland and Northern England, but hearing bagpipes, the Scottish accent, and using Scottish banknotes made me feel I was actually in Scotland! Speaking of the currency, there is something which happens in England that I would like to inform people about, who visit Britain from other countries.

If you’re visiting Scotland during your trip to Britain, the coins are all the same, but the bank notes look different. Bank notes issued by the Royal Bank of Scotland and Clydesdale Bank look different to English bank notes. Now, there is no difference in the value or the currency – its all pounds sterling and its all legal tender in the entirety of the UK – Scotland, England and Wales. (I am unsure about Northern Ireland).

The stupid thing that happens here in Britain is that, if you have been to Scotland and then go to England, I would advise you to use up any Scottish bank notes before you leave Scotland. You CAN use it in northern English counties which border with Scotland, but try and use this money any further south, and you will have trouble spending it because it will be refused. This is a very, very silly thing, but it’s true. There is no feuding as such, but the further south in England you go, the less likely shops will accept Scottish bank notes, EVEN THOUGH they are legal tender and can and SHOULD be accepted. It’s because the notes are unfamiliar and not English, that most shops would be more likely to refuse a Scottish bank note – just because they’re not “Bank of England”. Its silly. Very silly, but its sadly true! This may also be a problem with Northern Irish bank notes as I THINK they are only legal tender in Northern Ireland. Still, its worth noting!!

Anyway, back to the holiday. We continued on with the Castle exhibits, and I started getting the feel of how much Scottish history means to the Scots themselves. English history is interesting, but Scottish history is very important to the Scots and it means a lot to know your own history, especially if you’re Scottish, and I imagine if you’re Welsh or Irish too. In England, I have never been taught this. I personally was never actually taught British or English history so I know very little. It’s a shame not to have had a proper history lesson at school, even if it may have bored me, it would have been nice to know something at least!!

I guess I feel jealous of those people who were able to study English history, and who do know it. But the point I’m making here is that, in England, we’re not obliged to know our country’s history. Its not unusual for an English person to not know anything about various battles, and who was reigning when. But if you’re Scottish, Irish, Welsh, even American and Canadian I have noticed – having visited these places, I feel that if you’re from any of these countries, its very important to know your country’s history and its usually shocking for some people if they meet an American who doesn’t know anything about American Colonialism. I just find learning about another country’s history is more interesting that my own!!

So, after Edinburgh Castle, my feet were very painful because of all the walking. Those Saloman shoes are good, but I could have done with my crocs! Still, we went to the Royal Museum of Scotland which, although I found it increasingly painful to walk, I enjoyed it.

I know, it might seem odd to some to hear of an Archaeologist to look at more archaeology in a Museum, but this was slightly different. There were a lot of wooden artefacts here, and also lots of Roman things I had never seen before, like plate armour and tents! Lots of “celtic” patterns in the metal work too, and the jewellery and beads gave me more ideas for my jewellery making! The most interesting display was in the foyer – these metal robotic type men with display cases in their chests for ancient neckaces, on their wrists for ancient bangles. It was really quite an interesting way of displaying ancient jewellery in such a modern way. It looked really good.

All in all we had a good day in Edinburgh. We did have Craigmillar Castle on our list if we finished early, but I felt like my feet were falling off so we headed back to the car. On the way I fell over AGAIN, this time on the left foot – the same thing happened, only I didn’t trip on anything – my ankle just rolled right underneath me. But my left ankle is more used to doing this than the right, so I just pulled a bit of the muscle and that was that. Phew!

Hobbling back to the car park, we tried paying the ticket in the machine, but it was eating our money and not deducting it from the total on the digital screen. We had to call for help which didn’t improve the situation, so the guy told us to exit by car, put the ticket in the machine and they’d let us go after paying £4 of the £8 fee. But when we got to the machine at the barrier, we had to call for help again and explain everything all over again…..but we got out in the end. Half price parking! Hooray! :o)

Finally we got home to have a nice cup of tea and my left ankle was achy but fine, while the right one was still bruising up but was okay.

Phew!!