If you want to see any city in the UK, take the double decker buses, you'll see everything! After walking what seemed like forever, they found a post office & stationary store so Maria could send Scottish Tea back to Canada. Then they stumbled upon a neat little cafe aptly named "Cafe Maria"
Then it was back on the bus to tour Edinburgh Castle, the biggest in Scotland & it houses the Scottish Crown Jewels as well as the "Stone of Destiny". The castle dates back to about the 11th century.
While touring, Colin noticed a lady wearing a Saskatchewan Roughriders jacket, come to find out she's only in Edinburgh for a few days after attending a wedding in England, no not the royal wedding.
After the tour it was down to "The Royal Mile" to have a pint at "The Royal Mile Tavern".
The Royal Mile is similar to George Street in Newfoundland, but much older, with more cobblestones and it’s a lot longer.
This day, the Royal Mile Tavern had a few young travelers who seemed to like to make out a lot. Colin ordered a Belhaven Best, creamy, smooth, light & refreshing & Maria had a Caledonia, light, creamy & drinkable... Infact so drinkable, she had it twice!
Then it was off to find the Edinburgh Curling Club aboard another double decker. Getting around in the city of Edinburgh was easy! The bus system is really good and easy to understand, just know where you're going.
They arrived to Edinburgh Curling Club surprised to see the club was open, it was located next to the ice rink. Unfortunately there was no ice in the curing club, but Ian (1) gave them a tour, then took them to the banquet room where they met Ian(2) and many others, including a lady whose daughter married a guy from Moncton, and they currently live in Dieppe!
Colin & Maria were also treated to a dram of fine whisky and a cup of coffee. International curling relations have just improved!
Maria holds 1893 curling trophy, Colin nearly drops the 1894 trophy. Apparently the club management have booked Colin & Maria in for ice time this coming October!
Ian (1) had told a story of the curling tower in Duddingston that was forgotten about for many years but is now being restored. Maria knew about it but didn’t know where to find it.. Ian (1) gave them specific instructions on how to find it. After a few farewells and a quick picnic in the park, the travelers were back on the bus headed to the other side of Edinburgh on another adventure to find the fabled curling tower. (They had met 3 Ian's at the club)
This tower was not easy to find.... It was waaay off the beaten path, in a subdivision, down a path to a ministers house, through a gate that had to be kept locked to keep the rabbits out, on the edge of Duddingston Loch and down a few paths in a garden. If you didn’t know what you were looking for, you would completely miss it!
View from other side of rock wall looking toward the tower, you can barely see it!
The curling tower is another historic curling monument from 1825, it was where the first rules of curling were developed and it is where the rocks were stored to keep them at temperature. They were stored in the basement, while the top floor of the tower was used by the “Father of Scottish Scene Painting” Rev. John Thomson.
A few pictures later it was a rush walk back to the bus stop, with a quick stop at the service station for a bathroom break, where Colin broke the toilet.. An international incident almost occurred!
There's no picture as Colin didn't want to stick around to explain things to staff
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