Noticed that there's a label in each bench that is actually a declaration of love or remembering a family member who has since passed on....approved by the park council..
A statue commemorating the victims of the First World War
The famous Ross fountain, where alot of postcards from Edinburgh are based on...tried taking an exact shot of it, though my camera wasn't able to capture all of it...haha
Liked this pic very much as it simply sums up the beauty of Edinburgh
A cottage set in the gardens, towards the end of the gardens
We then stopped for awhile at the Scottish Royal Academy and National Gallery, taking in the sights of the Castle at one end and the New Town on the other. Entered the Gallery as Ben was pretty interested in the paintings in it.
Sights of the New Town
The plaza outside the National Gallery and Royal Academy
A very interesting model of Edinburgh...note how prominent Edinburgh Castle always is?
The view we got from the plaza...Waverley Bridge and the Old Town in the distance
The Scottish Monument in the distance, with the train station occupying the bottom
We decided it was time to head up to the Royal Mile, the cultural and historical strip of Edinburgh, but of course this was not without a fair bit of legwork up the slopes, but let's get over with the stairs first!
The plaza outside the National Gallery and Royal Academy
A very interesting model of Edinburgh...note how prominent Edinburgh Castle always is?
The view we got from the plaza...Waverley Bridge and the Old Town in the distance
The Scottish Monument in the distance, with the train station occupying the bottom
We decided it was time to head up to the Royal Mile, the cultural and historical strip of Edinburgh, but of course this was not without a fair bit of legwork up the slopes, but let's get over with the stairs first!
After a bit of huffing and puffing up the slopes, finally reached St Giles Cathedral and basically the Royal Mile, which is essentially a stretch of road leading from the Edinburgh Castle all the way down to the Old Town. It's a road used by, yes...you can guess it, by the royals in the past.
St Giles Cathedral.....but before that....
Waaaaa!!!
Realised this is the "dunno how many times" we seen this happening around Europe le...keke...hats up for the statue!
Mmmm....Scottish whisky :)
Caught this advertisement outside the cathedral. Think Edinburgh is home to one of the haunted places in the world....Brrr...that's why there's all these ghost tours. Wooooooo........
Waaaaa!!!
Realised this is the "dunno how many times" we seen this happening around Europe le...keke...hats up for the statue!
Mmmm....Scottish whisky :)
Caught this advertisement outside the cathedral. Think Edinburgh is home to one of the haunted places in the world....Brrr...that's why there's all these ghost tours. Wooooooo........
Anw ghost tours aside, we decided to go for the Sandemans Free Walking tour. If you are ever in Europe, I highly recommend going for these tours. While it's "free", it's kinda expected to tip after the whole session and the guides won't fail to remind you about it! But I must say some of these guides are really good and they do know their stuff well. (Most of them are history students with interest in European history, doing this as a part-time job) Our guide for the day is this English history student whom I feel was quite engaging when explaining to us some of the history of Edinburgh....and kinda ironic too cos he's English and it's Scotland here. If you are clueless what I am saying, let's just say the Scots and Brits don't really have a history of getting along. :p
Yep...that's our English guide...he's even dressed in red...wow...English medieval colour!
Some sights along the Royal Mile
The Mercat Cross. According to our guide, in the medieval times, if you were caught for a minor crime, such as shoplifting, you would have your ear nailed to the door here and pelted with vegetables, eggs, stones...blah blah blah...and if you can't take the punishment, you would run and leave your bloody piece of ear behind...To me, this represents the symbol of harsh justice.
Carpark 23, our guide told us a story of how one of the prominent priests of the Church of Scotland used to be buried at this spot...now nothing more than a carpark number...hmm.....
Notice anything yucky here? Oh it's just a heart....
A closer look...there's actually spit and phlegm in the midst. I can't really remember the story to this, but according to our guide, something happened here so foul that the locals would spit upon this area and foolish tourists would unknowingly take photo of this spot, thinking it looks nice with the heart! Ok maybe I'm the foolish but now well-informed tourist...keke...some interesting stuff i found on the Internet for some explanations...
1) An old by-law states that it is illegal to spit anywhere apart from on the Heart of Midlothian.
2) The criminal fraternity used to spit on the door of the tolbooth as they passed by, and this tradition is maintained by some people, who spit on the Heart for good luck as they walk past.
3) Spitting is carried out partly by Hibernian F.C. fans, who are the rivals of Heart of Midlothian F.C. in Edinburgh, and so spit to demonstrate their feelings about the other football club.
4) In more recent times, chewing gum has started appearing on the Heart. Coins are thrown onto it by some people.
5) Some argue that if you spit on the Heart Of Midlothian, you will become a God.
6) Others argue that men who spit on the Heart of Midlothian will gain an extra centimetre in penis length by midnight the following day.
Site of the last public execution...the skull looks funny though...
Interesting house with steps jutting out.
A super random thing I saw.....in front of a church summore...
We were led to the entrance of the Edinburgh Castle but the Sandeman walking tour usually does not cover the interior of such attractions. Instead, it always serves as a good starting point to gather information, have a general feel of the place and listen to stories and history from the guide.
Walked through the narrow sloping district outside the castle, where we had a different view of the castle now
Some sights along the Royal Mile
The Mercat Cross. According to our guide, in the medieval times, if you were caught for a minor crime, such as shoplifting, you would have your ear nailed to the door here and pelted with vegetables, eggs, stones...blah blah blah...and if you can't take the punishment, you would run and leave your bloody piece of ear behind...To me, this represents the symbol of harsh justice.
Carpark 23, our guide told us a story of how one of the prominent priests of the Church of Scotland used to be buried at this spot...now nothing more than a carpark number...hmm.....
Notice anything yucky here? Oh it's just a heart....
A closer look...there's actually spit and phlegm in the midst. I can't really remember the story to this, but according to our guide, something happened here so foul that the locals would spit upon this area and foolish tourists would unknowingly take photo of this spot, thinking it looks nice with the heart! Ok maybe I'm the foolish but now well-informed tourist...keke...some interesting stuff i found on the Internet for some explanations...
1) An old by-law states that it is illegal to spit anywhere apart from on the Heart of Midlothian.
2) The criminal fraternity used to spit on the door of the tolbooth as they passed by, and this tradition is maintained by some people, who spit on the Heart for good luck as they walk past.
3) Spitting is carried out partly by Hibernian F.C. fans, who are the rivals of Heart of Midlothian F.C. in Edinburgh, and so spit to demonstrate their feelings about the other football club.
4) In more recent times, chewing gum has started appearing on the Heart. Coins are thrown onto it by some people.
5) Some argue that if you spit on the Heart Of Midlothian, you will become a God.
6) Others argue that men who spit on the Heart of Midlothian will gain an extra centimetre in penis length by midnight the following day.
Site of the last public execution...the skull looks funny though...
Interesting house with steps jutting out.
A super random thing I saw.....in front of a church summore...
We were led to the entrance of the Edinburgh Castle but the Sandeman walking tour usually does not cover the interior of such attractions. Instead, it always serves as a good starting point to gather information, have a general feel of the place and listen to stories and history from the guide.
Walked through the narrow sloping district outside the castle, where we had a different view of the castle now
And it was here where the funniest shit happened. When our guide was explaining the history of the castle, this Scottish old man came right up and interrupted the poor English guide. Often times, making a ruckus and kbkp-ing about the English rule and their monarchs in the past. Add to the fact that the Scottish accent ain't very audible, at least not to me, and you get one very pissed off Scot who is trying to vent his frustration on the poor guide. Chicken duck talk? Hahaha...
Ruckus aside...we continued with the tour where it's another story of murder near this place involving messed up doctors who kill and sell the bodies to the Edinburgh College of Medicine. (Burke and Hare Bodysnatchers)
The real "Hogwarts". According to the guide, JK Rowling based her idea of Hogwarts in Harry Potter on this boarding school whilst spending time in Edinburgh!
Worn-out street signs in the Old Town
The real "Hogwarts". According to the guide, JK Rowling based her idea of Hogwarts in Harry Potter on this boarding school whilst spending time in Edinburgh!
Worn-out street signs in the Old Town
The group then took a break at the Grassmarket area, and this was where it was early afternoon and we realised we haven't had lunch!! So we decided to siam the walking tour and head for lunch....the location...to be revealed later :p Oh and we did not tell the guide and did not give tips....shit...damn stingy....but honestly this was the first and only time it happened!!!! I guess a hungry stomach over-rides everything...muhahaha!
A short walk back down to the New Town and we crossed a graveyard. Here along with the view of Edinburgh Castle. Honestly, the whole place would look very very creepy at night. Heard this was one of the location of the ghost tour...
Reached back to Princes Street and the Scottish Monument
A statue with its head heavily crapped on
We finally arrived at our destination for lunch. The Waverley Bridge, with the Balmoral Hotel in the distance
The Waverley Bridge, busy as always....hmm....c'mon...bring on the food already!!
Now this is the godly reason why we skipped the tour! First time since we had a buffet in the UK and a Chinese buffet too!!! And for 5.99 pounds....absolutely worth it!!!
Holy cow!! Pay your respects to Jimmy Chung!
Shiokness!! Ate to our hearts content! They even had Singaporean mee (beehoon)...lol :p
Reached back to Princes Street and the Scottish Monument
A statue with its head heavily crapped on
We finally arrived at our destination for lunch. The Waverley Bridge, with the Balmoral Hotel in the distance
The Waverley Bridge, busy as always....hmm....c'mon...bring on the food already!!
Now this is the godly reason why we skipped the tour! First time since we had a buffet in the UK and a Chinese buffet too!!! And for 5.99 pounds....absolutely worth it!!!
Holy cow!! Pay your respects to Jimmy Chung!
Shiokness!! Ate to our hearts content! They even had Singaporean mee (beehoon)...lol :p
The meal left us super recharged. Now that we have a full stomach, left on our own without a guide, it was time to head up to Edinburgh Castle proper by ourselves!
For more pics, see http://picasaweb.google.com/eicko2000/Edinburgh2
For more pics, see http://picasaweb.google.com/eicko2000/Edinburgh2
1 comment:
Hi Derek
Glad you liked Edinburgh. Had you heard of walk talk tours? - the downloadable audio tours of Edinburgh, York, Manchester and London to play on your MP3 or iPod. Ideal for independent travellers like you.
Take a look at www.walktalktour.com and see what you think.
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