This bed is tooo comfy. We slept till 11:15. After taking showers and getting ready we walked toward the Holyrood Palace, where the “Queen herself” stays when she visits. On the way we went to Pizza Express (11 pounds). We had a free drink coupon from one of the maps so we figured why not, and it was the only thing around the Palace. We both order a margarita pizza. It is probably a little bit bigger than a Pizza Hut personal pan pizza. It was so delicious and I liked how it didn’t have a lot of cheese. The crust was thinner than American pizza. It was tasty. I am still confused about the whole paying/tip situation. It always takes soo long to get the check. We are always just sitting there for at least 10 minutes. Everytime it is truly a dining experience. And what is the tipping situation? Tip, no tip, 10%, 20%? Oh well.
We went to the Parliament, which is right across from the palace. It is basically a big room filled with chairs. It is pretty interesting though. I am glad it was free.
After, we walked across the street to the palace (19 pounds). Everything was so old. I liked how you got speaking thingys that tell you about all of the rooms. It definitely made it better. All of the rooms were so ornate. Most of the walls were covered with tapestry paintings. They were humongous. One of the beds would have cost 22,000 pounds today!! Now that is luxurious sleeping.
By that time it was already 3 and we went back to Budget Backpackers. Then we walked to Eteaket, an afternoon tea place, get it? (Pari didn’t-P thought it was gaelic for crumpets). Before we made it there, we had to stop for authentic Scottish wool scarves. Pari chose a beautiful gray and white tartan, which looks very pretty. I chose a more mundane navy blue and green tartan, definitely not as pretty as Pari’s choice. Also Pari saw a wonderful puzzle which has kitties on it dressed in renaissance gowns. How exciting! We split the afternoon tea for one which came with tea sandwiches (mozzarella, pesto, and sun-blushed tomatoes), two scones (not hard and dry like the ones in the US – we are talking to you D) with jam and curdled cream (I know it sounds gross but it was good), and some little desserts. I don’t really like tea so Pari pretty much drank the whole pot of Rock the Casbah, which is a mint infused brew of delicious proportions. (9 pounds)
On our way back to the hostel we booked our tickets for The Real Mary Kings Close tour at 7:40. We decided to go back to the hostel before the tour. It wasn’t really scary but it was interesting. Basically all of these people lived around the closes (narrow streets leading to a body of water, I can’t remember which one). The building was up to 12 stories high. We got to see what the houses were like. There was only two rooms that were actually the rooms, the others were renditions. The poor people lived closer to the streets and the people with more money lived in the higher stories. Want to know why? Everyday at 10am and 10pm the youngest member of the family would toss the bucket full of smelly stuff that the whole family used into the street. So everyone in the close would toss there doodies out at the same time on the same street. Grossss. And all of the stuff would go down into the body of water. Then the top 9 stories were demolished in order to build all of the buildings on the royal mile. The other stories made up the foundation and they became a secret underground closes. The body of water that all of the doodie went into is now the Princes gardens. Haha.
Not Mary King's close but you the idea. And pictures of Princes Gardens (shit filled water)
After the tour we walked (imagine that, more walking) to Elfalafel. We both got the falafel meal which comes with chips (fries) and a drink). It is a ton of chips and there is a little bar where you can put anything you want on the falafel. It was soo tasty. There is also a lot of different sauces you can put on it. We really liked the chili sauce on our chips and of course some HP sauce. (10 pounds). On the way back to the hostel we peeked into Greyfriar's graveyard. This is where the terrier stayed next to his owner's grave for 14 years. It is pretty famous. We didn't go to the grave but they had a memorial right when you enter.
We went back to the hostel for a little bit and then went to Bar Alba and got 2 pints. (~6 pounds). We decided to try something other than gross Guinness. We got a Kronenburg and John Smith’s. I liked the John Smith’s better and Pari liked the Kronenburg better so it worked out. It takes so long to find a bar we actually want to go in. Everyone is so loud and they are all sausage fests. I don’t eat meat. But really, what is with all of the guys in their 30’s and 40’s?
….sleeep….
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