I stopped at the tastiest coffee shop on the planet for Eggs Benedict & inhaled a divine cuppa coffee. Seriously, I am going to eat my way through their menu while I’m here. Pay the chef whatever he wants; he’s worth every penny and then some!
It’s November 11, 2015 and it’s Remembrance Day (Veteran’s Day for the US). I headed up to Prince’s Street to the Scott Monument and there were poppy crosses everywhere. To see so many crosses planted in the ground, in perfect rows left me choked up. There was an elderly gentleman wearing his medals, standing at one of the memorials; probably for people he knew and lost. Of course, there was a bagpiper playing Amazing Grace, which had me sobbing my eyes out watching the old man. God, it’s heart-wrenching.
Once I pulled myself back together, I walked down behind the Memorial and saw an old guy slipping down the muddy embankment into the Gardens. I went to help him back up but he was quite stubborn. He was busy feeding the squirrels so had one hand clutching a bag of peanuts.
We chatted for a while. What a riot! He gave me some peanuts to feed to the squirrels, giving instructions on how to hold it out to them. Well the one damn squirrel bit my finger. ‘Och aye, that one’s a wee devil. The other one is better, he always waits for 2 nuts. If it’s the one that waits, ye’ll be fine. If it’s the other one, he’ll be having ye, lass. Ye cannae tell by looking at them, wee fluffy bastards.’ Well thanks, Scottie. I got the renegade squirrel.
I told him I was heading up to Culloden and Loch Ness on Friday. I told him how much I love the lakes in Scotland, at which point I was informed, ‘There’s only 1 lake in Scotland, lassie.’ Uh……. are you sure? Because there look to be a shit ton of them from the map I’m looking at!
‘Aye, lochs. Dinnae confuse them for lakes, wee lassie. There’s but 1 lake, named for an Englishman, Lake Menteith. Curses to the English, they’ll no have a loch here!’ This guy’s militant irritation with the English had me rolled up laughing, squirrel bite or not.
I left him after a while and took a stroll up to Calton Hill. What a view! I sat on one of the benches for the longest time, listening to the bagpipes from the city below. I met a guy from Alabama and we sat chatting for a while. He’s decided he’s done with Alabama and is in Scotland looking for a house up the coast somewhere. Smart man!
It started getting a tad chilly so I headed back down Prince’s Street, up the Mound, over the Royal Mile and down to the Grassmarket. I pulled into The Last Drop Inn for a pint of hobgoblin and a plate of haggis, neeps and tatties. First time trying haggis and it was delicious! Very unexpected.
Tomorrow I’m off to pick up the rental car and head off to Rosslyn Chapel. It’s going to be epic!
