Day 13 - Edinburgh in the Sun

I must say that this is not my favorite hostel.  It is not because we are on the second floor.  It is not because there is no breakfast (although that does not endear me to it).  It is because nothing works.  There is no hot water in the faucets, although fortunately the shower has its own water heater.  The microwave supplied does not work.  The toaster supplied does not stay down, so you must manually toast your bread.  If I were staying even a week, I would probably replace the toaster.  About half of the windows don't close, especially the ones facing the main street.  The bar across the street is famously popular and parties go on until the wee hours of the morning. Thank goodness for my white noise generator.
On the other hand, there is as much tea and bad coffee as I can drink and the sun is shining.  The plan was to make our way to the James Clerk Maxwell house, but it is two miles away in  an unfamiliar city and since it is Saturday, chances are nothing will be open.  So, I punt and suggest everyone try the "free" walking tour.  The only catch is that groups of 10 or more are supposed to call 24 hours in advance.  I split us into two 6 person groups, but not everyone gets the message.  Sigh.  I am not flustered and everything goes as planned.  Given that I do not know Edinburgh and do not know the stories, the tour was very helpful.
What I learned about Scotland and Edinburgh in 3 hours that I remember the next day:

• The peoples of Scotland come from four groups - the Britons, the Danes, the Picts and the Scots who came from Ireland.
• The last Scottish king rode his horse over a cliff in a storm.
• The Scots are fiercely Protestant - none of this Church of England for them.
• The three things that have kept Scotland independent of England for so long are that they have their own Church, their own Banks, and their own Schools.  They recently got their own Parliament (which deals mostly with domestic issues) and are peacefully discussing independence.  I suspect the advantage of this for England is that, politically, the Scots can be quite a bit "left of center."
• Edinburgh has some great crime stories including the one of two men who discover that murder can be profitable if you smother your victims and sell them to the medical school, and the one of Maggie who was hung for concealing a pregnancy, but survived and, because of double jeprody laws, had to be let free rather than being hung again.  
• Edinburgh is very proud of three of its writers, Burns (poet), Scott (Waverly novel), and Stevensen (Treasure Island).  The story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was purportedly inspired by a man who was as locksmith by day and a thief by night.  Thevery is easier when you make yourself an extra key and are put in charge of the commission who is looking for you.
• Another popular story is that of Greyfriers' Bobby who, it turns out, is a loyal dog and not a policeman as I had assumed.
• Colin MacLaurin (Mathematician) is burried in the same graveyard as Bobby's owner.  Bobby is buried just outside.  J. K. Rowling is said to have taken the names of many of her characters from the grave stones including the last name of McGonnegal and Tom Riddle.  The Hogwarts is supposed to be a combination of the school situated just outside the graveyard and the Edinburgh Castle on the hill.
• Ms. Rowling wrote most of her novels in a cafe near Greyfriers because the coffee was cheaper than heating her flat.
• New Town is only about 250 years old.
• The story about the Scottish coronation stone (the Stone of Destiny) and how it returned to Scotland is much funnier when told by a twenty year old Scot.  Having spent the last 25 years living around college students, I can completely understand why some of them would decide on a whim to go steal it back from Westminster Abbey and then, when the border was closed, bury it in a field.

The end of the tour brings us to about 2 PM.  Jeri and I had a small lunch of grilled cheese sandwich and scone, and then she stayed with the first year students while I strode off to do a bit of geocaching.  After one DNF and two finds, I hurried back to take in the last 45 minutes of the Museum of Scotland.  The building is actually about three buildings and more confusing than the Science Hall back at Wartburg, but I read about some great scientists.  I also learned about an old Scottish game which was taken to Canada with the immigrants and turned into Ice Hockey.

Dinner was just down the street from the hostel at an Italian restaurant where I had to finish things off with a Cannoli.

 I walked back to the store to get more breakfast food before it closed, came back to the hostel and sat in the reception to post older reflections using their wifi.