Edinburgh for 2 days

The evening train from Manchester ushered us into Edinburgh late on a Sunday night. After being accustomed to taking the tube in London and tram in Manchester, we were faced with the daunting task of getting on the right bus to our B&B, 23 Mayfield, as it was late, cold and we were dead beat.

P found the place slightly creepy as we entered due to the creaky floorboards and dim lighting. Here's a picture of our room. Not too bad, right? I actually found it very cozy and comfortable.
Day 7 (11/5): Edinburgh castle + Princes garden

Early morning, the lovely smell of breakfast wafting into our room acted as a natural wake-up call for us. The breakfast whipped up by the owner cum chef, Ross, was excellent by the way :)

Our first stop of the day was to Edinburgh castle, perched atop an extinct volcano, Castle Rock. I don't really know what I'm standing in, though it looks suspiciously like a coffin? Edinburgh is starting to sound creepy, isn't it?
P firing the cannon to scare away the invading English troops.
View from Edinburgh castle.
The castle grounds...
After visiting the castle, we were wandering along the Royal Mile when we stumbled upon the Museum of Childhood. Intrigued, we decided to check out what kind of toys children from yester years played with. This exhibit freaked me out and I avoided that section altogether.
After lunch, we had a leisurely stroll in the Old Town and ended up in Princes Garden. My feet were swollen from all the walking and I was limping quite badly by this time. So what better way to rest those tortured feet than by taking a nap in pretty Princes Garden? Loads of people were doing the same, anyway!
Saw this interesting shop on our way home, but it was already closed. Won't it be nice if you had a problem or if you were in a dilemma, and there's a shop like that you can go to for the perfect solution?

Day 8 (12/5): Free Edinburgh walk
(not exactly free as they collect tips at the end of the walk!)

We decided to join the Edinburgh walking tour, which was not unlike the London one that we did. Our meeting point on the Royal Mile.
Edinburgh indeed had a very colourful past, and some of the stories shared by Duncan, our guide, were pretty eerie and gruesome. Unfortunately, I can't remember most of them now, so I'll quickly pen down what's left of my memory (with some help from wikipedia, of course).

According to Duncan, this monument used to be located in the middle of a marketplace in the past. People who committed crimes like stealing were punished here by having their left ear nailed to the wall of the monument for a certain period of time. The public will show their scorn and derision by spitting, throwing crap, etc at the offender. If the offender is a coward, he will tear his ear away from the nail to escape the humiliation. However, he will be marked a coward for life by the scar on his ear.
A volunteer from our group demonstrating what it was like to have his left ear nailed to the monument.
Another story which I found interesting was the Burke and Hare murders, one of Edinburgh's most sensational crime stories. When one of Hare's tenants passed on, leaving rent arrears of £4 (which was a lot of money during that time), Burke and Hare stole his corpse and sold it to the Edinburgh medical school (for use in research). In return, they were rewarded with £7. Realising that this was an easy way to make money, Burke and Hare started to prey upon old people and prostitutes by inviting them to their house, feeding them copious amounts of alcohol and suffocating them when they passed out drunk. These people were chosen as victims as they were less likely to be missed by others. Burke and Hare's plot was uncovered when one of the body sold to the medical school was recognised as the most popular prostitute of that time. They were subsequently arrested.

Victoria street...We had lunch at a fantastic restaurant, The Grain Store.
We arrived at Greyfriars Kirkyard, a cemetery. There is a cage covering the plot of land where a body has been buried. Guess the purpose of the cage?
Tombstone of John Gray, a favourite night watchmen of the cemetery.
The story goes like this...John Gray was accompanied by a terrier (known as Greyfriars Bobby) while guarding the cemetery for 2 years until his death. It is said that after John Gray's death, the terrier spent the rest of his life sitting on his master's grave...for a total of 14 years, until its own death. As only humans could be buried in the cemetery itself, since it was consecrated ground, Greyfriars Bobby was buried just inside the gate of Greyfriars Kirkyard near his master's grave. This grave is perhaps a favourite of the Scots - check out the soft toys and flowers scattered around.
A small statue of Greyfriars Bobby near the graveyard.
The Edinburgh walk with Duncan ended at Princes Garden. We were appreciative of the stories he shared and tipped him handsomely. Once again, I could not resist a shot of Edinburgh castle, which looks nicest from here.
Waverly bridge, where we waited for the bus to take us home.