EDINBURGH!! What a beautiful place! Thursday was breezy but sunny and pretty much perfect. I cleaned up the bike in the morning, returned that and the helmet I'd borrowed and headed up to the castle.

Edinburgh castle is pretty impressive, especially since its still in use as a government installation. I got a quick walking tour from a Scot, then wandered through the great halls, prison cells, barracks, towers, and museums. I saw the crown jewels of Scotland, and the Stone of Destiny. I heard a ton of stories, which I'll write along with the pictures so you'll have to wait for that.

The hostel organized a free 2.5hr walking tour which was REALLY good. The guide was cool and again, told a ton of stories that go with pictures I have. I saw 'Mary King's Close' where they sealed off all the people with the plague, cemeterys, all sorts of things, and even the bar where JK Roling wrote Harry Potter!

After that I grabbed a bite to eat at a pub called The Last Drop, right in front of the square where they held public hangings back in the day. A woman's husband left her, but of course when she was pregnant with another man's child it was considered adultery. She was sentenced to death for 'concealing a pregnancy' of all things, death by hanging. She had her last drop at the Last Drop, then was hanged. As the carriage towed her body away she sat up--the drop had only stunned her!

Obviously the crowd wanted to see another hanging (two for the price of one!) but a lawyer cried out that it was double jeopardy so she couldn't be hanged again. Whats more is that she had been pronounced legally dead, so her marriage vow of 'til death do us part' was broken, and the fact that she survived was a miracle so she married her lover and had the child. Her husband bought her the bar next to the Last Drop, and she would yell at those going to be hanged "It's OK! I survived!"

I tried Haggis, ground up lamb parts, but not in the stomach as its sometimes served. I met a group of girls from Paris there, they were trying the local cuisine as well, so we all shared some tatties and nappies, potatoes and turnips.

After that we went to Sandy Bells for some live folk music. It was good, one girl sang and she sounded really good. The pub wasn't packed or anything either, which was especially good. There was an old lady older than the hills playing the drums too, not sure if it was a family or what.

After that I went on the GHOST HUNTER tour, another great experience but I'm out of time at the internet cafe so I'll write about that later. Right now I'm in Rome, Jeff just texted me that his plane landed a while ago and he'll be here soon! Only 2 weeks left, better have all your fun now before I get back!