This blog post is a sequel to the series ‘The Recap of the Day – Edinburgh 2017’.
How my first day – Friday – has been, you can read about it here –> Edinburgh Travel.
How my second day – Saturday – has been, you can read about it here -> Edinburgh Saturday
How my third day – Sunday – has been, you can read about it here -> Edinburgh Sunday
How my fourth day – Monday – has been, you can read about it here -> Edinburgh Monday

The morning

On Tuesday morning I woke up early to write for my blog and have a little morning walk. The planning of today: visiting The Royal Yacht Britannia. The ship I have seen in the Netflix series ‘The Crown’. The ship is famous for serving the British Royal Family for decades and has sailed thousands of miles around the world. The morning was not that interesting, just my morning habits before I leave the house.

The afternoon

The afternoon started with the ‘Majestic Bus Tour’ that has a stop at the Ocean Terminal where The Royal Yacht Britannia is docked. The bus tour gave me a nice view of the neighbourhoods next to the harbour. And after I left the bus, I ate my lunch on a bench in front of the Ocean Terminal. I had brought another meal deal with me, a tuna sandwich, a bottle of water and a little bag of apple slices. After lunch I entered the Ocean Terminal which is also a shopping mall. Lovely decorated in a dinosaur theme for kids and it gives some color to the big white venue. On the right part of the site at the second floor, you could enter The Royal Yacht Britannia area. An area that included a big souvenir shop – with really nice stuff for – such as – little presents or stuff for your household. It also included, after entering the entrance by passing a guard and the ticket area, a nice exhibition about the history of the yacht, the royal family and all that they have experienced between 1953 and 1997. Yes, the yacht has served for 44 years! That’s a long time for a royal ship. The exhibition gave you the general knowledge about its history and by entering the ship and visiting all three floors, you had a clear view of how the family and crew lived days, weeks or months on the ship. Incredible. More specifications of course in a special blog post about this royal yacht!

Halfway the afternoon I stepped into the Majestic Tour again for another part of a city tour and I stepped off at the stop at The Palace of Holyroodhouse. This is the palace H.M.S. The Queen Elizabeth II always visits in the first week of July for the famous Garden Party. This is a special occasion where ~600 important Scots are invited to this festivity. I walked through the palace, the adjacent abbey of which sadly only the ruins are left. But beautiful ruins! You can even see it from different directions. From left gate in front of the palace, from Holyrood Park which is next to and behind The Palace of Holyroodhouse, and of course from the royal gardens itself. A wonderful and vision with a little bit of spirit from history attached to the venue. There was also a little special photographic exhibition of the royal family and one of the grand children of H.M.S. The Queen Elizabeth II that married in 2011. Princes Zara Anne Elizabeth Tindall (Philips) married Mike Tindall back in 2011 and they are married here in Edinburgh at Canongate Kirk. At the end of the exhibition it was time for an afternoon cup of tea. The typical English cup of tea. I went to the tea room of The Palace of Holyroodhouse and had a ‘Twinings English Breakfast Tea‘ together with a piece of fruitcake – yes that one they make for the Christmas Cake as well – and a piece of The Palace of Holyroodhouse shortbread. Not that healthy but very local and delicious! At the tea room they sell only local products from all over Scotland.

 The evening

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The afternoon came to an end and the tea room was nearly closing. I left the venue and walked on the Royal Mile. Yesterday I visited Edinburgh Castle, located at the other end of the Royal Mile. So today I started at the lowest point of it. Climbing uphill, enjoying the sight of shops and pubs and I get bothered by the little drops of rain. Which quickly turned into a rain shower that lasted for an hour or so. Along my way I passed the Scottish Veterans Residences – they support already for 107 years! Which I highly respect. I was walking wandering around in the Canongate area, walked through a little alley, passed a parking lot and stumbled upon the mural of the backyard of Canongate Kirk. Yes I was at first looking for a shortcut walk to Calton Hill – yes a hill, high, photographic view, just a few paths, have to know how to get there – and I didn’t know nor found a path from my route to the top of Calton Hill. So I turned sort of around and walked back to Canongate. I visited the graveyard at Canongate Kirk and what an impressive view those huge gravestones have. Nearly every important family have/had it’s own ‘tomb’ space on the graveyard.

After the visit to the graveyard I went back to South Bridge where I had been before by bus – Google Map it I would advice because it is an well known bus stop and centrally located. At the corner of the street they have a royal blue cute looking bookshop named ‘Blackwell’s‘. From the inside it is a great bookshop and even see how big it really is when you walk around at the first floor. They have every imaginable category of books and most of them related to study subject as well. And they have, when you step inside and walk to the left area, a complete corner filled with Scottish history, literature, travel, authors, fiction, language, cooking and so on. And yes they sell books for learning the Gaelic language as well. I was amazed by the numerous books they sell. I just discovered – after Google’in – that I maybe can buy ‘The Folk Tales of Scotland: The Well at the World’s End and Other Stories‘ (Hardback) and ship it to The Netherlands – flight kg’s limited and stuff – because the other famous bookshop named ‘Waterstones’ does not sell it online nor ship it. Wow, is it such a limited copy book? I photographed several books I would love to buy and read. But first things first. I have only bought three little study books from publisher O’Reilly about software engineering. My three little kind of dictionaries in those particular languages.

The evening had started and I had nothing special for dinner except the haggis kind of sausage roll. I headed back home, changed my clothes into a bit more casual classy formal and headed back to South Bridge. Because nearby is a famous – you don’t say by looking at the entrance – hidden Jazz bar. Thé Jazz Bar of Edinburgh with free open jam sessions on Tuesday Night. It was lovely! And it is a bar you should visit for at least a drink and listening to live music.

Goodnight folks! Oidhche, mhath.

Greetings by Sophie