SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20
ROYAL BOTANICAL GARDENS
In autumn, it’s no surprise there are as many leaves on the ground as on the trees at The Royal Botanic Garden. Still the grass remains green over the rolling hills that cover many parts of the garden’s 70 acres and there are many coniferous trees. The grounds, divided into various gardens, have been here for 350 years. We particularly liked seeing the Queen’s vegetable garden and botanic cottage, the panoramic view of Edinburgh from benches near the cafe, the Chinese garden and the winding paths of the woodland gardens.
After leaving the Gardens, we ventured down Dundas Street to Henderson Row, ducking in and out of the rain in the lovely neighborhoods of Stockbridge and Comely. We ate at an Italian restaurant, in a sort of little Italy. On our way to New Town, we passed specialty shops with breads and cheeses, cafes and quaint and stylish boutiques.
GREYFRIARS KIRKYARD (CEMETERY)
Somehow, perhaps led by a ghost, when we reached the southern end of Old Town, we stumbled into Greyfriars Kirkyard, a cemetery that takes the Gothic ambience of this city to a new level of creepy. It inspired parts of Harry Potter’s story and is supposed to be the most haunted cemetery in Europe (who makes that call??). The graves, which date back to the 16th C, have stones that are nailed into walls, rise from the knobby earth, sink into the moist, mossy ground, and adorn stone vaults. Partitioned by stone into separate areas, the cemetery rests on a hillside. Most gravestones are cracked and weather-worn, the corners rounded or broken.
Emerging from the cemetery’s gloom, we headed to the University, where we spent time looking in vintage clothing stores and dreaming of what it would be like for Chloe to go to school here.
We covered another 18 kilometres of Edinburgh. Yet again…
