Kings, Queens, tea and scones …

Monday, March 24, 2025

A gloriously blue day today, positively balmy with a morning temp of 5C. Spring is so close we can feel it.

It’s Sarah’s birthday today, and we’re both really missing being with her. She spent the evening with Kym (who is house-sitting for us), who, as she’s always been her surrogate mum, was lovely. If I couldn’t be there, I’m glad Kym was.

We’re both feeling a tad leg-weary after all the walking of the last few days, so we walked up to Waterloo Place to catch the Hop-on Hop-off bus over to the Ocean Terminal and the Royal Yacht Britannia. (We took the Regal tour; you can find details of the route here..)

We’ve always enjoyed a Hop-on Hop-off bus situation (we still laugh about riding upstairs in the rain on our first trip to London 30 years ago and how our bottoms splashed when we sat down), so we headed straight upstairs. In any case, you get such a different view of the city. As our route ran down the Royal Mile, then over behind Princes Street towards the Port of Leith, we got to see parts of the Mile we’d missed from down below.

Aaaah Britannia… What a fantastic experience this was; if you’re ever in Edinburgh, pop it on your list. Just brilliant. And I loved the fluffy corgis everywhere.

I thought Grant might not have been as keen to see this as I was, but we both found it fascinating seeing how the royals (and their guests) lived. The photos that are scattered around the room bring it to life.

As well as the executive crew …

and the sailors.

They even kept cars on board – a Landrover and a Rolls Royce.

We had morning tea on board … as one does. I had a scone with a pot of very good tea (and we all know how fussy I am about my tea and scones), and Grant had a slice of Victoria sandwich with his tea. It really topped off our experience.

Despite last night’s Japanese, we were both still craving Asian food – Chinese takeaway in particular – and found it at what is really a food hall upstairs in Ocean Terminal. I had a beef noodle stir-fry and Grant had sesame chicken with fried rice. Craving satisfied.

We caught the bus back to Holyrood. I wanted to have a look at Palace of Holyroodhouse, but as Grant wasn’t interested, he walked home via the supermarket instead. I also wanted to check out the King’s Gallery, but it was running too late in the day to see both (in late March, we were still in winter opening hours), so I had to choose one … and went with the palace.

It’s hard to believe this is still a working palace, but this is the King’s official residence in Edinburgh and the King and Queen spend a week there each August.

The stateroom, too, is still used, but the other apartments open to the public are maintained in the style of the Stuart kings and queens. I’m fascinated with Tudor and Stuart history, so I lapped up the stories about Mary, Queen of Scots and Bonnie Prince Charlie in the self-guided tour headphone thingies.  The art and the tapestries are incredible, but sadly, no photos are allowed inside. You can, however, find more info here.

(Note to self – the audio guide mentioned how the Dukes of Hamilton are the hereditary keepers of the palace and retain private apartments there. The Duke of Hamilton also holds the role of Hereditary Bearer of the Crown of Scotland. Must look into that further. #hamiltonfamilyhistory)

I’ve also had a thing about a physic garden (remember that time I wandered through the one in Chelsea?), so after wandering through the abbey ruins and the palace gardens, I had to go next door to the physic garden for a look.

As well as teaching medical students about the medicinal qualities of plants, physic gardens were, in effect, living pharmacies. This one was established in 1670 by two founding members of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, Sir Robert Sibbald and Dr Andrew Balfour. It also provided the origins for what later became the Royal Botanic Garden over towards Leith (the Hop-on-Hop-off bus stops there too).

Finally, I sauntered home through Holyrood Park. Such a treat to amble slowly through on a sunny afternoon when we had usually been marching through as quickly as possible after dark.

Dinner tonight was in our little cottage. We lit the fire and warmed up some cock-a-leekie soup from Sainsbury’s, which we ate with roast beef, tomato and cheese sandwiches and the red wine our lovely hostess had left us. It was the perfect end to a fantastic four days in this fabulous city. Edinburgh, I love you – hills and all. If I stayed any longer, I’d have buns of steel.

Sadly, this also marks the end of our time in Scotland. I’ve come away with more questions from a family history viewpoint and a deeper love for this country.

Tomorrow, we’re off to God’s own county – Yorkshire.

The stats…

Temperature: 5-11 Positively balmy.

Miles travelled: 0. And because we caught the bus over to the port, the step count was just over 11,000. A light movement day. Our legs are grateful.

*Even though we work in kms in Australia, all signage in the UK is in miles, so that’s what I’m going with.

These posts are taken directly from my travel journal … you can find the series here.