Here I am, Scotty Scottish, in the grand city of Auld Reekie herself. I've bravely travelled, all by myself, by train from Westhill to Edinburgh. Will you join me Freya, on my selfie tour of the capital city? I meet some braw folk on the way...
The first thing I hear when I step on to the streets of the Old Town is a strange sound, a skirl like no other. I'm very shy and I got scared, fearing what the 'din' was. Another monster? It looks like a bear! Oh my! But on closer inspection I saw it was a piper, heuchin' and teuchin' and making quite a bonnie sound.
There's tartan everywhere! Does everyone here wear a kilt? This one matches my hat, maybe I'll need to buy one. But I can't spend my day shopping, I'm off to see the castle at the top of the Royal Mile...
And here it is, standing on top of an old volcano for 1,200 years. Kings and Queens of Scotland sat on their thrones here for many a long time. I got quite a fright, again, when I heard a loud bang. It was the one o' clock gun, a little cannon that makes a big boom, telling people what the time is. Do Edinburghers not have watches? Let's take a walk down the Royal Mile...
Woah!!! It's William Wallace, keeping guard outside the castle. He looks a bit cold with that blue face. He seemed like a fierce fella but he was really quite nice. He told me that there were other beasties in town though. I'd better watch out.
No monsters here in the old close. I heard someone say that people used to shout 'Gardyloo' in the closes. That was the only way of knowing that someone was throwing their toilet bucket out of the window and it slurped and slopped all the way down to the Nor Loch at the bottom of the close. Ewwww!
The houses here are really old. Can you believe this house was built in 1620? That's really old. How many people have looked out of those windows?
Some of the houses were even built on top of other houses. These ones were really pretty colours.
Edinburgh is full of festivals, all year round. The Fringe Festival is in August, with 49,497 shows this year. How do you stay awake to see them all? Some of them are on the street, like this guy. He was going to sleep on a bed of nails. I ran away...
...I didn't get far though. These stairs were way too steep to climb. I'm only little.
The thought of climbing all the way up to the top made me very tired. So, I had a little snooze with miss piggy.
I like to hear a story before I go to sleep but piggy was more interested in snoring. So I thought about my favourite book, Harry Potter. It was written here in Edinburgh. But I can't sleep all day, let's go to the National Museum.
Look at how tall the museum is. It's got 8,000 things to see. From old things to new things and even...
...Dolly the sheep! Baaaaaaa. There's tonnes to do, let's have a look...
...Monsters!!! Tyrannosaurus Rex. Eeek...
...another scary monster. I shouldn't have thought about Harry Potter! I had to run upstairs to get away. And then, out of the corner of my eye I saw someone familiar...
...Great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great Grandad. And not far away I bumped into my distant cousin...
...Hamish Mctavish of Loch Tavishness. How happy I was to see him. We spoke about back home, it made me quite sad. But he saw his dinner and off he went to catch it. That made me quite hungry, but there's no seaweed here. That's my favourite meal.
I could smell something cooking over the fire of this kitchen so I had a 'keek' in the window. They were making sheep's head broth and onions, yeuch!! I'll need to find the sea soon to get some nice, fresh seaweed.
But when I turned round...a very strange thing happened. All of a sudden there was a crash, bang, wallop. A space rocket had landed in the museum. The door opened. I looked inside but there was nobody there so, I thought...what if I just...
...ground control to Major Scotty. Then bang, the door shut behind me and with a great whoosh. Up, up, up and away we went until all I saw were stars...
Maybe I'll get a better view of Edinburgh from up here. Can you imagine how tiny it would look from zillions and zillions of miles away? But this was making me quesy...it was time to get back down to dry land...prepare for landing...Edinburgh in sight...
...and down we go. Doors to manual and out I step. It's like I'd never been away.
So, on with the tour...let's stop and think back. We've been to the castle, met William Wallace, seen some monsters and ran away from them (how brave of me) and there's still the 'skirl' of the bagpipes sailing around the city on the wind. But what's that barking?
It's Greyfriar's Bobby! This little chap, with his shiny nose, sat for 14 years guarding the grave of his master. People would come and feed him. He's one of the most loved things of Edinburgh. Look at his tail wagging. Who's a happy boy then?
He told me I should go down the Royal Mile to see the palace. So, that's what I did. But who did I meet on the way?
Only cousin Brian...I still don't know why he was sitting in an old army jeep. He said that it wasn't far to go to reach the palace but with my little legs I wasn't so sure. Yet, off I trotted.
It took me 11 minutes and 43 seconds exactly to walk to Holyrood Palace. Not that far at all. The palace is where the Queen stays when she's in town. I would have liked to have had a wee snooze in her bed but the sentry guard said 'No, you can't sleep in the Queen's bed.' What a grump! I heard a rustling noise behind me...
It was Mary Queen of Scots. What a funny hat she wore. I thought she'd wear a crown on her head. She said, 'Qui etes-vous?' 'Pardon?' I asked. She spoke in French but then realising I didn't understand she said, 'Fa is this loon fae the north?' 'I'm Scotty Scottish, on a selfie tour of Edinburgh. Taking pictures for my friend Freya,' I proudly replied. 'You'll have had your tea?' she asked. 'Pardon me ma'am but I'd prefer some tasty seaweed. Have you any to eat?' I asked. 'I am fair oot o' seaweed, maybe ye should try tae gang tae Portobello, Edinburgh's bonny seaside resort. Not as nice as the South of France but sandy all the same,' she said with a smile. I decided to try to find Portobello later, the thought of juicy seaweed making my mouth drool. 'Ach weel, fit a scunner,' she added, 'I must awa tae Parliament, haste ye back.' And with that, she was off.
This is the Parliament where Mary scuttled into. That water looked really nice for a swim but I didn't have my dookers with me.
The Scottish Parliament was opened in 2004 and has some really funny windows. They say they are meant to look like the cranes they used to build ships. I thought it would be another nice place to hide and have a nap. Must remember that for later too. But the thought of the beach is too good a thought. The sea, home.
'You're looking for the sea?' said a wee voice. Can you imagine my surprise when stood in front of me was a herd of nessies, on a bus tour from Loch Hoochintoochin!?! Here they are...
Wee nessie, that's him down at the bottom, piped up,'Whaur ye gaun? I ken some gweed places to swim. There's Leith or Portobello.' I said, 'Want to show me?' 'Aye,' says he, 'let's go but first I want to see the Old Town and the New Town.' I'd just been to the Old Town but to keep him happy, off we went.
Here we are at St Giles Cathedral. It's really old too. Nearly as old as the castle. 'Can we go to the sea now please?' I asked him. 'Aye let's go, it's nae far,' he replied. 'How far?' 'Jist doon the hill.' So off we set.
We went down the hill and through the New Town, with its fine Georgian houses...
...up Calton Hill, where we got a grand view of the town...
...and stopped to look at the National Monument...
...we walked for miles and passed a road that had a very familiar name. Something made me think of home. I started to get very tired by this point and asked 'Hey nessie, is there no faster way to get to Leith?' 'Hmmm,' he answered, 'I'm maybe a bit lost. Let's get a bus!' Great idea...
The bus rattled and jiggled all over the place. I wasn't so sure that this old thing would get us there fast enough. I was right. Even the runners getting ready for the Edinburgh Marathon the next day were faster than the bus...
This was not the speediest way to travel, so we got off and stopped to think. 'Are you looking for a super quick way to travel?' said a voice.
It was a Panda! 'I've just come out from the zoo to do some shopping,' he said, 'I saw you get off the bus. It's a real old bone shaker that bus. You need to take the tram!!' 'Does it go to Leith?' I asked him. 'Not yet but if you close your eyes and make a wish it will!' We shut our eyes, really tight, made a wish and there it was...a tram!
Panda was right. Ding ding...let's get on.
The driver even let us get on for free. I think he knew we were hungry and wanted to get to the sea as fast as we could. Zoom, zoom, zoom. Down to the sea we went, passing lots of people and another street that made me think of home...
And there, in the wink of an eye was...the sparkling, frothy sea. We couldn't wait to dive in but what we saw first was a sight to see.
It's the Queen's yacht Britannia. I wondered if she used it to sail up to Holyrood Palace?! We couldn't stop for long, there was the sea, right there. We got ready to dive in. But wait...Mary Queen of Scots said to go to Portobello for seaweed...and I am very fussy for the right kind of food. 'Quick,' said nessie 'Let's run to Porty.'
And that we did. Sandy beaches, the sea breeze in our hair! It was the beach of our dreams!! 'I'll race you in,' screamed nessie. 'But what about our seaweed?' I shouted. 'I've no time to eat, I've got to swim. I'll see you in Aberdeen!!' And with that, my friend jumped in. 'Bye nessie, safe travels!' Maybe you'll see him in Aberdeen before me?
I was on my own again. I stopped for a minute to think about all I'd seen. The castle, the museum, a man with a blue face, a panda, a tram, a palace, a queen, a wee dog and more. I thought about how much I'd have to tell you! 'You look hungry,' said another wee voice.
Another monster? Yikes! 'Don't be afraid, I'm only little and you look hungry,' he said, sounding a bit worried. 'I'm not going to eat you,' I laughed, 'No, I'm looking for the juiciest, tastiest, most delicious seaweed in all the world. I'm starving!' He look around and pointing to the distance said 'Ask her...'
Who was this funny creature? 'I'm Clarissa Crab. You look like a nice young sir,' she clattered and clicked.'Thank you, I'm also a very hungry sir,' I replied. 'Then look to your left, your banquet awaits,' she answered, unfolding her claw to show me where to go.
And there, just off to the side, was the bestest, most scrumptious, most seaweedy of seaweeds I had ever seen. You don't mind if I stop here for a while Freya? Only, there's so much seaweed to eat that I might burst before I try it all?
I've heard there are some other great places to sample some strange seaweeds. Maybe I'll become a world expert!? But for now, I hope you've enjoyed my selfie tour of Edinburgh. I've had such a good time here. I hope you are well and if you see nessie, say hello from me and look after him for me. He tends to get a bit lost so you might need to keep him by your side.
For now, I'm off to hunt for more delicious meals. See you Freya, I miss you. Watch out for another selfie tour sometime...you never know where I might pop up next?!
Lots of love
Scotty Scottish
xxx
