Adventures with Gram, Week Two

February 01, 2019

Adventures with Gram, Week Two

November 30th: On Fridays all the kids get out of school at lunchtime. Gram and I picked up the girls and headed to the city centre for a tea party! We had high tea at Cafe Rouge! The girls wonder why we can't make this a Friday afternoon activity!

Gram gifted Seth and I with a date night! We went to Heads and Tails Gin Bar for an appetizer and ended up at The Basement for dinner.

The Castle was blue this evening to celebrate St. Andrews Day. In Scotland, and many countries with Scottish connections, Saint Andrew's Day is marked with a celebration of Scottish culture with traditional Scottish food, music and dance. In Scotland the day is also seen as the start of a season of Scottish winter festivals encompassing Saint Andrew's Day, Hogmanay and Burns Night.

The kids enjoyed pizza and movie night with Gram.

December 2nd: Because it's a Sunday, a Sunday roast is in order. We took Gram to The Salisbury Arms for a Sunday roast! And for some reason the only picture we have from that day is of food!!

December 3rd: A sunny morning calls for a hike. We hiked the Salisbury Crags and ended up on The Royal Mile by Holyrood Palace.

We then settled in for breakfast at Deacon Brody's Cafe.

From here, Mom and I went to the National Museum of Scotland to look for Scottish pottery. Mom is in a pottery class, and because she missed two classes, she has to do a report on Scottish pottery. Of course, while we were there we did a little more looking around. The roof top terrace was open and has wonderful views of the city.

Due to the rain, Gram didn't get to play at The Meadows until today.

December 4th: The day started with a beautiful sunrise on the walk to school. Asher took the day off with Gram because the girls got an afternoon with Gram on Friday! We went to Edinburgh Castle, to the Christmas market for a smoked salmon appetizer and then to lunch at the Southern Cross Cafe.

A little background:

Edinburgh Castle - is a historic fortress which dominates the skyline of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, from its position on the Castle Rock (an extinct volcano). There has been a royal castle on the rock since at least the reign of David I in the 12th century, and the site continued to be a royal residence until 1633. From the 15th century the castle's residential role declined, and by the 17th century it was principally used as military barracks. As one of the most important strongholds in the Kingdom of Scotland, Edinburgh Castle was involved in many historical conflicts from the Wars of Scottish Independence in the 14th century to the Jacobite rising of 1745. Research undertaken in 2014 identified 26 sieges in its 1100-year-old history, giving it a claim to having been "the most besieged place in Great Britain and one of the most attacked in the world."

The one o'clock gun is fired every day at one o'clock

St. Margaret's Chapel - Built in 1130, it was probably part of a great stone tower. It is dedicated to the saintly Queen Margaret, who lived in the castle in the late 1000s.