The Monkette2B and I are in Edinburgh, heading out for the northern highlands of Scotland tomorrow and later to the east coast and Aberdeen. To date, we've been riotously soused, and exceedingly sore. The latter because Edinburgh is a city built on numerous hills and they all go one direction: UP. We're wanderers more than museumgoers, so we've wandered about the town a fair bit, taken numerous panoramic photos, visited the Castle and Palace of Holyrood House (the first two of about 10-15 castles/palaces we'll see), climbed Calton Hill, taken a ghost tour and shopped for whisky (no "e" in whisky in the UK or Ireland, must've used their extra vowels on colour, odour, valour, etc.).
I'll give more of a report later, especially when we're back in the 'States.
But why is it called Auld Reekie? Seems the Scots cherished their freedom so much they kicked out the Romans (remember, Hadrian's Wall was built to keep the Scots from invading SOUTH, not the Romans from returning North) before the Romans could bring some of the best of Roman civilization: central plumbing. Thus, Edinburghers until the late 1600s had no indoor plumbing -- instead they'd toss their human waste from their homes yelling "Gardey loo!" as a warning (from gardez l'eau -- beware the water). Nasty. Much has changed in 300+ years.
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