Edinburgh Day Two

Today our host Gordon drove us out to see Rosslyn Chapel, after a late breakfast at Clarinda's, a tea room located on the "Royal Mile." It is a medieval chapel that conjures up thoughts of William Wallace and Robert the Bruce. The small town of Rosslyn was founded by the masons and artisans who worked on the chapel for 40 years. The inside of the chapel is elaborately decorated with sandstone carvings. It is still owned by the descendants of the St. Clair family who built it. Part of the movie "The Da Vinci Code" was filmed here.



Of course, every chapel must have a cemetery. As luck would have it there were mourners gathering on this day. While we waited for them to pass, I found this old gravestone with the surname Wallace. Could this be a descendant of William?



Behind the chapel and through the cemetary, there lies a path that leads to what is left of the Rosslyn Castle. So of course we had to investigate....



The castle itself was built here with a view of Rosslyn Glen. It is hilly and thickly wooded terrain that could have been easily defended.



Here's a corner stone that bears the date, "1586."



We walked down to the bus stop and caught the local Lothian bus #15 back to Edinburgh. The ride back took about an hour, but it took us all the way to our apartment. We took a little nap before going back out to get some dinner. Tonight we ate at a Thai/Indian restaurant, and had Tom Kah soup, with coconut milk, chicken, lemon grass and ginger. It was spicy but delicious.

This will be our last night at Gordon's apartment. Tomorrow we will move over to the other side of Edinburgh to spend a few nights in a B & B.