 The UK experience-3
 The best way to look around Edinburgh is to take a bus to Princes Street, (I found the buses here so good and comfortable that I didn’t feel like getting off them) which is a starting point for all the Lothian tour buses. As you travel to the Princes Street you get to see the historical sights from a distance.
Purchase a Majestic Tour ticket for 12 pounds, which is valid for 24 hours, and you are entitled to hop on and off the four Lothian buses and get to see all the important tourist places of interest. To begin with, get on to the open double deck of the City Tour bus, plug in the audio and savour the sights to the accompaniment of the commentary in any foreign language you choose.
The massive Gothic spire of the Sir Walter Scott Monument (the architect was George Meikle Kemp, it is probably the largest memorial raised to a writer anywhere) is very impressive. It rises to a height of 61 metres and the adventurous could enter via Princes Street Gardens and climb the 287 steps up a narrow winding staircase to the top and take in the view of the city. Enshrined in the open vault beneath is the seated statue of Scott dressed in a border plaid and accompanied by his favourite deer hound Maida , carved from a 30 ton block of Carara marble. The 64 niches contain statuettes representing many characters from the works of Scott. We could have a spectacular view of the Edinburgh Castle looming large before us.
 We find the St John’s church at the western end of Princes Street. St. Cuthbert's Church, round the corner, has a watchtower in the graveyard - a reminder of the Burke and Hare days when graves were guarded against robbers. It was necessary to guard them because bodies were sold for the purpose of dissection and the male one was priced at five pounds and the female, at 10, the commentator adding in a lighter vein that even in the days gone by females were superior.
The Royal Mile is another attraction as it is believed to be one of the world’s most captivating streets. It follows a ridge that runs from Edinburgh Castle to the Palace of Holyroodhouse and is riddled with entrances and lanes on either side that make for an intriguing exploration. The New Town, dating from 18th century, runs along a ridge below, but parallel to the Royal Mile, and is separated from the Old Town by the Princes Street Gardens. Its stately order is a stark contrast to the tangled confusion of streets and buildings melded together in the Old Town.
Another interesting tourist attraction is Deacon Brodie’s Tavern, which gets its name from Edinburgh’s town councillor, who held the post of Deacon of Wrights and Masons. He led a notorious double life as head of a gang of burglars by night. He is the subject of a play by Robert Louis Stevenson and W E Henley, Deacon Brodie, or The Double Life, and the duality of his character, sober citizen by day, outlaw by night, was a source of inspiration for Stevenson’s novel The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
 The Edinburgh
Castle, a majestic landmark which dominates the capital city’s skyline just as it has dominated Scotland’s long and colorful history, is a powerful national symbol, and part of Edinburgh’s World Heritage site.
(Recently, J K Rowling read passages from her latest book on
HarryPotter to a group of invited children.) Its three sides of scoured basalt rock drop almost vertically , giving the impression of a mighty impregnable fortress, but once you enter you find it is not so impregnable after all. We could look around without the hassle of climbing too many steps! I found the lifelike figures of the Queen and the infant Mary, the officer reading a message and a small innocent boy standing by his side, the figure of a Scottish piper and the Scottish crown jewels very fascinating. The view of the city is simply splendid from the ramparts of the castle.
A visit to the Royal Yacht Britannia and The Royal Botanic Garden are a must in Edinburgh. The yacht served the royal family for 40 years travelling over one million miles. The audio handsets explain everything that you see at the different levels. The State dining room and the room the royal family met need particular mention.
 The Royal Botanic Garden has four gardens. Together they grow more than 15,500 plant species, many represented by material of known wild origin. The visitor should not miss the Rock and Heath Gardens and Chinese Hillside, which are picture perfect. The first boasts of an impressive waterfall ,meandering mountain stream and a scree slope. The Chinese Hillside has an unrivalled collection of wild-origin Chinese plants, the largest of its kind outside China.
What struck me most was the oversized squirrels with long bushy tails coming close to visitors, perhaps expecting to be treated with some nuts, and disappearing into the bushes with equal haste, obviously disappointed. My only regret was I did not have any nuts to offer them.
A word about places to eat for vegetarians - I am afraid there aren’t many, especially if you are looking for something filling to keep you going for the rest of the day. Set off from the guesthouse for sightseeing after a sumptuous breakfast, make do for lunch with a sandwich, fruit and salad that is available at a mall and have dinner at any of the Indian restaurants in the city.
We found Delhi Diner, down the road in Mayfield Gardens, quite good .However, It was amusing to see the Bangladeshi waiter, who claimed he knew English better than his own language, take the order from us, and whenever we had asked for ladies finger curry, he would disappear only to come back in a jiffy and say, "Sorry, ladies finger curry ran out.” The first day we believed him but later we wondered how the curry could run out when we were the first customers to visit the place as soon as the restaurant opened in the evening.
On the journey back to London, we were fascinated to see students on the train working with their laptops even as they were swallowing bars of chocolate and gulping cans of soft drinks.
N Meera Raghavendra Rao
No 43, (Old No 17),
Eldams Road
Chennai – 600018
Phone:24352312
(Concluded)
N Meera Raghavendra Rao
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