And the sun keeps on shining!

...the Grassmarket was, from 1477 to 1911, one of Edinburgh's main markets for horse and cattle (the name apparently deriving from livestock grazing in pens beyond its western end).

The Grassmarket was also a place of public executions. A popular story in Edinburgh is that of Maggie Dickson, a fishwife from Musselburgh who was hanged in the Grassmarket in 1724 for murdering her own baby. After the hanging, her body was taken back to Musselburgh in a coffin. However, on the way there she awoke. Under Scots Law she had served her punishment. Only later were the words "until dead" added to the sentence of hanging. It was also to some extent seen as divine intervention, and so she was allowed to go free. In later life (and legend) she was thereafter referred to as Half-Hangit Maggie. There is now a pub named after Maggie situated on the Grassmarket." wikipedia


A chilly open-top bus ride to Edinburgh Botanical Gardens to start the day, and an early morning visit to the Victorian Palm Houses, before moving on to Leith and the Royal Yacht Britannia. Following in the footsteps of the Royal Family, lunch was taken in the Royal Deck Tea Room!

After lunch, we switched to a different open-top bus and headed out to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, past the new Scottish Parliament building, before a tour of the Old Town in the late-afternoon sunshine, getting off at Grassmarket for a spot of shopping on the Royal Mile!

An early supper at The Witchery, in the Secret Garden restaurant (as the Witchery dining rooms were closed for renovation), then a hilarious Murder Mystery Walk put on by The Cadies and Witchery Tours, I can't recommend it highly enough!!