It was a glorious summer’s day with the sun shining as I walked up the Royal Mile to the departure point right outside the green Ensign Ewart pub. I was greeted by my Driver Guide for the day, Graeme, who ticked off everyone’s names as we boarded our lovely hi-spec Mercedes bus.
Graeme talked us through our itinerary for the day and also showed us on the map the route which we were taking. Graeme came across as an extremely passionate guide with a great sense of humour. I noticed that he made a real effort to get to know his passengers as well as ensuring everyone was comfortable on the coach which was really nice.
We began our journey out of the city and headed towards our first stop of the day; Rosslyn Chapel. As we drove out of the city, Graeme told us some very interesting facts about the capital city that very few people actually know about. One being that Golf was actually first played in Bruntsfield Links in the Meadows (one of Edinburgh’s biggest and most popular parks). ‘Links’ is a Scottish word for land which is associated with the game of golf. Bruntsfield links is one of the earliest known locations where golf was played in Scotland, but the exact date is unclear. The Golf Tavern which is on the west side of the links claims to have been established in 1456.