After a lovely stop for lunch at Canonsgate Arms, we walked (trekked, as it turned out) to the Royal Botanical Gardens.  The walk was through a very cool part of town. 

When we reached the gardens themselves, I asked a very helpful man named Neil if there was anything in particular I should see regarding Robert Fortune.  Since reading FOR ALL THE TEA IN CHINA by Sarah Rose, I’ve become a bit of a groupie for Mr. Fortune.  He was from Edinburgh originally, but they said there wasn’t anything dedicated to him here.  

An incredibly large plant fossil

Dozens of pepper plants, or various capsasin content

Gorgeous architecture

These “lily pads” were at least 4 feet across.  
The “desert” hothouse 

A view from outside

Yay!  I found him.  One of the plants he “hunted” and names. 
With sore feet, we began the journey back to town.  

We took a breather and enjoyed some cider at Jekyll & Hyde.  Writer Robert Louis Stevenson is another of Edinburgh’s famous sons.

 We enjoyed a delicious dinner at Wedgewood’s, then took a different route back to our B&B past Greyfriars Kirkyard, home of the famous Greyfriars Bobby.

Grammarian! My hero!

It seems a bit redundant to compare a theatre to an asylum, but there you have it.