The saying goes, that if you walk directly over the Heart of Midlothian, you will never find true love. I walked over it nonchalantly the other day, and was shouted at for apparently stepping straight into the superstitious jaws of bad luck. I could well be cursed for life now, however I've walked under quite a few ladders and probably also broken a mirror in my time too, so I don't suppose a love curse is going to affect matters that much.
The Heart of Midlothian marks a spot where there used to be executions, and somehow this translates into the not classy in any way practice of spitting on the heart for good luck. Never mind the curse of never finding true love if you step on the heart, what about the dirty fact that you're walking over the liquid contents of other people's mouths? If you spit on the heart, legend also has it that this means you'll return to Edinburgh, much like throwing a coin into the Trevi Fountain in Rome, but not nearly as scenic.
Anyway, if you want to find this heart shaped Royal Mile decoration, it's near St Giles High Kirk and Parliament House. It gets a three, purely because I really dislike spitting in public, call me uptight. read more