Edinburgh

Our first stop today was to be Edinburgh Castle. We had a local guide named Keith who came dressed in kilts––very Scottish. We passed the tops of these buildings are our way via bus to the castle. Edinburgh has two main tourist areas––its medieval part (the Old City) and its Georgian part (the new city). However, we were only to have one day in Edinburgh and that was not enough time to view all of the city––you would need many days here to do this.

Edinburgh

Edinburgh street scene.

Edinburgh Castle

View of the Edinburgh Castle. The castle is located on the top of an anceient volcano. The castle dates back to the 12th century, but it has been added onto up to the 20th century. It has served as a fortress, royal palace, military garrison, and state prison.

Edinburgh Castle

That is Keith, our guide, on the Esplande, telling us to follow him. It is raining and cold. Ian, our tour director, warned us yesterday that a Scottish day can go through all four seasons. Many of us didn’t listen to him and didn’t wear warm enough clothing or even take along umbrellas. I wore only a lightweight jacket (Scotland was hot yesterday, so it should have been hot again today––no?) and was very cold, but I did have my umbrella. I think that the bleachers are either side of the Esplande are here permanently as this is where many major events are held in Edinburgh, including the Edinburgh Military Tattoo (where Scottish infantry battalions march to pipe bands from around the world) and where I would guess J.K. Rowlings last week read to children from her new Harry Potter book––Harry Potter and the Half–Blood Prince (which some of our tour members were already reading).

Edinburgh Castle

In this photo, we are walking through the Portcullis Gate built in 1574–77. It is the main gate to the castle. We are walking up the hill from the area called the Lower Ward.

Edinburgh Castle

We are now walking up to the Middle Ward. The stairs in the photo are called the Lang Stairs.

Edinburgh Castle

The Middle Ward.

Edinburgh Castle

Buildings that we passed on our walk.

Edinburgh Castle

Walking to Foog’s Gate to the Upper Ward.

Edinburgh Castle

The Royal Scots Regimental Museum on the Upper Ward.

Edinburgh Castle

A chapel.

Edinburgh Castle

The front of the chapel.

Edinburgh Castle

St. Margaret’s Chapel. This is the oldest building of the castle and dates back to the 12th century. It was built by King David I and dedicated to his mother who died here in 1093. She was made a saint in 1250.

The members of St. Margaret’s Chapel Guild supply and place the flowers for the chapel. To become a member of the guild, your name must be Margaret (I qualify for this one) and you must reside in Scotland for at least part of the year (I’m not planning to).

Edinburgh Castle

Mon’s Meg. This is a 6–ton siege gun which was given to King James II in 1457.

Edinburgh Castle

The Royal Palace. This was the residence of the Stewart kings and queens in the 15th century. The Scottish crown jewels are displayed in the Royal Palace (no photos allowed of the jewels).

Edinburgh Castle

Inside the Royal Palace.

Edinburgh Castle

View of Edinburgh from inside the Royal Palace.

Edinburgh Castle

The Great Hall dating back to 1503–13. It was the main banquet hall in the 16th century.

Edinburgh Castle

Stained glass windows inside the Great Hall.

Edinburgh Castle

The Scottish National War Memorial (no photos allowed inside it).

Edinburgh Castle

Another castle building.

Edinburgh Castle

Another building on the castle grounds.

Edinburgh Castle

View of the city of Edinburgh from the castle walls. The green plot is a soldier’s pet cemetery.

Edinburgh Castle

Another view of Edinburgh from the castle walls. The Edinburgh train station is in the front of the photo.

Edinburgh Castle

View of the Middle Ward of the castle and of Edinburgh.

Edinburgh Castle

Another view of Edinburgh.

Edinburgh

Although our bus left us off close to the castle, we needed to walk on part of the Royal Mile to get back on our bus. The Royal Mile is the main street of the Old City––the medieval section. It extends from the Edinburgh Castle downward to the Palace of Holyroodhouse. I took this photo on our walk to the bus––you see so many men in kilts in Scotland that after awhile it looks like very normal attire.

Edinburgh

A monk who we passed.

Edinburgh

Scottish whiskey for sale.

Edinburgh

Kilts for sale: 16–oz. pure new wool heavyweight kilts––140 Scottish pounds (English pounds and Scottish pounds are interchangeable).

Edinburgh

Lady Stair’s Close. There are many closes along the Royal Mile. They are passageways that will take you down the hill.

Edinburgh

We got back on our bus for a bus tour of Edinburgh which was very interesting, but it is difficult to take good photos from a bus. I did get this one of the Sir Walter Scott Memorial off Princes Street (the street below the Royal Mile). Sir Walter Scott, the author, 1771–1832, was born in Edinburgh.

Edinburgh

Princes Street.

Edinburgh

Edinburgh street.

Roslyn Chapel

After our bus tour of Edinburgh, we had a free afternoon. I wanted to go outside of Edinburgh to visit Roslyn Chapel. If you have read Dale Brown’s “Da Vinci Code,” you’ll recognize Roslyn Chapel as the chapel where the Holy Grail is supposed to be buried. The article that I took along with me on Roslyn Chapel said it was only three miles from Edinburgh, but I found out that they didn’t mean three miles from the city center where the bus dropped us off, probably, rather, from the very edge of Edinburgh. I had to take a taxi to the chapel because the Edinburgh city buses were on strike, but even with a 2 pound surcharge for going out of the city, the total taxi fare for about a 30–minute drive was about what I paid for a much shorter ride in London. I tried to interest other tour members to share the taxi fare with me, but no one wanted to go along. This photo is of the outside of Roslyn Chapel––you could climb up the scaffolding if you wanted to. I didn’t. There are some Internet sites on Rosyln Chapel that you can go to to see what the chapel looks like without the scaffolding.

Roslyn Chapel

View of the inside of Roslyn Chapel. It was absolutely beautiful. It was founded in 1446 by Sir William St. Clair, the third and last St. Clair Prince of Orkney. It was during the time when private citizens built their own chapels. The carvings in the chapel are a mixture of biblical, masonic, pagan, and Knights Templar.

Roslyn Chapel

Inside the chapel.

Roslyn Chapel

On its ceiling are five–pointed stars, ball flowers, tablet flowers, roses, and a dove with an olive branch.

Roslyn Chapel

Inside the chapel.

Roslyn Chapel

Inside the chapel.

Roslyn Chapel

Stained glass windows.

Roslyn Chapel

Inside the chapel. The stonework in the front of the chapel is white, while elsewhere it is a burnt orange color.

Roslyn Chapel

Inside the chapel.

Roslyn Chapel

The burial site of William de St. Clair, Knight Templer. The florinated cross and the outline of a West Highland sword are associated with the Knights Templar.

Roslyn Chapel

Inside the chapel.

Roslyn Chapel

Inside the chapel.

Roslyn Chapel

Outside the chapel.

Roslyn Chapel

Close–up of the statues.

Roslyn Chapel

Memorial to the Earl of Roslyn and his wife.

Roslyn Chapel

In the “Da Vinci Code,” there was reference to the caretaker’s house. There were two houses here. This is one of them.

Roslyn Chapel

I don’t have my copy of the book anymore, but I remember that the main characters had to walk through a gate to get to the house. This would probably be the gate.

Roslyn Chapel

This is the house on the other side of the gate. I was ready to return to Edinburgh and had a man in the gift shop call my taxi driver who had taken me here. He had given me his cell phone number. I think he went to lunch while I visited the chapel and so was availabe to take me back to Edinburgh.

Edinburgh

This photo is of part of the skyline of the Old City in Edinburgh. But you are going to have to visit here to see the full majesty of it as you need a panoramic view to be fully awed by it and you will be. It is an almost mystical medieval wonder.

Edinburgh

More of the skyline.

Edinburgh

More of the skyline.

Edinburgh

I walked over Waverley Bridge to the Old City. The train station is here as well as the sightseeing buses and taxis.

Edinburgh

I walked up the steep street of Cockburn to High Street, part of the Royal Mile.

Edinburgh

Buildings on Cockburn Street.

Edinburgh

On the Royal Mile’s High Street. This is a great shopping street. The Royal Mile starts up the hill at Edinburgh Castle and then continues down the hill to the Palace of Holyroodhouse. Besides from its numerous shops, there are also numerous cafes, hotels, museums, and many buildings of interest. I started my walk on the Royal Mile from near the center of it and first walked downhill to the palace. By this time of the day, it was becoming quite warm.

Edinburgh

Scottish clothes for sale.

Edinburgh

Black Watch kilts for sale.

Edinburgh

I stopped for lunch at a small cafe––tuna sandwich and diet coke––very good sandwich. I started back on my walk and saw this castle structure (which I believe is the Old City Observatory, but I am not sure of this) in a break between buildings.

Edinburgh

Seen in another break between buildings. These structures on are Carlton Hill, which has on it the National Monument for the dead of the Napoleonic Wars (the Pantheon–shaped building); the Nelson Monument, commerating the Battle of Trafalgar; and the Old City Observatory.

Edinburgh

Some buildings seen on High Street.

Edinburgh

Some more buildings seen on High Street.

Edinburgh

The end of the Royal Mile: the Palace of Holyroodhouse. The Queen’s Gallery (building on the right) has a very good gift shop and also a coffee shop. I bought some very inexpensive tin plates with royal designs on them in the gift shop.

Edinburgh

The Palace of Holyroodhouse. It is Queen Elizabeth’s official Scottish residence. It is named after the “rood” (cross) which King David I claimed to have seen between the antlers of a deer that he was hunting here in 1128. The palace was built in 1529 for King James V. Some of the rooms are open to the public when the Queen is not in residence. I didn’t have time to visit it.

Edinburgh

I started my walk back up High Street (I only had a mile to walk up hill to the castle! To reach the Point, our hotel, I had to walk down the steps near the castle to the street below).

Edinburgh

Still walking up High Street.

Edinburgh

The John Knox House. This is the oldest house in Edinburgh, dating back to 1490. John Knox, a preacher, established the Presbyterian Church in 1560. The house is open to the public.

Edinburgh

Looking down to Cockburn Street.

Edinburgh

Malt Whiskey Shop, also offering the Beer of the Month.

Edinburgh

Looking backward to the Tron Kirk. This was built in 1630 for the Presbyterians when they left St. Giles Cathedral (see next photo).

Edinburgh

St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Edinburgh). The cathedral, dating back to the 15th century, was from where John Knox directed the Scottish Reformation.

Edinburgh

More buildings on the Royal Mile.

Edinburgh

I found the steps near the castle that would take me down to the bottom of the hill to the street that would then take me back to our hotel. I took this photo of Edinburgh Castle from the bottom of the hill. We had an optional (meaning that you had to pay extra to go) Scottish dinner and show that evening. Haggis was served (if you wanted to try it; I didn’t). Haggis is totally Scottish and is a pudding containing sheep’s innards and oatmeal, eaten with turnips and potatos. Some of our tour members who did partake of the haggis said it was quite tasty. I have put two movie clips of the Scottish show that we saw: Go to Movies, Western Europe, Scotland, “Scottish Dancers” and “Bonnie Banks O’ Loch Lomond.”  We left Edinburgh the next morning, but after just getting a taste of Edinburgh, it is very high on my list of places to return to someday. You could easily spend three days on the Royal Mile and many more days delightfully exploring the city.