Edinburgh

Edinburgh

 

It was exceedingly easy to catch the train from Stirling to Edinburgh and took barely an hour to get there. When we left the train at Waverley Station in the heart of Edinburgh Barb was ecstatic! A lone bagpiper was playing just across the road in front of the Scott Monument (no matter how much money people tossed into his case he wouldn’t stop and played all day) and in the distance Edinburgh Castle rose majestically above the old city. It was truly delightful. Best of all, the weather had cleared up, so we could walk the many kilometers up and down the Royal Mile in (relative) comfort. (Barb was tiggering all day until fatigue set in).

 

Barb excited to see Edinburgh

Lone piper

red hatters at Scottish National Museum?

Park outside Museum

We were very pleased to already have our castle pass, having purchased three days worth at Stirling castle yesterday. It meant we could avoid the large queues already lining up to buy tickets and fast-track through the gates.

 

Edinburgh castle

Mon Meg

Barb at Edinburgh castle

views to the Forth of Firth

Kilts on a windy day

They are already starting to erect the large scaffolding for the seating for the Edinburgh Tattoo to be held in August, so it rather spoiled the initial view of the castle. However once we got past that it was very impressive.

 

John and I agreed on a meeting point and separated as we had done yesterday to view the castle independently. This is a good plan as we move at different paces and are interested in different aspects. Barb loves taking photos. John loves reading information signs.

 

We met up again as pre-arranged and headed off down the Royal Mile in search of a coffee shop, preferably one as far from the tourist tat as we could manage. (John: Not that we avoided buying the tat, we just wanted to get away from it after parting with our money).

 

Barb in the Leslie Tartan scarf

Refreshed, we continued walking until we reached the un-lovely Scottish Parliament House. What were they thinking building this modern monstrosity right in the middle of the beautiful old buildings? Apparently neither does it command 100% affection among the Scots.

 

John in front of Scottish Parliament

Scottish Parliament

Across the road from Parliament house was Holyrood Palace, which was sadly closed to the public at the moment. We reckoned someone royal must be in residence now as a  Royal Standard was flying above the palace. We peeped through the gates and witnessed the changing of the guard and saw the lineup of limos so Barb is somewhat mollified about missing out on the palace tour.

 

Our feet are beginning to ache after so much walking …. AND a lot of it was uphill, so we decided to head to the new part of town for a bit of a look around before heading back to Stirling.

 

changing guard at Holyrood Palace

Holyrood Palace

We have been invited by John’s old Uni friend Tina over to her place for dinner tonight, so we will get back with plenty of time to prepare for that.