It was time for a big city, Edinburgh. We got up early in order
to ensure we had a full day in the city and did as much as we could. Even
though we are going at our own pace with the van tour, we do have a budget to
stick to, so as much as we would love to see everything and stay longer it is
just not possible.
We left the van at a park and ride just outside the city
centre as the parking is free you just pay for the bus to and from the city (which
was £3.00 return each, not too bad we thought). After getting off the bus, and
trying to stay away from those enticing shops, we headed for the Royal Mile.
Heading down hill we stopped in at the Scottish Parliament to have a look and
went to a committee meeting to see what was being discussed.
Straight across from Parliament is the Palace of Holyroodhouse which is the
Queen’s residence when she visits Scotland. Unfortunately we didn’t go inside and
instead we stared at it from the outside. I think from memory it was £11.00
each and we have been to Buckingham Palace so we gave this one a miss.
Travelling up towards Edinburgh castle we stopped in at the Edinburgh museum
which explained about the history of the city and was free, so it was very much
worth the visit.
After re-fuelling, we visited the castle which took us
around two – three hours to go around. It cost £16.00 each which at first we
thought was a bit, but you get a guided tour around and castle and there is a
lot of stuff to see. This was probably the best castle we have been to in the
UK. We were feeling a bit tired after walking around all day, as it was now
about 5pm, but we still had a couple more things to see.
Off to Carlton Hill we trudged for a view over Edinburgh
city and to see the various monuments on the hill. I find it is always nice to
get a view over a city, see where you have walked that day and see if anything
sticks out that you might want to visit later. After taking as many snaps as
humanly possible, our last stop was Princes Street gardens. This is a really
nice garden and I tested out a bit of my photography skills with a couple of
snaps as evidenced below. Lovely way to end our tour of the city we had to catch our
bus home to rest our weary feet!
This was also our last stop in Scotland before crossing the
border to England. Scotland is such a beautiful country and we will be back
again, there is so much more to see and do!
Scottish Parliament
Palace of Holyroodhouse
Part of the Edinburgh Museum - these were old water pipes
St Giles' Cathdedral
View of one of the streets
Very traditional
Edinburgh Castle
This guy gave us a demonstration of how to make what he was wearing from 7 metres of tartan
Discovering the Honours (the Crown jewels) in 1818
Mons Meg - weighs six tonnes !!
St Margaret's chapel - the oldest building in the castle
Ashlea being locked away
Paul inside the castle
Robot in the National Museum of Scotland
Large deer with massive horns
T-Rex
Old double decker
View from Carlton Hill
Some of the nice flowers in Princes gardens
I loved Edinburgh the castle was great and the mile
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