Edinburgh

Today I had chinese acupuncture to fix my neck. So nice to be able to move again. Then we went to Edinburgh Castle. Wow. We got to go in the fast lane for entry as we have british heritage membership.
Here is the entrance to the Castle.

Edinburgh Castle sits on top of what was, at one time, a volcano - a 437 feet high plug of basalt rock. It has been used as a fortification for over 2,000 years - there was a hill fort there in the time of the Romans.

The first record of the castle being used as a royal residence occurs in the 11th century when Margaret, wife of Malcolm III died there after hearing of her husband's death at Alnwick in 1093. "Saint Margaret" (she was later canonised) was Saxon-English, a refugee from the conquest of England by the Normans under William the Conqueror. The chapel which bears her name was probably not built until the 12th century.


Saint Margaret's Chapel

It is also the home of the Scottish Crown Jewels, the oldest Royal Regalia in Britain. A major exhibition of these symbols of sovereignty uses colourful tableaux, music and models to tell their tale, including how they were buried not once, but twice.


We loved the crown jewels - this was the only place we found on the whole trip, where you stood on a moving walkway to view the display. I am sure I was told this happened a lot now, to keep the crowds moving.

While here the kids were teasing each other and suddenly found one of the Guards joining in their game, much to all our amusement. We all went outside and talked to the Guard for about half an hour, while we all ate ice creams. He was very nice.

We also saw the Stone of Destiny which was used by all the ancient Scottish Kings when they were crowned. It has a colourful history. First it was "acquired" by the English and located in Westminster for 700 years until the 1930's when it was stolen by some Scottish Noblemen. It was then "found" and returned to Westminster, when our current Queen returned it to the Scots on the 30th of November 1996.

We had a great lunch at the Red Coats Cafe.



J tried "Heather Ale" which is a made from a 4,000 year old recipe.

We walked from the Castle down the "Royal Mile" and into the centre of Edinburgh. We passed busking pipers, lots of shops selling tartan items of every description, all sorts of Scottish "tat".

As we made our way round Edinburgh we saw lots of cow statues. The cows were an art exhibition with a difference. All sorts of people had made and decorated these cows and they were on display on the street, on buildings and over streets. There was almost nowhere in Edinburgh that you did not see a cow. They were to be auctioned in September to raise money for charity. In the meantime they provided a lot of fun and interest.

We had afternoon tea in Jim Brodies Cafe, supposedly haunted by Brody, a local rogue.


Had a tour of Mary Kings Close, fantastic.We actually walked a real close from 300 years ago, coverd over during redevelopment of the area, only uncovered in the 1970's. We learned how the youngest one in the household got the job of throwing out the toilet bucket first thing in the morning and again in the evening, into the street below. MLR was not impressed. We learned that all the effluent flowed down the close into Loch Norr. The loch was were all the folk from Mary King's close got their drinking water. The buildings got closer as they rose higher, the light at street level was minimal except at noon.

We had Italian for tea, unfortunately the Vegetarian restaurant was full.