Day 8 - Edinburgh

May 18, 2017

Day 8 started early with a city tour of Edinburgh. We walked over to the bus stop and stopped to take a look at this monument on the way.

This is a monument to Sir Walter Scott. It is huge and incredibly beautiful.

You can take 200+ steps up to the top of the monument although it is apparently quite steep and claustrophobic in the staircase. We chose to pass on that opportunity.

Not too far off was the Ediburgh Castle. It is built on top of a volcanic mountain.

In the other direction was this amazing building. I'm not sure what it is.

The first stop was Edinburgh Castle. Like everything else in this country there is a lot of history here. It has served as a military base and royal residence for centuries. There are still troops stationed there today.

The views of the castle were breathtaking. The "old" town of the city was built on seven hilltops. When the city needed to expand the "new" town below the hills was constructed. New town was built in the 1700s.

Edinburgh Castle was the center of the tensions between England and Scotland. Whoever controlled the castle ruled Edinburgh and Scotland.

Control of the castle bounced back and forth between Scotland and England for a long time. Mary, Queen of Scots gave birth to her only child in the castle. Witches were burned at the stake at the castle.

The Great Hall.

St. Margaret's Chapel is the oldest surviving structure in Edinburgh. It was constructed in the 12th century. Margaret was an English princess who fled with her family to Scotland after the Norman conquest. Margaret was a very pious woman and after her death she was canonized by the Pope. The chapel was built in her memory by her son.

Of course everyone has to have their photo taken in a red phone booth.

When we were done exploring the castle we went off in search of a geocache. Do you think Irv abides by a sign like this?

Nope, there he goes up the hill.

We jumped on a bus and headed over to Holyrood Palace. I found some of my peeps there who were participated in the March for Science. Yes, science is real.

Holyrood is the official Scotland residence of the British monarch. Queen Elizabeth II spends a week here every summer. When the royal family is not in residence it is open to the public although no pictures are allowed inside.

Irv took a turn standing watch.

The inner courtyard was beautiful. We were able to go through the apartments of Mary, Queen of Scots and her husband, Lord Darnley. We saw the small room off her bed chamber where her husband murdered David Rizzio, her private secretary. Darnley died under mysterious circumstances not long after that and Mary married her second husband, James Hepburn.

The palace also has an abbey that is in ruins. It was built in the 12th century and used until the 17th century. It fell into ruins in the 18th century.

It must have been quite an imposing structure back in the day.

I think the ruins are beautiful.

Then we took a spin around the gardens. See that hill in the background? There's a trail that goes up, but Irv said "no" when I asked if he wanted to go hike it.

Before we left we stopped at the Queen's Gallery and meandered through the Butterfly Collection by Maria Merians. Maria was a German artist who studied insects and created these meticulous and detailed paintings 300 years ago.

Our feet were worn out again so it was time to head back to our hotel. These are some shots from the street where our hotel was. They were filming the new Avengers movie along this street every night.