Holyroodhouse Palace Edinburgh

Hello again.

First of all I'd wish to say sorry to my share of loyal fans who couldn't wait for a new blog entry. As it occurs to a lot of famous writers in literature, I had to conquer a writer's block the past couple of days as well. Anyway, let's start off where I ended ...

... I managed to make it through my first week at …

As I sit and explode with memories today I am sitting outdoors in a sunny 'urban park', listening to bagpipe music and keeping an eye out for Dean at the top of the nearest tall thing (you do know how he loves tall things). I chose to sit this one out for a quiet moment of repose... Up and at 'em for brekky at 7 today then leaving at 8. We met our …

This morning on getting up it was raining again, so instead of going to the castle, we stayed in till the weather improved and headed out to Holyrood Palace, past the Scottish parliament building.the palace was amazing with lots of rooms on display to the public along with embroidery done by Mary Queen of Scots.

There was also the dining …

Now, we are in Edinburgh. To recap:

We are on the top floor of a 4th floor walk up.
We are in a college town.
We have finally found a place to park the car.

We are now ready for our first day in Edinburgh.

We are going to the castle (Another castle! Calm, calm, this could be fun).

Our first assignment of …

Sadly today is the last full day of our vacation. We did the last significant thing on the itinerary: the Holyrood Palace. This is where the Queen takes up residence when she'll in Scotland. This is also where the Queen proclaims knighthood for Scots including Sean Connery and Gordon Ramsey. Though we didn't get to see the floor where the royals …

So...I know this has been a long time coming. Two weekends have passed since I have actually been in Scotland and yet I still have not written about it. For all of you avid readers (note my sarcasm...I highly doubt anyone is a particularly avid reader of my blog), I am sorry to have disappointed you with my lack of communication. I will also …

My last free day in Edinburgh. Tonight is the Golden Oldies farewell banquet and tomorrow I head to Milngavie to hike the West Highland Way (Slackpacking the West Highland Way).

Edinburgh Castle? Check. Hike Arthur's Seat? Check. Today I walk the Royal Mile – the one mile stretch of Old Town that runs from Edinburgh Castle to …

On Friday morning I set off from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport for Edinburgh, Scotland. I got into the city around noon and was immediately amazed by its beauty. Edinburgh Castle sits atop old volcanic rock and looks out over the medieval stone buildings of the Old Town, Princes Street Gardens, and the Georgian buildings of the New Town - it's a …

What a wonderful day we had today! We set off this morning for a tour around both the Old & New Edinburgh, calling past the pleasantly laid out New Town with its squares, and little back laneways, designed especially for the servants of the rich to walk in, so the rich wouldn't have to share the sidewalks with their servants (and why did it …

After a good nights sleep in our new surroundings, Dave went across the street and brought back breakfast and I stayed in finishing off the croissants and jam that Beth & Fiona left us. The sun was out and it appeared it would be a nice day. One forgets you're in Scotland, however! Dave and I turned right when we exited the apartment and headed …

... Scotch whisky – each one unique. Walking down the Royal Mile, we passed pipers and many clan shops on our way to Holyroodhouse Palace – the official residence of the Queen while in Scotland. There, we stood in the steps of Mary Queen of ...

... the eastern side of town.  While a scant 823 feet tall, it provides really good views of the castle and of Holyroodhouse Palace, home to British royalty when visiting Scotland.  Good thing, because this was the only view we got of ...

... of it. I misjuged the incline on my first attempt to get to the Royal Mile (this is the street between Edinburgh Castle and Holyroodhouse Palace). I finally got myself on the right side of the hill and I picked up my fringe ticket to see Dean Haglund ( ...

... we walked the whole Royal Mile. At the end is the Scottish parliament, which I dragged an extremely unimpressed Ben through, and the Holyroodhouse Palace. We were going to do that too, but it was just as expensive as the castle! And we have done several ...

... I loved it.  So true.  We made it back to the city center with plenty of time to walk around.  We stopped by Holyroodhouse Palace on our way to the hotel.  NICE hotel.  Holiday Inn.  After hot showers and a short rest on the ...

... , we would not have got much out of what was a self-guided tour).  The Queen spends one week a year at Holyroodhouse Palace, in July, where she conducts a garden party and also does investitures, etc.      Construction of ...

... and many other important people have also lived there. Then we walked up the Royal Mile which is the road between edinburgh castle and Holyroodhouse Palace. At one important looking house Mum read a story from the guide book. "Once upon a time a rich ...

... young we are. The ex-Royal Yacht Britannia is now on permanent display at Leith so we jumped on a bus. Went past Holyroodhouse Palace where the Queen is having a snack with the Pope tomorrow morning.  Cops everywhere. Britannia was fantastic.  ...

... tours, and others. You can see their stands between South Bridge and George IV St. Took me a while to finally get to Holyroodhouse Palace, but it's worth a visit, as well as the Queen's Gallery next to the Palace depending on what the exhibit is. ...

... the waiter told us congealed pig's blood. Yuck. It reminded me of a charcoal taste.  Anyway, we walked to Holyroodhouse Palace.  We saw Mary Queen of Scots bedroom and the place where David Rizzio was murdered and walked around the abbey ...