Edinburgh, Edinburgh. Did I Mention Edinburgh?
Trip Start
Jun 16, 2008
1
27
29
Trip End
Jul 02, 2008
Dunfermline,
Scotland,
United Kingdom
Friday, June 27, 2008
June 25 - Day 9 - More Castles and More Rain
We took in two of Scotland's most historic castles Wednesday - Stirling and Edinburgh - while also exploring a bit of Edinburgh's "Old Town" in the process. I'm including links to these here so you can explore the full history of each as you wish...
Stirling Castle is located in, well, Stirling, about 45 minutes northwest of Edinburgh. Unfortunately, it rained on us pretty much the whole time we were there. I know you're probably thinking we're about castled out, but each one of them seems to bring something new to the table. At Stirling, it was the Great Hall, the largest medieval banqueting hall ever built in Scotland
Stirling Castle
. It was a nice-sized playroom to say the least.Following that visit, we high-tailed it back to our hotel in Dunfermline to catch the train for our first visit to downtown Edinburgh (parking and driving there is quite a mess). The train ride was enjoyable, lasting about 30 minutes each way. We pulled into Edinburgh-Waverley station downtown early in the afternoon.
Once downtown, our group parted ways a bit and Vivian and I decided to go ahead and visit Edinburgh Castle, which sits high atop the city at the end of The Royal Mile. Among the many things housed there were the Scottish Crown Jewels (they did not allow photos in that room, sorry). After seeing those, of course, Vivian wanted her own set. I said "uh huh, yeah, sure" and we moved on. The castle was very impressive and offered some incredible panoramas of the city on all sides. It sits on top of an extinct volcano, high above the very center of the city.
After departing there, we made our way all the way back down to the east end of the Royal Mile, where sits the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the Scotland home of the Queen of England. Incidentally, Lizzy II is expected to arrive in Edinburgh some time in the next 3-4 days (exact time is not divulged for security reasons). Because of that, no tours of the facility were allowed this week.
The weather continued to play around with us all afternoon, switching between rain showers and sunny skies seemingly every 10 minutes. Viv and I decided to call the walking quits around 7:00 and found a small Italian restaurant on the Mile to dine at
Edinburgh Castle - Crown Jewels are in there
. It was excellent (Italian, I have found to my liking, has a big presence in Scotland). Then it was back to the HI Express in Dunfermline via train to recharge for another fun-packed day.June 26 - Day 10 - Edinburgh, Part Deux
Our plan on day two in Edinburgh, at least a few of us (me, Viv and J.T. Earnest [her nephew]), was to hike to the top of the mountain (another volcanic site) in Holyrood Park (situated on the south side of the Palace). This was no hike for the weary, mind you. Tough? Not terribly. But it did have our hearts pumping and us taking breaks occassionally. It was a 231-meter (823 feet) ascent in about a half-mile distance. At the top is Arthur's Seat, the highest point in the park. As a reference for you, it is situated about a mile east of Edinburgh Castle. The climb was enjoyable and the views were just unreal. We were fortunate to get some sunlight to illuminate the city while at the top (the forecast was for 70% rain most of the day, which would turn out to be gorgeous). The whole trek took us around 2 1/2 hours.
After having lunch with J.T. on the Royal Mile mid-afternoon, Vivian and I hiked back towards and past Edinburgh Castle, as there was a particular spot I wanted to see. On Fountainbridge Road, there exists a brewery that is about to be demolished for another building. Before the brewery was there, it was a housing estalishment. Why does anyone care? Because that housing estalishment was the childhood abode of one Sir Sean Connery
Edinburgh Castle - well-supplied with arms
. It was interesting to see where the Mr. Bond grew up as a wee Scottish lad. There is a plaque that is normally there, but has been removed for the current construction and is supposed to be replaced once the new building is complete.After that quick stop, we looped around the west side of the Castle and into the Prince Street Gardens that sit in the middle of Edinburgh and got some great photos during that 20-30 minute walk, which led us back to to the train station.
The evening was capped by dinner with the whole 16-member crew, which is officially parting ways tomorrow. Seven of us are headed to London, while the other nine are targeting France, specifically to visit Normandy.
We have another 3 a.m. morning coming up, as our flight to London leaves @ 6:15 from here in Edinburgh. Right now, I'm pondering whether I'm just gonna stay up all night or not instead of trying to get three hours of sleep. The positive on this early flight is that we get to London around 7:30 and will have at least half a day to enjoy it. The bad part is we will be dead tired again.
Hope you enjoy the pics on this one since I finally got a little sun to play with and turn out a little better eye-pleasing product for you. Sorry I didn't label some of the locales more specifically in some cases, but I just didn't know what everything was that I was shooting.
Comments
Got Kilt?
C'mon, where is it?
I have to admit that I'm envious...I look forward to a first hand account. It sure looks like everything you've seen is 'must-see' stuff.
You must be having much better luck with your food than my brother and I had last fall.
Please stay safe walking around London. Ben and I tried a 'Jack The Ripper' guided walking tour that took us into some rougher parts of East London. It was great, but if you stumble across an old pub known as 'Ye Frying Pan' on your own, you're in the wrong part of town.