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Published: March 13th 2007
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Edinburgh Castle
Here we wait in front of the castle standing in the area where the Edinburgh Tattoo takes place. To the left are the grandstands for spectators. It was a bit creepy last night. With no a/c and more insufferable heat I had to leave my floor to ceiling window wide open just to get some air flow. However, with all the construction being done on the facade of the hotel there was scaffolding right outside my window. If some enterprising thief had wanted to steal a nice digital camera, an MP3 player, a bottle of Scotch and an empty wallet, he could have easily shinnied his way up and into my room.
Breakfast was down in the deepest bowels of the hotel. It was a pretty decent spread but featured mostly cereals and juices. No eggs, bacon or hash browns. I made do with some toast and butter. Then washed it down with some decent orange juice.
When we left the hotel to board Mark's bus, the morning looked like the promise of rain with a thick mist settling over the town. This early in the morning there was a little nip in the air which was a welcome relief for me.
Mark drove us up the Royal Mile into a big parade ground just outside Edinburgh Castle. This is where the
Edinburgh Military Tattoo takes
Main Entrance (Gatehouse)
Believe it or not, the Gatehouse of this 12th Centuy historic castle was actually added to the castle grounds in 1888. It's purely for decoration.
This is another castle built on the top of volcanic rock. Like Stirling Castle, Edinburgh Castle also features and commanding view of the countryside. place during the month of August. In the evening military bands replete with bagpipers and kilts galore perform martial music for thousands of tourists in these very grounds.
It was at this point we met up with our kilted local guide who took us on a tour of the castle grounds. The castle is still an active military base but with a very small contingent of troops. The mist was much thicker up here at the top of the castle hill and the cobblestones were rather slippery. The tour was much too short. I could have spent hours looking around at the old historic rooms, museums and military paraphernalia.
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