Edinburgh #1: The Castle and Calton Hill

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I arrived around lunchtime as my train had only taken about an hour and a half. It was about a ten minute walk from the station to my hostel. I was staying in the New Town area. My hostel was a bit of a dump, but it was one of the cheapest places I could find, £15 a night for a ten bed dorm. Some places were charging crazy prices as unfortunately my trip coincided with the fringe festival. I decided to head up to the castle as I had visited it many, many years ago as a child and thought it would be nice to return. Walking up the Royal Mile was a complete clusterfuck, bodies everywhere. I was instantly regretting my decision to be in Edinburgh. Eventually, I made my way through the crowds and arrived at the entrance to the castle. On a side note, I see where JK Rowling got her inspiration for Quidditch from. The Edinburgh Tattoo was also going on (I really did pick the worst time to visit) and the seating stands were all set up in the castle grounds.

There was a long line to buy tickets, but it moved along quickly and efficiently. How I miss British queuing on my travels. I definitely think I had some kind of OCD about queuing as I hate it when people can stand in a neat and orderly line. It really stresses me out. The entrance fee was about £15, maybe a little bit more. While I do miss the efficient queuing of the British Isles, I definitely don't miss the extortionate entrance fees that you have to pay. It had also started to rain, so I wanted to get inside as soon as possible. I snapped a couple of pictures of the entrance way and the gorgeous view of the city before making my way into the castle. The castle has occupied a spot on the rock that towers over the city since the 12th century, during the reign of David I, and this continued until 1633. Then it was used primarily as military barracks and a garrison instead of a royal residence. However, if we skip forward a couple of hundred years to the 19th century, restoration programmes had begun at the castle to showcase its important role in Scottish history. The Portcullis Gate had been constructed after the Lang Siege of 1571-73 to replace the tower that had been destroyed. Above it is Argyle Tower, which is where the 9th Earl of Argyle was meant to have been confined before his execution in 1685. He was executed for leading the Argyll's Rising, which was a rebellion against James II. From there, I headed deeper into the castle. I stopped to take in more of the views, I liked looking out of the holes where the cannons were placed to protect the castle from danger. There were about a million people in the castle, it was really busy. There was a massive queue to visit the Crown Jewels of Scotland. I joined the queue and it moved pretty quickly. The queue snakes up into a museum type place, where you can read a lot of information, before visiting the Crown Jewels. They were beautiful, but there were too many people there, to be able to linger and appreciate them properly.

Coming out of the palace, I headed into the King's Birth Chamber, which was still part of the Royal Palace but accessible by a different entrance. Queen Mary gave birth to a son and heir on 19th June, 1566. This heir was James, who only a year later became the King as Catholic Mary was forced to abdicate by her Protestant enemies. The room is very simple, but there are some beautiful murals painted on the walls. One coat of arms on the wall was painted by John Anderson in 1617 to commemorate the King's birth. I also visited the Antechamber, which was wrecked during the Lang Siege. The Great Hall was beautiful and positioned right at the heart of the palace. I loved the huge fireplaces, the fires were on too, so that was a bonus. The artwork on the walls was great, this place has definitely been lovingly restored. There was also a lot of armour and weapons on display showing that the Great Hall had also been an army barracks. I then went to take a look around the Scottish National War Memorial, which had been built in honour of those that had died in the Great War and now commemorates those that have died in both World War I & II as well as other military campaigns. It was a very sober place to visit and to pay respect to those who had made the ultimate sacrifice. The Memorial occupies the site of the church of St. Mary.

Funny, after all the rain that had come down earlier, the skies had now cleared and it was gorgeous outside. The unpredictability of Scottish weather. Now that the weather was better I got some better pictures of the surrounding city. Edinburgh, why are you so pretty? Since the entrance fee had been so high, I made sure that I scoured every inch of the castle and its grounds. St. Margaret's Chapel was small and cute. I really liked the stained glass windows in there. It had been built by David I in around 1130 and was dedicated to his mother Queen Margaret. The chapel was used by Scottish royalty as their place of worship. The Prison of War was also interesting to visit and I liked looking in the cells. The prison housed inmates from Europe and the Americas. Caribbean pirates were also incarcerated there, after being captured off Argyll. I also took a quick look around the Regimental Museum, but a lot of stuff in there went over my head. I saw and read up on the One O'clock Gun, if only I had been there earlier I could have seen it go off. I finished off my visit to the castle with the National War Museum. I wished I could have spent longer in there, but lack of time and brain overload meant I had to move through more quickly than I would have liked. It was really interesting and definitely deserves a good couple of hours to take everything in.

I wandered down the Royal Mile, it was just as packed as it had been walking up it. The police were also cordoning off the road to make way for the Tattoo. I did enjoy looking at the street performers as I walked down. I decided to just keep walking and walking until I reached the bottom. I had tried and failed to find the supermarket on my way back from the castle, so had wandered the streets aimlessly for about an hour. After a bit of a rest at the hostel, I made a second attempt and found it. The girl on reception's instructions were definitely lacking. I stocked up on some supplies, since I had skipped lunch I bought quite a bit. There were quite a few tramps/smack rats outside of the supermarket, making me a bit weary. Back at the hostel I fixed something to eat. The kitchen wasn't too busy and fairly clean. After dinner I headed back out to a place the girl on reception recommended.

I walked down Princess Street to the bottom of Calton Hill. The walk up the hill wasn't too strenuous as the hill isn't very high. However, you do get some amazing views of the city from up there. Calton Hill was formed by volcanic activity about 340 million years ago. In the 1400s it was used to host medieval tournaments and festivals, which sounds very jolly. But by the 1600s it had taken on a more gruesome role as the place where public executions were held. Calton Hill had been private land but the Town Council of Edinburgh purchased it in 1724 making it one of Britain's first public parks. The buildings and monuments, including the unfinished National Monument, were all built (or should I say at least started) during the period known as the Scottish Enlightenment. The hill was also a source of inspiration for numerous artists and poets. I wandered around the hill taking in the various different views, I could see Arthur's Seat across the city in one direction and I was looking forward to heading there, tomorrow.

I watched the sun set over the city, the views were gorgeous. I could see the castle and the Old Town in the distance. I also like that you could see the water, too. Edinburgh really is a beautiful city. Although it wasn't rammed with people, there were still far too many for my liking, jostling for position to get the best photographs. I definitely need to visit this city when it is free from people if that is ever possible, maybe in deepest, darkest winter? The sunset, while not the best I have ever seen, was still pretty decent. I liked that I could see the New Town and the Firth of Forth in the background. The sun had set some more as I walked back along Princess Street and I enjoyed taking in the street scene before me. I hoped my creaky dorm room wouldn't be too bad to sleep in.

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