Edinburgh Castle

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Today has all the hallmarks of the pick day in Edinburgh, early time slot to visit Edinburgh Castle, then a quick taxi ride to lunch with Anne.

After breakfast in the our room, we headed out up the 200 meters to the entrance of Edinburgh Castle . As you walked into the temporary stadium which has been built for the Military Tattoo on the 4th to 26th August was as intimidating as walking into the Colosseum or MCG. After checking in we started the walk up to the Argyle Battery which also has 3 x 105mm Field Guns are position to fire a salute at 1pm each day. After the walk up we saw the cafe and decided it was time for our morning coffee, good thing we did as when we were leaving, the queue was massive. Next we toured the National War Museum which for Greg really only illustrated why we should not continue to go to war. It was very informative though. Next we moved to the Castle prison which while was mocked up with "how it looked in the day", it didn't look too bad, but was a deterrent to commit crimes again.

After continuing to walk up through Foog's Gate and along The Upper Ward to David's Tower, came into the crown square and was stunned by the number of people waiting to visit the Royal Palace and view the Scottish Crown Jewels. After about 30 minutes of queuing it was our turn to view the crown jewels and the Stone of Destiny which were presented to King Charles on Wednesday. Unfortunately there are no photos allowed and a dude made sure everyone complied. After that we entered the Great Hall which has hosted some Royal diners though the years. After exiting we walked across the court yard to the Hall of Honour where honour rolls for each of the Military services have their own section. Once we finished here we started the walk back down, but this was not the end of the tour.

First we stopped at the Museum of the Royal Scots and the Royal Regiment of Scots as well as the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Regimental Museum. After seeing all the different Museums our time had finished at Edinburgh Castle and we needed to hop a Taxi and get to the Duck and Waffle for Lunch with Anne.

This London Restaurant has opened another in Edinburgh, their decor is wildly bright, seats very comfortable and even though we were in for lunch, and not all kitchen stations attended, each chef has their own station in the middle of the restaurant with bar stools for patron who want to watch. Again the Bar was unconventional where it was a football shape with bartenders not behind the bar. This is a recommended restaurant!

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