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Published: December 26th 2007
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It was time to leave for Scotland after one of our best drunken and disorderly nights celebrating Cris' birthday with her work colleagues!!! The rattling of the luggage bags was not very welcome with the splitting headaches we had reminding us of the previous night!!! However we did not totally reject the sound which was once music to our ears!
We arrived at Presswick Airport which is in essence a shed not much bigger than Cris' dads shed- however- its claim to fame is that it is the only place in the UK that Elvis Presley set foot on. He was in transit to Germany! We swivelled our hips in tribute to the man, pulled on our blue suede shoes and went straight to the car hire place!
The drive to Edinburgh was rather uneventful and drove straight to Edinburgh High street better known as the Royal Mile! After all it was the address of our hotel too- we went straight to our hotel number 43- and found that in actual fact it was a place that sold maps and nerdy globes of the world etc!!!
It all just seemed to good to be true as our super tight
budget would not have allowed us to sleep in the centre of the city!! After a quick look at the address once again we discovered that in actual fact the hotel was 43 High Street Dalkeith Edinburgh!!
Thank goodness it was in Edinburgh and not some other random city however it was only a 35 minute drive from the centre of town and three suburbs away on the A720 freeway!! After some colourful and vivid conversation we arrived at the hotel at about 6pm- it was obviously dark and reduced our tourism time somewhat!! This did not deter us as we quickly had dinner- haggis ofcourse and went back to Edinburgh- city!!!
First stop was Edinburgh Castle. Historically a very important place in the history of Scotland and the UK. The castle is quite an imposing building perched on a rock, Castle Rock, overlooking the whole of the city surrounded by defensive walls and is over 1000 years old but the area has been inhabited since the 9th century BC. It is Scotland's second most visited tourist attraction and is also where they do the 'Edinburgh Military tattoo' around christmas time!
The castle is inevitably linked in a
complex web of stories and historical accounts with various significant Kings and Queens dating back to to 1093!!!
It was in 1093 when Queen Margaret wife of Malcolm III was seriously ill in Edinburgh Castle. She was brought the news that her husband and eldest son had been killed at Alnwick in Northumberland in battle. Broken-hearted, she too died. Queen Margaret was made a saint by Pope Innocent IV in 1250 for numerous 'works' including introducing Catholicism into Scotland. She is the only Scottish Royal saint!
A tiny chapel, built on the summit of the castle rock in the early twelfth century, is dedicated to her memory and is the oldest building in Edinburgh Castle. The chapel was built by her son, King David I, and is beautiful and incredibly simple!
The castle is also home to the 'honours of Scotland' which consists of the Crown, Sword and Sceptre hidden away in 1707 as England and Scotland were united and there was fear that they would go missing. It was with the honours that Kings or Queens of Scotland were bestowed their titles!They were hidden until February 1818 when Sir Walter Scott, with permission from the Prince Regent, broke
into the room where the Honours had supposedly been locked away. He found them lying at the bottom of a chest covered with linen cloths "exactly as they had been left". They are now on display and are quite impressive.
The castle is also home to 'Mons Meg' cannon- one of the biggest at the time and was brought in from France.
After much meandering around and trying to absorb as much as possible we decided to walk the Royal Mile towards the new parliament at the opposite end whilst stopping at the numerous bars along the way!!!
The new parliament is a great modern building designed by Enric Miralles a spanish architect. It is a very fragmented and intricate building with many spaces and rooms with varying qualities.
We noticed that many of the historical accounts in Edinburgh castle made mention of Stirling Castle- so we decided to dedicate our last day to going for a road trip and seeing Stirling!!
The castle is also a magnificent one and probably in a more impressive setting as it is surrounded by grass plains. It was here that King David I generally lived and had his
son. Much of the castle is now being repaired and is at that stage where there is significant digging being done in certain areas!!! Nonetheless it is a very interesting place!!!
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Chris
non-member comment
If Edinburgh Castle is the second most visited tourist attraction, what's the first? Loch Ness? Oh, and you should have sat on that big cannon! It's a tradition.