The Royal Mile

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Our first stop today was Edinburgh Castle. It is a pretty big complex. We saw the batteries where they had the 18-pound cannons, and one cannon is still in use today. They set it off everyday at 1pm so people can set thier clocks to it. They said that the reason why they didn't choose high noon was because they didn't want to use up 11 more rounds everyday. Another building we went to on the castle grounds was St. Margaret's Chapel. It is the oldest building in Edinburgh. They still have weddings there today, and the brides' fathers really like it because it can only hold 20 people. In front of St. Margaret's Chapel is a huge cannon called Mons Meg. It could fire 330-pound stones nearly 2 miles. We also went to see Scotland's Crown Jewels. One thing I learned is that Queen Mary was crowned when she was just 9 months old. One interesting item they had in the display case with the crown jewels was the Stone of Destiny. All it is is a big piece of rock. It used to sit under the coronation chair at Westminster Abbey. Queen Elizabeth agreed to let the stone go home to Scotland, as long as it's returned to London for all future coronations. We also went in the Scottish National War Memorial. It is a really beautiful building and looks like a cathedral on the outside. It commemorates the Scottish soldiers lost in battle. As you leave the castle, you can see 2 statues of King Robert the Bruce and Sir William Wallace on either side of the gate. A Latin inscription above the gate reads, "What you do to us...we will do to you."

After leaving the castle, we starting walking down the Royal Mile. This stretch of road connects Edinburgh Castle with the Palace of Holyroodhouse. Our first stop was the Tartan Weaving Mill, where we saw the machines that were making the tartans.

We then stopped and saw the Heart of Midlothian that's on the ground in front of St. Giles Cathedral. This marks the former spot of the gallows and prison. Traditionally, locals stand on the rim of the heart and spit into it, and if you hit the center, it brings good luck. We decided not to participate in this tradiion. We then went inside St. Giles Cathedral. The stained glass windows inside are so beautiful. There was also a really nice organ inside, and someone was playing it while we were in there. John Knox preached here, and is now buried out back--under parking spot 23. Also outside of St. Giles is Mercat Cross. On the very top of the column is a white unicorn. Royal proclamations have been made here since the 14th century, and in 1952, a town crier announced the news that England had a new queen.

Our next stop was Demijohns, which is just off the Royal Mile. It's this really cool whisky shop where you can try out the different varieties, then pick out the size and shape of your bottle and have it filled with whatever you want. After we made our selections, we walked down to the gardens by St. Andrews Square and had lunch.

Since it was so early, we decided to take the bus out to Roslin and visit Rosslyn Chapel. Roslin is 7 miles outside Edinburgh, so we got to see the outskirts of the city. This chapel is believed to have ties with the Knights Templar. It is actually undergoing reconstruction right now, but the nice thing about that is you can go on the scaffolding and see the higher parts of the chapel up close. The inside has lots of stone carving. My favorite part was the ceiling, which is covered in stars and flowers. Another interesting part of the chapel is the Apprentice Pillar. The story goes that the master mason went on vacation to get inspiration for how he wanted to carve the pillar. when he was gone, his apprentice had a dream about how to carve the pillar, and when he woke up, he went and carved it. When the master returned, he saw what his apprentice did and was very jealous of his work, so he killed him. After he was found guilty, they had the face of the master carved into the wall, facing the Apprentice Pillar, so he would have to look at it for all eternity. Another carving in the chapel appears to look like maize. This was first discovered in the New World, which had not happened yet when this chapel was made. It is thought that the Knights Templars might have travelled to the New World before Columbus discovered it.

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Photos

One o'clock Cannon
This is the cannon that goes off everyday at 1pm.

Heart of Midlothian
Can you see the spit?