Sunday Castles in Edinburgh

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October 6th 2019

Published: October 7th 2019

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OffOurRocker

Gates to Holyrood Palace

Edinburgh, Scotland

We were up early this morning, off to see the castles. It was drizzling rain, but, hey, this is Scotland. That's what rain jackets are for.

Onto the bus for the trip to Palace of Holyroodhouse, where the royal family still stays when they are in Edinburgh. Lots of rooms, lots of tapestries, lots of furniture, even though they consider it small and cozy. They even Megan Markle's wedding dress on display. But you can't take pictures inside the palace. The palace was constructed on top of and next to the ruins of the old Holyrood Abbey, parts of which still stand.

We thought we would take the bus from there to the Edinburgh Castle, but the Royal Mile closes to vehicle traffic on the first Sunday of every month. So, we walked up (and I mean up as it was literally uphill all the way) the full 1.8 km of the Royal Mile in the drizzle and through the crowds. We stopped for lunch at a pub called the World's End, as it used to stand at the edge of the city. But of course the city has grown immensely since then. We were

Unicorn

The unicorn is the national animal of Scotland. Their image is everywhere, from wall panels to tapestries to keychains.

greeted at Edinburgh Castle by a docent who asked if I would like a car to drive me up to the rear of the castle. A lovely lady drove us up and entertained us with stories of having driven Pierce Brosnan the week before and not realizing who he was, in spite of his telling her twice, "I'm Pierce." She also told us of spending time around Loch Ness during her childhood and showed us a picture she took of Nessie. Up at the castle we were allowed to use the lifts to access upper floors rather than climb stairs.

After a hefty downhill (thank goodness) walk, we once again climbed aboard a bus and rode to the Royal Yacht Brittania. There we had tea aboard the yacht before heading back to our hotel.

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