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Published: January 7th 2008
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Edinburgh with Bethany 12/28/07-12/30/07:
Friday-
Definitely a good day. British Museum with Bethany to go see the exhibit on the First Emperor of China. I had already seen it with Dave, but it was still worth a 2nd look at the whole thing. Not that I missed much, but the warriors, images and artifacts will good to see again to gain a better understanding. After that was a bit more walking around that part of town, and then back to my place to finish all the packing and set off on the hour+ tube ride to Heathrow. No problem at security (they don't even check id on domestic flights, which I find a bit scary) and easy at the gate. Flight was quick and easy, and oddly enough, they served us a full meal on the plane. We were a bit shocked, and we had already eaten, but hey...it was kind of them. We also had a fun little van ride from the airport to the Hotel, which was much nicer than I had expected. Bethany was very impressed.
After getting settled in, we took a walk up the Royal Mile for a bit and then down across the North Bridge
At the Top
Bethany and me at the top of Edinburgh Castle to New Town at the Wellington statue. This is the point where I started to fall in love with the town of Edinburgh. Then back to bed to rest up for a big day of sightseeing.
Saturday-
Not a particularly early start, but it didn't matter much as we still beat the crowd to the castle up at the other end of the Royal Mile. Found the best hot chocolate in town, which was actually at O'Brien's (just an average coffee shop) on our way up. It was actually a very nice walk through a very pretty area that was still authentic, even though there was some touristy stuff everywhere.
The castle was fantastic. We got there early enough so that we beat the crowds and got some good pictures. We cheaped out and cheated the place a bit by sharing one audio-guide, but whatever. We got all the info we really needed, and it kept us warm huddling together to listed to the little speaker in the audio-guide. It was interesting to see the evolution of the structure of the fortifications as the uses changed and expanded from hill-top fort to capitol stronghold to residence to army barracks
Me
Me under the arch entrance to the castle and hospital. It also holds a commanding view of both the New Town and Leith to the North and the Old Town and lands to the South. The Scottish Crown Jewels and Stone of Destiny (a stone upon which the kings of Scotland were crowned until it was taken by Edward I of England to add to his throne), which are all only removed for the coronation of a new king or queen of the UK. Though not nearly as impressive as the English Crown Jewels in the Tower of London, they are nothing to scoff at, and quite impressive. The castle also contained the Scottish War Museum, which has a lot on the image of the Highland soldier through time, and powerful memorials to the war dead of the country of Scotland (mostly regarding WWI).
After the castle was a quick trip to St. Giles Cathedral, which is known as the capitol of world-wide Presbyterianism. It is a lovely, gothic structure that had fallen into terrible shape. You can see the bones and the remnants of what used to be a beautiful building. They're investing a lot of time, effort and money into restoring it, and it is starting
Braveheart
William Wallace to show. Best of luck to them.
We then headed down into the New Town, which sits to the North of the city (the locals didn't start building there until Scotland was a well-established part of the UK and there was no longer any danger of invasion by the English) and about 1000' below the castle. It also has a very Georgian feel, which the older part of town is more medieval. This is the much more commercial, modern part of town, as would be expected. But it also felt just as touristy as the Old Town. Lunch was down here in a pub, which was a very nice way to warm back up after a chilly day outside.
Then back walking around and investigating town. We crested the hill and went back down to the South side looking for a little hat shop Bethany was told about. She found a cute little paper-boy hat looking thing that was nice on her, but she though she would look funny wearing...so she didn't get it. The place was funky; I tried out a top hat - looked ridiculous. We also stumbled across the place where J.K. Rowling wrote the first Harry
New Town
Me with the castle behind in New Town Potter book. Didn't bother to go inside, but did take a picture.
At this point we were ready to head back to the hotel to recharge for a bit, and on the way we found the Royal Museum. Absolute hidden gem. Free and it has lots of stuff on lots of different things. I did a read-and-react push-button exercise and got 60 hits in 30 seconds; the highest I saw anyone else get was about 40.
Then it was back to the hotel for a dip, schvitz, shower and recharge before walking over to the Grassmarket part of town for dinner. We found a wonderful little French place that was great for the two of us.
Sunday-
Slept in even later today, but whatever, it's vacation. We started our day off by walking on down about 40 yards to the Scottish Parliament. Turns out it is closed to tours on the Sunday before New Years. Which is really a shame, as the building has a really cool, funky look to it, and I would have liked to seen the interiors.
So we turned around, walked 20' to the Hollyrood House palace. This is the royal residence of the Queen
Hollyrood
Hollyrood House courtyard with Scottish Parliament behind in Scotland and has a lot of history to it. It was built by James I of England (VI of Scotland) and has had a few house guests, murders, scandals, etc... A good tour and a pretty building. The palace is also attached to a very old abbey that is only just ruins now of the nave, but still very cool.
Then a quick lunch back in the New Town and off for some souvenir shopping. Picked up lots of little things. I grabbed a scarf in the St Andrews tartan and a random one for Dave, plush postcards, a magnet and a little highland cow doll with a suction cup named "Hamish." He looks like a little Scottish Bevo, which is awesome.
We checked-out, packed the last of everything and were off to the train station for the long trip back to London. We finally got in around 2:15 and just crashed. Great weekend, on the whole.
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Bethany
non-member comment
You forgot the missing shoe!