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Edinburg & Holyrood, Royal MileMay 30, 2007
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Edinburgh castle from the parking lot
with tickets we proceed over the drawbridge
View from the casstle to Carlton Hill with it's Lord Nelson monument...
| We are on our way by 8:15 for the over 2 hour ride to Edinburg. We hoped the rain would stop by the time we arrived but no luck. Our guide at the Edinburg Castle, our first stop, said as the rain and wind tossed and chilled us that it is not always this warm. It can be very hard to understand the Scots even though I believe that they speak English most of the time. This guide also said that this was the best Castle (as the Sterling guide said). The tour included a story of the King who threw his enemy out the window and killing him, the room where Mary Queen of Scots was in labor for 16 days to give birth to James 6th then becoming James 1st King of England, the Scottish Royal Jewels and the well made fort which frustrated many an enemy. At 1pm they shot off a cannon which is a tradition to let ships in the harbor know the time. They picked 1pm not 12 because as the guide said they are Scottish and a noon signal would mean 11 more shots each day...too expensive. We headed for the HSBC branch for some bank assistance with our debit card. They took two hours, said it was all set but nooooo... it became the major problem for months...bad bank. All ate late lunch across the street at Bar Napoli as recommended by the folks at the bank which was the best thing they did. I ran back and forth to order and eat but soon cash in hand we all headed off past Sir Walter Scotts memorial to Calton hill. We stayed there enjoying the sunshine(finally)and the views which were great. We left by a back route toward Hollyrood Castle but due to Prince Charles being there it was closed to the public. We looked about, watched the changing of the guard then headed up the road called the Royal Mile which lead us back to Edinburg and the car. On the way we bought a Christmas ornament, a sweater for Sheri and scarfs for me and the girls. Once back at the condo at 8:30 we opted for light dinner(soup)for us as Barb and Andy went out to eat. It stays light till 10ish so by dusk we were fast asleep...great day. |
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