July 3
Edinburgh, Scotland
Completing our day in Edinburgh . . .
[Leaving Edinburgh Castle, the Super called to check on our dinner reservations back aboard our ship . . . ]
[Although we are now going down, Castlehill is the steep hill leading up to Edinburgh Castle. Area can be very congested at times with hoards of tourists making their way up to the castle along with taxis; buses; etc. There are a couple of cafes/restaurant on the way along with Camera Obscura; Scotch Whiskey Experience; Tartan Weaving Mill, and if you are lucky, William Wallace might be hanging around with his sword & shield (great photo opportunity) collecting for a worthy charity (www.tripadvisor.com/) . . .
[The Royal Mile is a succession of streets forming the main thoroughfare of the Old Town of Edinburgh. The term was first used descriptively in W M Gilbert’s ‘Edinburgh in the Nineteenth Century’ (1901), “…with its Castle and Palace and the royal mile between”, and was further popularised as the title of a guidebook, published in 1920. From the Castle gates to the Palace gates the street is almost exactly a mile (1.6 km) long and runs downhill between two significant locations in the royal history of Scotland, namely Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood Palace, hence its name. The streets which make up the Royal Mile are (west to east) Castlehill, the Lawnmarket, the High Street, the Canongate and Abbey Strand. The Royal Mile is the busiest tourist street in the Old Town, rivalled only by Princes Street in the New Town (Wikipedia).]
[Hardly anybody in town . . . ]
[The Super did do some shopping along here – possibly in the House of Cashmere . . . ]
[Oor Wullie . . . ]
[Strikes again . . . ]
[The National Museum of Scotland . . . ]
[William Henry Playfair, famous 19th century architect . . . ]
[May be just an old building?]
[I’ll go with the sign: The Queen’s Gallery . . . ]
[We then drove by a major happening. The Queen of England was hosting and investiture at Holyroodhouse Palace, a garden party for 8000 guests. We were not among the guests, but those that were were walking along the sidewalk in all their finery to the palace . . . ]
[For the past few days, Queen Elizabeth has been up in Scotland for her annual “Holyrood Week”—or as it’s known in the region, “Royal Week”—and today, she celebrates one of the tradition’s highlights. The Queen is hosting her fourth and final Garden Party for the summer at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the monarchy’s official resident in Scotland. As with her other Garden Parties, the Queen has invited local community leaders in order to commemorate their achievements (www.townandcountrymag.com/society/tradition) . . . ]
[The Royal High School (RHS) of Edinburgh is a co-educational school administered by the City of Edinburgh Council. The school was founded in 1128 and is one of the oldest schools in Scotland. It serves 1,200 pupils drawn from four feeder primaries in the north-west of the city (Wikipedia).]
[Nelson Monument on Calton Hill, once more . . . ]
[And a couple closer-upper shots . . . ]
[Housed in a gorgeous Georgian building, ‘Howies Waterloo Place’ is located at the foot of Calton Hill in the East End of Edinburgh. This place is stunning, a real head turner, where natural light floods the building showcasing original period features and contemporary Scottish style (Howie’s website).]
[Where we lunched . . . ]
[The Statue of William Pitt the younger, stands at the junction of George Street and Frederick Street. He was Britian’s youngest Prime Minister from 1783 until 1801 during King George III’s reign (http://www.edinburgh-newtown.com/). It must be a national law that a gull must be placed on the head of all statues . . . ]
[Former home of Robert Louis Stevenson . . . ]
[Well, hello there!]
[17 Heriot Row . . . ]
[A clock tower of limited stature . . . ]
[We appear to making our way back to our boat . . . ]
[Yup, there’s our tender . . . ]
[Well-organized, well-behaved line of American tourists boarding the tender . . . ]
[The Super led my way . . . ]
[Toodle-oo, Edinburgh . . . ]
[Dessert, or a late night evening treat . . . ]
[We would now have a day at sea . . . ]
[While heading to London, our final destination . . . ]
Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And never brought to mind? Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And auld lang syne! For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne. We’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet, For auld lang syne. ~
Robert Burns
Up Next: At Sea
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