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Monday : overcast and rain
Had a bit of a lay in today which was nice. After breakfast we walked through a park on the way up to Edinburgh Castle. The line was quite big so we jumped on our phone and bought tickets online and wandered straight in. You beauty!
The castle is perched on top of another hill in Edinburgh and looks amazing from the streets below. Once through the gates which no one has ever been able to get through by force, you have some medieval stairs to the left and a row of canons to the right. The area to the right used to be farmland to sustain the castle for when it was under siege. Now it is a viewing platform over the city and for the 1pm gun, which we just made after our guided tour.
The tour took us up the ramp past the modern (well Victorian buildings) hospital, Scottish war museum, royal army barracks and prisons through another gate Into another yard. Up the top there were more views out over Edinburgh, St. Margaret's Chappell Edinburgh's oldest building and a number of Battery's, with one displaying Mons Meg a 14th century six tonne canon that could fire a 150kg ball over 3kms!
You could go in two directions once here the left or the right. Both lead you through a narrow passage into which is the heart of the castle. There was the royal palace and tower which is where the Scottish honors and crown jewels are kept, (very cool) and the room were Mary Queen of Scots gave birth to her son James Vl of Scotland and James l of England. The great hall decked out with armor and weapons, with an original 16th century timber ceiling. The Scottish war memorial with displays for each Scottish regiment and the listings of each fallen soldier in a book under their regiments display since the First World War, the memorial used to be a church. Finally the royal gun house, which got converted into the Queen Anne building later a tearoom, unlucky.
It was a big day at the castle but once we were finished there we had a walk about the old town and through princess street gardens. Then stopped off and picked some sausage, ribs, chicken nuggets, salad and ciders for dinner. Yum!
I like Edinburgh, it definitely has a different feel and look to London. Well for a start its no way near as busy, and it's a good walk around city with still lots to see and do. I rate the look of the buildings up here too, lots of Gothic and Georgian architecture. It's a pity that we only have two nights here, but got to keep moving. I prefer being out in the bush anyways.
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