Our first full day in Edinburgh dawned bright and sunny, perfect for trekking up The Mound to reach the castle. A word to the wise - if you're planning to go to Edinburgh, take good shoes and work on your endurance. The New Town is relatively flat, but up to and around the Old Town involves lots of hills! It reminded me a bit of San Francisco.
View of the castle from Princes Street Garden.
The Esplanade. Pshew!! We made it. Now to navigate through all the crazy tourists.
Overlooking the New Town, which dates from the mid-1700s. Edinburgh is actually a small city, with fewer than 500,000 inhabitants. I know! I was surprised, too.
Nary a breeze to flutter the Union Jack.
This way to The Honours of Scotland, the Scottish Crown Jewels. We saw the crown, sword, and scepter used by Mary, Queen of Scots, for her coronation. Also there, the much-traveled Stone of Scone!
We saw a demonstration of Scottish war techniques, namely, the use of pikes. Much yelling and grimacing.
The Scottish War Memorial is lovely and quite moving, with panels dedicated to each of the Scottish regiments.
Such a beautiful day!
Pure speculation, but I think this piper was there for activities surrounding the premier of the new Michael Fassbender movie, Macbeth, which was largely filmed on the Isle of Skye.
Rather an intimidating sight for invaders, I should think. The Rock has been inhabited since the Iron Age. Wow!
How aptly named.
Next up: Edinburgh, Part Three!
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