Edinburgh Castle

 Edinburgh Castle

Ok, so, we are still here in our fabulous(ish) castle/hotel.  We spent a crazy day yesterday all around Edinburgh. SO MUCH DONE.  In all honesty - this trip is going to be blog fodder for a long time coming, if I am to actually limit my photos.  That said - I am going to be posting one piece of each day for your perusal.  For instance, yesterday, we saw 3 castles, a national museum, various other touristy things.

That said, the highlight of it all was Edinburgh Castle.  We walked all the way up the hill from the park, and all the way up to the top!   As you can see, the view is simply stunning!  Being so far north, of course the sun sets much earlier than we are even used to in Southern Germany.  So, by 4pm local, the sun is setting!  The weather is changeable, and that is no joke, throughout our day, we went from blue skies, to a blizzard, to rain, to overcast, and then to a glorious sunset over the city of Edinburgh!  We lucked out!

At the top of the castle, next to the The Honours, and the Royal Apartments is the National War Monument.  This is dedicated to all the veterans, and has the names of all those who died in WWI.  My Great Grandfather's brother's name is there.  It is a beautiful, somber place, and afforded some great reflection time.

After a few quiet moments, we moved onto the Scottish Honours, and were able to see the crown jewels of Scotland, rumored to be formed from the original circlet of gold worn by Robert the Bruce, and through the generations to Mary Queen of Scots and beyond.  You are allowed to take pictures in there, however there is so much reflective surface that it was fairly worthless to try - so, i will leave you with pictures of the building that not only houses the honors, but the Royal apartments as well, which were sometimes home to Mary Queen of Scots, and the birthplace of James VI and I of England.

Well, enough of a history lesson for now.  Endinburgh Castle was everything it promised to be, and more.  We were lucky to see it! 

So, adieu for now - I hope you all are having as wonderful a time reading this as I am taking pictures for it, and writing about it!

Thank you for reading about all our wanderings!  As always, please leave a comment, ask a question, or share your experiences, I would love to hear from you!