A foggy day in London town...: Scotland Day 3: Edinburgh Castle

Thursday 20^thJanuary

A slightly sluggish start to the day after our driving around the countryside the day before, Jan and I headed off to the Edinburgh Castle to take a look around. The place is amazing with some of the best views over Edinburgh. It was great to finally be in the castle after years of seeing it on TV whilst watching the Military Tattoo at Nan’s place. Just before one we headed to the “one o’clock gun” (the Scotts were never overly creative) and waited for the cannon to be fired. I tried to record it on my camera but when the gun goes off all you see is a blur as I try to recover from the mild cardiac arrest that hit me. IT IS LOUD – especially when you are barely 10m from the thing. I found it interesting that the cannon is aimed towards the English border…some slight tension or resentment between the two countries perhaps?? Nonsense! But if the English wanted to invade all they need do is rock up at 1.15pm as the Scotts would have fired their only weapon by then!

After wandering around the castle we walked down the Royal Mile heading towards Holyrood Palace and the Scottish Parliament. We peaked through the gates of the Palace, the Queen’s home when she visits Scotland, and wandered around the edge of the gardens surrounding the ghostly Holyrood Chapel ruins. As it was a week day we decided to check out the Scottish Parliament building, which looks like something you purchase at IKEA! We had a look inside the building and sat in on question time for a bit listening to the members squabbling over issues under the limited powers that they are given through the UK government. Very interesting stuff!

We left Parliament and headed back up to the Royal Mile where we caught a bus that headed towards the sea side. Under any other circumstances it would have been slightly romantic, Jan and I walking along the water as the sun set behind us…but it just wasn’t quite working for me. Sorry Jan! We wandered along the foreshore and made our way to the docks where we found a nice seafood restaurant for dinner. We ate overlooking the Royal Yacht Britannia which when lit up at night is incredibly impressive! The yacht was decommissioned in 1997 and now is docked as a floating museum for the public.

After a ridiculously long wait for our meals, and subsequently a comp’d bill, we raced back into Edinburgh to grab our bags and head home to Leeds. It was a fantastic couple of days in the Scottish capital. Jan and I both agreed that had we gone with the uni as originally planned we wouldn’t have been able to see so many sights or go on our day trip into the highlands. A great way to finish off my time in Leeds with a good mate!