Edinburgh Castle is surrounded by a cliff in three sides and the fourth side is reached by climbing uphill and entering a narrow gate. Scottish kings and queens reigned from here in centuries past. The Scottish Crown Jewels are on display, though they haven't been worn in a coronation ceremony for hundreds of years. St. Margaret's Chapel is the oldest building on the castle grounds, dating back to the twelfth century. The WWII Memorial names all Scott's who died in the first and second world wars.
It was a typically foggy day, so we didn't have the clearest view of the city from the castle but we did learn the origin of the expression “bang on time.” Historically, many cities fired a cannon or shot a gun at precisely noon every day to alert citizens and vessels of the correct time. Upon hearing the bang, you were then able to be on time.
We had hoped to enter Holyrood Palace but as it's still an active royal residence, the Queen's plans to visit Holyrood superseded ours and we had to satisfy ourselves with standing outside the closed gate. Watching a building from behind a gate gets boring pretty quickly so we started to wonder aloud who the people were who confidently strode up to the gate and were allowed in. Gawking also lost its charm, so we carried on our way.
The one upside to the Queen being in residence was that she had a garden party the day we arrived in town and everywhere we looked we saw men decked out in their traditional kilts. I thought it was a little rude of the Queen to not invite us but I'm sure it was just an innocent oversight.
Every day we walked past St. Giles Cathedral on the Royal Mile at least two or three times, so we finally went inside to check it out. The interior had plenty of lovely statues, stained glass, and ceiling arches.
We walked along Prince Street, found Jenner's Department Store, saw the Scott Monument and one or two other spots my mom and aunt recalled from their childhood Scotland trip and our grandparents' stories.
