Hiking Around Edinburgh

I've been staying with Amanda (who I met on the bus in Cornwall) and Niamh in their flat in Edinburgh since last Tuesday. On the weekend Amanda's friend Susie arrived as well, on the last leg of her euro-trek before going back to Canada. So the past couple days while Amanda and Niamh were at work, Susie and I walked around checking out the sights of Edinburgh.

20 June 2005

EDINBURGH CASTLE
I got in for half price with my English Heritage membership. :D
We got in just in time for a very entertaining and humorous guided tour up around the castle. That finished in the royal courtyard, and we got into the Great Hall just in time to see a staff member in costume as Lord William Crichton, an influential noble of King James II of Scotland. He gave us a good talk on that particular period of history, in character as Lord Crichton.
We also got to see the Honours and Crown Jewels of Scotland, including the 152-kilogram Stone of Destiny. Now back in its rightful home of Scotland, it will continue to be taken down to Westminster Abbey for any future coronations.

After the Castle, we walked down the Royal Mile all the way to the bottom of the hill, near the Scottish Parliament. Outside the Parliament I saw a guy walking along with a few friends, explaining something to them about a couple of the quotations etched in the walls. It was Brian Cox. Some of you are right about now going "Who?" (Am I right?) Well then, you can click here. He was in Braveheart, Rob Roy, X-Men 2, and Troy, among many other films.

Then we had a late lunch (around 4.30 in the arvo) at a great pub called The Advocate, just off the Royal Mile. All the tables had different styles of seating available - some padded, some wooden, some leather, etc. Our dining table was a Singer table without the sewing machine (but the foot-pedal and wheel still worked!). There were ironing boards, milk buckets and other 19th-Century homely things suspended upside down from the ceiling. Odd... but interesting.

21 June 2005

Today we walked into town, and visited St Giles Cathedral on the Royal Mile. A visiting boys' choir from South Carolina were performing a concert. Amazing sounds, sitting in a cathedral, under a high vaulted ceilings, scenes from the stories of Joseph and Moses in the stained glass windows nearby.

We met Amanda on her lunch break and ate sausage rolls in Princes St Gardens while a concert band played in the amphitheatre.

Then Susie and I walked to Holyrood Palace, walked past that, and up around the Salisbury Crags (some cliffs overlooking the city). Once we'd done that, then we started the trek up to Arthur's Seat. Arthur's Seat is 250.5 metres above sea level, with fantastic views in all directions around Edinburgh and Lothian. But talk about windy! It was freezing cold even in the bright sunshine. I tried sketching a postcard, but the wind blew my metal pencilcase out of my hands. Luckily myself and a couple other hikers were able to rescue all my equipment. I'll do the colouring in when I get back to the flat this evening. Fantastic views - but I had to pay with sore legs.

I have to pack tonight, because tomorrow I'm off on two buses and a ferry to reach the island of Colonsay, in the Western Isles.