Wee visit to bonny SCOTLAND

We arrived in Edinburgh after our RyanAir flight from Sandefjord Torp in Norway. Now that was an experience in itself! RyanAir are out to make every penny they can off you, the airline staff did almost nothing else except try to sell you stuff, SIM cards for your phone, smokeless cigarettes that are legal to use in 'no smoking areas', Scrathies & lottery tickets then of course there was the duty free alcohol, perfumes, cigarettes & since it isn't included in the fares, food & drinks. All this was squashed into a bit over an hour flight...phew, we were exhausted just watching them.



Rutland Place, we stayed in a bedsit in one of these Georgian buildings

We got to Edinburgh just after 10pm & were shown around our bed-sit, just perfect size since all we do is sleep there & whip up a bit of eggs on toast for dinner. We had three full days so chose to do our own thing on the first day. Grant wanted to go to the Fire Station and I wanted to buy some hiking poles so we decided to wander round through Princes Park, visited the art gallery, visited a National Trust Georgian Mansion, walked round the Grassmarket & part of the Royal Mile so had a lovely but exhausting day, must have walked ten miles.



Section of the Royal Mile, the street that leads from Edinburgh Castle
to the Palace of Holyrood, the Queen's official residence while in Scotland



That evening we went on a Double Dead, City Ghost Tour. It was great even though it was pick on Sharaan night for the tour guide. He found his target for 'cheap scares' early on in the evening. We went to the underground vaults that had housed thousands of people under the South Bridge during the 1700's, he told us horrific stories about life there, the filth of the city, the diseases, the harsh punishments etc all gross but really interesting. Then we walked to the Greyfriar's Church & cemetery to hear about the 'Prisoners of War' held in the tombs area, they were prisoners of the religious wars & most of them were executed or simply starved or froze to death. These old cities have such fascinating histories.



View of the castle from the Grassmarket (Toni worked near here when she was here)

Next day we bought a two day pass to see the Palace of Holyrood, the Royal Yacht Britannia & Edinburgh Castle also included was unlimited use of the five hop on-hop off bus tours round the city. Over the rest of our stay we made very good use of the buses & started with the Castle, we knew it would take a few hours at least. We took a free guided tour to the top, they just give you a bit of an oversight of the history & make recommendations of things worth seeing. The guide was really good & we followed most of his advice to have a good look round the area. Plenty of photo opportunities of course.



St Margaret's Church, the oldest structure in Edinburgh

 

A bus to the harbour was next, OMG the Royal Yacht Britannia was just gorgeous. Not as you might expect over the top opulent, but rather an historic piece of fine nautical craftsmanship. The ship is the same age as me, but it has faired a bit better, must have been all those young sailors polishing the brass & fluffing the pillows for 50 years that helped keep it young. The Royal Family chose quite simple furnishings as it was a place they could relax & share family time together. We saw the bedroom where the Queen slept & had her onboard office & even the double bedroom where Charles & Diana spent their honeymoon. We would love to own just the tender that goes with the yacht or even the Rolls Royce in the garage on the deck, dove grey leather upholstery & carpet, it looked like new but wasn't of course.



Formal dining room on the Royal Yacht Brittania

The next day we toured the Palace of Holyrood (which is the Queen's official residence in Scotland), they were busy getting the place organised for the wedding of Lady Zara (Princess Anne's daughter) & the Captain of the English Rugby Team, sorry don't know his name.  The royal apartments are not open to the public but we did see the older rooms where Mary Queen of Scots had lived. After that audio tour we walked all the way up the Royal Mile to the National Trust Gladstone House which had been the home of a wealthy textile merchant & was decorated in the style of the 17th Century to demonstrate life in the tenements 400 years ago.



Palace of Holyrood at the bottom of the Royal Mile

Squashed among all those tours we managed a visit to the Botanical Gardens & a walk round with a horticulturist who pointed out the rare plants etc they even have a Wollomombi Pine. We also did all five of the bus tours, each was very different & chose differing routes round the city streets.



Tiny section of the gardens & our guide's back

Train to Glasgow to pick up our campervan then off on our northern adventure.....