Well, it's been a while since my trip to Scotland - things have been
so busy! I've decided to break up my blog posts into smaller chunks. So the trip to Scotland will follow in Edinburgh, then the Borders tour I took, then the Highlands tour. First, my whirlwind trip through and around Edinburgh itself, a day that lasted many, many hours.
My train schedule was really screwy. I was told when I booked that the only available way to go was up to Sterling, north of Edinburgh, and then back down via a train change that was set to happen around 4:00am. When I was on the train to Sterling we stopped at a station called Edinburgh Waverly. Because trains can have similar names to places they are near but not be the station for that place, I did not get off here. After rousting myself before 4:00 to make the train change, though (a very cold endeavor), I took the train back to Edinburgh... Edinburgh Waverly. Anyway, I got there and checked into the hostel where I was staying, but of course the room wasn't ready. Thus, I decided to make my way out to Arthur's Seat, one of Edinburgh's seven hills and supposedly a great climb to see the entire city. My was it impressive. It was still quite dark as I was going up and even when I arrived at the summit it was still before dawn. The sun did not come up, exactly (it's Scotland...), but it was great to see the light rise over the city, and an incredible opportunity for photography.
After coming down from Arthur's Seat I headed to Holyrood Palace, the Queen's residence in Edinburgh when she visits. It was still very early, though, and the palace was not yet open. So I decided to ascend Calton Hill, the most central hill in Edinburgh, to visit the monuments to various famous men, included Lord Horatio Nelson. It was fun to go up Nelson's monument, see the almost Greek-feeling atmosphere of Calton Hill, and kill some time while the rest of the city woke up. It was intriguing to see the kind of trifecta, lookout from each of Calton Hill, Edinburgh Castle, and Arthur's Seat at each of the two others in a given place.
I did finally get down to Holyrood Palace once it opened, and I was able to go inside and tour the residence. This was neat, especially since it's actually a place inhabited (part time) by royalty. I have visited other castles still inhabited by people, but never by royalty. Unfortunately, photography of the interior was forbidden, so I only got shots of the exterior and of the inner courtyard. It was surprisingly busy given the time of year, but I was very glad to be able to get inside, out of the drizzly rain and cold, and slow the pace down a little bit from walking up and down hills.
My final activity for the day, after grabbing some lunch, was what could probably be called the "main attraction:" Edinburgh Castle. The more touring I've been doing in the United Kingdom the more "true" castles I've been seeing. I saw a tremendous number of palaces in mainland Europe when I was based in Vienna. I also saw some very rudimentary examples of castles, but they were more like keeps and many of them were largely in ruins. Edinburgh Castle, though, like Dover Castle, was a true castle. Once again, I appreciated it as it took me back to my childhood and the kind of castle I imagined in those days. Alnwick, which will be in an upcoming post, might take the cake for that reminiscence, but this was still a great experience. There were exhibits about more modern users of the castle and also a variety of canons and other interesting things scattered about. One of the imposing dwellings at the very height of the castle is actually its church, into which it was also fun to stop.
Afterward it was home for rest because I had two big days of touring ahead. Two photos to close this tour:
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| Edinburgh from Edinburgh Castle |
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| The Family Close! |
My train schedule was really screwy. I was told when I booked that the only available way to go was up to Sterling, north of Edinburgh, and then back down via a train change that was set to happen around 4:00am. When I was on the train to Sterling we stopped at a station called Edinburgh Waverly. Because trains can have similar names to places they are near but not be the station for that place, I did not get off here. After rousting myself before 4:00 to make the train change, though (a very cold endeavor), I took the train back to Edinburgh... Edinburgh Waverly. Anyway, I got there and checked into the hostel where I was staying, but of course the room wasn't ready. Thus, I decided to make my way out to Arthur's Seat, one of Edinburgh's seven hills and supposedly a great climb to see the entire city. My was it impressive. It was still quite dark as I was going up and even when I arrived at the summit it was still before dawn. The sun did not come up, exactly (it's Scotland...), but it was great to see the light rise over the city, and an incredible opportunity for photography.
After coming down from Arthur's Seat I headed to Holyrood Palace, the Queen's residence in Edinburgh when she visits. It was still very early, though, and the palace was not yet open. So I decided to ascend Calton Hill, the most central hill in Edinburgh, to visit the monuments to various famous men, included Lord Horatio Nelson. It was fun to go up Nelson's monument, see the almost Greek-feeling atmosphere of Calton Hill, and kill some time while the rest of the city woke up. It was intriguing to see the kind of trifecta, lookout from each of Calton Hill, Edinburgh Castle, and Arthur's Seat at each of the two others in a given place.
I did finally get down to Holyrood Palace once it opened, and I was able to go inside and tour the residence. This was neat, especially since it's actually a place inhabited (part time) by royalty. I have visited other castles still inhabited by people, but never by royalty. Unfortunately, photography of the interior was forbidden, so I only got shots of the exterior and of the inner courtyard. It was surprisingly busy given the time of year, but I was very glad to be able to get inside, out of the drizzly rain and cold, and slow the pace down a little bit from walking up and down hills.
My final activity for the day, after grabbing some lunch, was what could probably be called the "main attraction:" Edinburgh Castle. The more touring I've been doing in the United Kingdom the more "true" castles I've been seeing. I saw a tremendous number of palaces in mainland Europe when I was based in Vienna. I also saw some very rudimentary examples of castles, but they were more like keeps and many of them were largely in ruins. Edinburgh Castle, though, like Dover Castle, was a true castle. Once again, I appreciated it as it took me back to my childhood and the kind of castle I imagined in those days. Alnwick, which will be in an upcoming post, might take the cake for that reminiscence, but this was still a great experience. There were exhibits about more modern users of the castle and also a variety of canons and other interesting things scattered about. One of the imposing dwellings at the very height of the castle is actually its church, into which it was also fun to stop.
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