Scotland - Castles and Kilts

Our next stop was the botanical gardens.  I pose in front of a gate of flowers.

While Bram is attacked by a giant leaf.

Ahhhh!

Bram parts the hedge sea to let a family through.

Married to Moses

Here's a giant thistle - taller than a man!  It's the national flower of Scotland.   I don't remember the story exactly, but from what I remember, an enemy of Scotland stepped on a thistle and yelled out, alerting the Scots of the presence of their enemy.

Baby duck.  Awww.

Then Bram and I head into the heart of Edinburgh.

Kilts were plentiful.  Here is a shop with kilts on display.

Make a fashion statement with a kilt and a college sweatshirt!

There is a cathedral (that's now a cafe)
that used to have a graveyard near it.  It became very crowded, and eventually they moved the bodies, except one, belonging to a man who wanted to be buried by the church.

His body now lays unceremoniously under a yellow unmarked plaque under parking spot 23.

The streets of Edinburgh.  

There is a nice heart in bricks
on the ground.  Bram and I thought it was sweet, until we found out that it used to be in front of where Scotsman had to pay taxes, and when they left, they would spit on the heart to show their distaste for tax paying.  Locals still spit on it to this day.


Neat dragon.

Neat building.

A courtyard.  In the days of old, buildings were twice as high and made of wood.  The richest people would live on the bottom - in case the building caught on fire - they had the best chance to survive.  It wasn't a pleasant place - with bedpans and trash being thrown out of the windows into the courtyard. 

Some colored doors.

Note the name of the two pubs.  Maggie Dickson was the name of a woman condemned to be hanged in the town square.  Before someone was due to be hanged, they gave them their last drink of whiskey (hence the Last Drop pub).  The woman was hanged and pronounced dead, and as she was carted off to the cemetery, the man driving the cart was frightened near to death when Maggie started knocking at her coffin.  It turns out she wasn't dead after all.  So he turns around and brings her back to the gallows, where she is given another last drink of whiskey.  And just before she is hanged for the second time, a man shouts out.  "Wasn't the penalty for her crime that she is hung

Seat of the gallows.  Now a seat for tourists.

until pronounced dead?  And hasn't she already served her punishment?"  The crowd agreed she had, so she was set free. 

The next story is about a dog named Bobby.  Back in the 1800s Bobby's master died and was buried.  Bobby, the devoted pooch, didn't leave his master's grave.  He became a symbol of loyalty. 

Pub named after the loyal dog.

Bobby's master's grave.

Bobby's own ceremonial grave.

Another grim graveyard visit - a death locker, where people would pay so that after they died, they would be buried inside for a couple of weeks, so that graverobbers would not dig up their bodies and sell them in the booming cadaver market.  

Next, something more lighthearted: here is the school that Hogwarts was modeled after!

And the cafe that the poor (at the time) J.K. Rowling sat at to write her now famous Harry Potter books.

I thought this was an interesting street: the bottom half is colorful, the top half is dark brown.

In the Princess Street Gardens, a beautiful flower clock.

 

A cottage in the gardens.

Looking back up the cliffs in Edinburgh.

From this view, we could see the castle, and see why it was built where it was - a nice defensible (and beautiful) cliff.

Looking back at the Royal Mile - the mile long street running from the castle to the Royal Residence.  It's up on the cliff too, and makes for an impressive skyline of buildings and cliff.

The whole reason Bram and I went to Edinburgh was to celebrate our one year anniversary!  Here we are at our nice anniversary dinner.  

Time to head back to Paris.   One of the trains was a nice old-fashioned train, complete with nice old furniture.  

And heading back home via train through the green hills.

Green hills of Scotland!

Next, I hopped on a train and made the trek across the UK, northward to Scotland.  Scotland is amazingly beautiful.  It must be on my top 5 beautiful places I've visited in my life, and if I ever go back, I would love to spend some more time in the highlands.  There were beautiful *green!* rolling hills that dipped directly into the sea.

 

Upon arrival, the city was filled with the sound of bagpipe music.  Everywhere.  A bagpipe player walked right up to my husband to pose.

And the double-decker buses!  If I'm ever rich, I'm going to buy my own.

Note the plaid seats!

Edinburgh is amazing.  There are beautiful stone buildings everywhere.

Walking down the "Royal Mile", a street that links the castle with the royal residence (which is much more comfortable) lined with amazing architecture.

We head directly for the castle.  Cool!

Walking up to the castle.  We see lines of cannons along the wall.

Looking back down at Edinburgh from the castle.  Now we could see why it was built here!

The famous "one-o'clock" gun.  It's been fired every day at one-o'clock for years.  Why at one?  Well, it's more economical to fire once at one, than twelve times at noon.

The one-o'clock gun.  Scaring tourists daily.

On the castle grounds.

Bram contemplating life as he looks over the castle wall.

Below, the beautiful Princess Gardens sits in a bed of green.

I pose as a solemn guard.

The gargoyles of the castle.

From the castle, we can make out Arthur's Seat, a beautiful hill near the edge of the town.

Inside the castle, we visit rooms which make a grand display of Scottish defense.  Making art out of weapons, like swords and even guns, seems common here - I saw a similar display in Windsor castle.

Reminded me of so many scenes in movies, like the one in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. 

Could have an epic fight scene in this room.

Below, in the dark dungeons.  Many people from the American Revolution stayed here.  We could see their stories carved into the wood of the door.

The castle's chapel.

Another view of Arthur's Seat.

 

A man high up on the Seat.

We wandered through a factory where they make kilts.

Then we headed down the Royal Mile.  So many buildings made of brick!

The Royal Residence, made busy by the Royal Wedding that day!

This "window" (at the Royal Residence) was particularly interesting... it made it look like you were looking into the church!

And here's the church of the Royal Wedding!  I took pictures of people taking pictures...

From a distance, the Royal Mile is quite impressive, with buildings built on the edge of a cliff, so that they are short on one side, but very tall on the other.

Life is to the right.

And finally... our awesome hotel room!