We wanted to start out early today and we actually made it on the road by 7:45am. Thankfully, the route to Edinburgh was straight forward and I had little navigating to do until we were actually in the city. Isaiah had a strange sleep last night and I was up quite often with him and didn't get much sleep so I was able to do some catch up on the way.
Our first view of Edinburgh Castle was majestic. It is set up high on a cliff with shear walls and is visible from all directions. We found parking at the bottom of the cliff and started the long march upwards. We got our tickets and made it just in time for the beginning of a guided tour. Our tour guide was an older man, kilted, and had a great Scottish accent. He told us about each of the buildings in the castle: Saint Margaret's Chapel, The Royal Apartments (where Mary Queen of Scots lived, and gave birth to her son James), The Banquet Hall and so on. We saw the 6 canons Queen Victoria ordered be stationed on the outer wall and the field gun they fire every day at 1 o'clock. He explained that they fire the gun at 1 so that all of the ship captains and everyone in the castle can synchronize their time pieces. "Why not 12 noon?" he asked us. The rest of the world uses 12 noon but not the Scots. He explained that if they were to use noon, they would have to use 12 rounds of ammunition - and the Scots don't like to be wasteful - so 1 o'clock it is.
We also got to see Scotland's crown jewels. In 1993, Queen Elizabeth opened an exhibition that relates Scotland's rich history of kings and queens. In 1996, Her Majesty ordered that the Stone of Scone, or the Stone of Destiny be brought back to Scotland. For centuries it had been part of the throne for the Coronation ceremony in Westminster Abbey. Apparently, this block of sandstone was used in the crowning of the first Scottish King. However, this Scottish relic must be returned to the throne in Westminster for the coronation of any King or Queen of the United Kingdom. It was a very neat piece of history we learned.
After we browsed the gift shop we spend the afternoon on the Royal Mile. We ate some lunch at an Italian restaurant called Bella Italia. I know, I know - Italian food in Scotland - Shame on us. But we did each try some haggis in the first shop we went in. We both though it tasted pretty good but weren't sure we wanted any more.
At the end of the Royal Mile is the Holyrood Palace. We didn't actually know about this place before we stumbled upon it, but it is in fact, the Queen's Royal Palace in Scotland. We perused the gift shop and thought about taking the tour, but it was a bit expensive. Instead we walked round the outside and took some pictures and leafed through the guide book.
After some pictures near the Parliament building and a meandering walk back to the Mile we stopped for some steamed milk at Starbucks and went back to the car. We both found Scotland and the Scots, for that matter, wilder than England. They are fiercely proud of their history and heritage - and for good reason. Edinburgh reminded me of Ottawa as far as cities go. I imagine London to be more like Toronto: skyscrapers, concrete, lots of cars and people and fashion.
We got back home shortly after 9pm. Isaiah was a monkey since he had been either in the stroller or car seat 95% of the day. After some play time and a bath, he went to sleep around 10:45. Keith and I followed shortly after - it had been a big day - a very good, exciting, and big day.
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