Wednesday 28th
August
Today’s pedometer reading 8.4 k’s.
This morning we caught a bus
(with seats upholstered in tartan!) into the city centre and walked through the
Princes Street Gardens where we caught our first glimpse of Edinburgh Castle; a
medieval fortress perched on ancient volcanic rock. It was the site of Mary,
Queen of Scot’s home, headquarters of Cromwell’s invading army and today hosts
the military tattoo during the Edinburgh Festival.
From the castle the thing to do
is walk down the Royal Mile toward Holyrood Palace. There were shops selling
kilts, beautiful cashmere products and just about anything you can imagine made
from tartan. There were pipers on every second corner…I just love the bagpipes.
We took loads of pictures along
the way…
St.Giles
...and a close up.
Just one of the many beautiful buildings along the way...
...and a door at the entrance to Holyrood.
Around lunchtime we
reached Holyrood Palace, the official residence of the Queen
in Scotland. Located at the bottom of the Royal Mile, at the
opposite end to Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood Palace has served as the principal residence of the Kings and Queens of Scots since the 16th century, and is a setting for state
occasions and official entertaining.
I was keen to have lunch in the Palace Cafe, it
looked lovely with tables outdoors under white market umbrellas and surrounded by big planter boxes overflowing with flowers. Andrew had
other ideas…he had spotted a place he thought would be much better…I’ll let the
photos speak for themselves! Warning...Vegetarians should avert their eyes...
I had the ‘Piglet’ with apple
sauce & yes, Andrew opted for the ‘Grunter’ complete with Haggis! I think I
should start looking for a kilt with an elastic waistband for him.
We spent the afternoon walking
slowly back up the hill to Princes Street via Cowgate and Grassmarket. There
was something special to see at every turn…
On the return journey to the
hotel we sat in the upstairs front seats of the double-decker bus…a great view
& yes this bus had tartan seats too!
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