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| Iron Bridge over the Firth of Forth |
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| The Royal Mile |
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| Plaids and more plaids... |
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| Scottish Shortbread... |
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| Typical Edinburgh Street |
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| St Giles Cathedral |
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| Holyroodhouse Abbey |
17 July 2015 – Rosyth (across the
Firth from Edinburgh) Scotland
Welcome to Scotland with a wee
‘scottish mist’ in the air – no sunscreen required – and a lone bagpiper on the
pier. Rosyth, the port of call, is situated across the Firth of Forth. A combination
of shuttle bus and train takes one to Edinburgh Waverley Train Station in about
half an hour. The station, in the centre of the city, is extensive; modern
clean trains depart every few minutes from a whole array of platforms. Without
helpful guides a visitor would be hard pressed to figure out which train to
catch to get to a desired destination.
The station is a few hundred yards
from Edinburgh Castle, and about half a mile from the Palace of Holyroodhouse,
summer residence of the present Queen (she was home, although not disposed to
receive me). This palace was also the location of one of the more spectacular
assassinations during Mary Queen of Scott’s time. Her second husband Darnell
was rather jealous of Rossio (?) who spent an inordinate amount of time with
the Queen. Darnell and his court boys broke into a tiny room hidden behind the
Queen’s bedroom, to disrupt a dinner get together where the Queen (being delicate
due to her advanced pregnancy), her ladies and said Italian were enjoying a bite to eat. They dragged the offending
noble, who tried to cling to the Queen’s skirts, through the Queen’s bedroom into her ante room
and there stabbed him over 50 times….end of Riossi, end of jealousy.
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| A dram of that would set one back a year's salary.... |
I wandered through the lavish, if
somewhat severe, State Apartments of the Palace, admired the remains of
Holyrood Abbey (12th century), and headed for the ‘Royal Mile’. It
feels more like a tourist mile nowadays, with cashmere shops, kilt makers, kilt
bespoke makers, pubs, whisky shops, and souvenir stores stacked with Scottish
Shortbread, occupying the historic buildings lining the iconic stretch from
Holyrood to Edinburgh Castle. Right now the large esplanade and terrace at the
foot of the castle looks like a construction site. Stands, stages, viewing
platforms, lighting arrangements etc. etc. are being installed in preparation
for the August ‘Edinburgh Tattoo’ probably the most impressive show in
Scotland.
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| Origin of Dr Jeckyll and Mr Hyde.... |
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| Bagpipes Forever... |
St Giles Cathedral lies at the
bottom of a hill, which is topped by Edinburgh Castle. The cathedral is home to
a number of Royal ceremonies, is graces with an impressive selection of stained
glass windows, and is the birth place of Presbyterianism.
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| Holyrood Abbey Detail |
Despite the somewhat blustery
weather, a walk through Edinburgh was thoroughly enjoyable….
