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Location Date North America 1385510400 South America 1385078400 Europe 
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Location Date Fri, 08 July 2011 1310107777 Thu, 07 July 2011 1310020099 Mon, 04 July 2011 1309762940 Sun, 03 July 2011
1309729527 Sat, 02 July 2011 1309643305 Fri, 01 July 2011 1309538990 Thu, 30 June 2011 1309429373
Good evening everyone......evening, afternoon; its 5 o'clock somewhere!! Have a beer for me. I'm having one for you. Ha ha ha.
Today I rose early for a quick breakfast and a hurry up and wait line at the gates for the Castle. Argh......the crowd was unexpected as i planned my arrival just when the gates opened for the day.
The castle structure was absolutely amazing. It was built on a volcanic rock formation. There is evidence of human inhabitants at this location since 9th century BC but has only been used for Royal residence since the 12th century or so. The oldest parts of what is still standing is from the 16th or so i think. Anyway the structure, as you will see in the pictures, is built directly onto the rock formation. You can see it sticking out all over the place. Natural protection from opposing forces.
I've included quite a number of pictures to give you a good idea of the architecture. I got fed up with the crowds and left before seeing the 'Stone of Destiny' and the 'Scottish Crown Jewels'. One of my main reasons for going there to begin with! I will need to go back with Kim before we leave.
I walked back to the room and packed up my bag to send home. Now that i'm all done with work i don't need the 2 bags anymore. The rest of my trip will be a one bagger.
In the afternoon i chatted with my sweetheart for an hour or so on Skype and hoofed it back to the Royal Mile. The mile is a stretch of road that extends east from the Castle gate, down castle hill, to lawn market and high street and terminates at the transition between North bridge and South bridge. Its kind of a tourist area. Ive included pictures of St. Giles cathedral, the Parliament buildings and the council buildings.
Interesting fact: the used to build Pigeon roosts into the attic areas of the structures on purpose. The birds were a welcome source of meat!
Enjoy your evening!
- comments
Gord. Visiting national landmarks on the weekend is always going to be fraught with problems. At least you managed a good breakfast? Black pudding, Lorne Sausage, proper baked beans with proper bacon? My mouth is watering at the thought. Incidentally how were the secure digs? Did you see Mons Meg? Finally you will need to visit Mary King's Close...
dan In fact that is exactly what i had for breakfast my friend + a latte of course. The black pudding was quite good. My favorite part was the back bacon though........soooooo good. Thanks for your comments my friend and for grabbing my bag at the airport!
Gord So while I sit at Calgary International for the eventual arrival of the 3pm scheduled arrival but now revised 4.41pm I thought I would spend some time catching up on the latest events on the Walker does Edinburgh part of the tour. Alas there is nothing to entertain me in my moment of gloom so I will pray for the mystical tail wind that normally accompanies the London to Calgary flight. Hopefully I will not be caught in the usual Deerfoot Trail as I try to make the early evening kick off.