LISA

Edinburgh Day 2

The Castle was our first port of call today and I was keen to see where the Military Tattoo takes place. It took me a while but I eventually realised that it is staged out the front of the castle in what is essentially the car park. Ah well. We joined a free guided tour and found out some of the chequered history of the Castle, and realised just how much the Scots hated the English - they knocked the castle down to stop it being used by the English, only to rebuild it at a later date. One of the highlights was Mons Meg, a huge 6 tonne gun, capable of firing 150kg stones up to 3kms! Incredible. It couldn't take the pressure one day though and blew a hole in its side. We also went inside the tiny St. Margaret's Chapel, the oldest building in the city and the only one that survived the demolition effort to the castle. It's still used for some weddings, but you'd have to be happy with close friends and family - 20guests would be a squeeze! Other sights: the Royal Regalia; medieval ceiling of the Great Hall; and the stores cum prisons in the Castle Vaults.

Continuing our Royal experience we walked down the Royal Mile to the Palace of Holyroodhouse. Obviously we weren't able to see the current Queen's Chambers, but we did go into Mary Queen of Scots' rooms, where her second husband murdered her secretary. Isn't history nice? Also on the tour were the throne room, several antechambers, sitting rooms, the royal dining room, the historical Kings' bedchamber (with very small bed), and most spectacularly, the Grand Gallery. This is where people are knighted, and awarded Scotland's highest honour - the Order of the Thistle. It's a very plush hall that occupies almost all of one wing of the Palace and would be a great place for sprint practice or bowling :D

Our cultural enrichment continued as we jumped on a bus to the National Museum of Scotland. Here we saw a rather disturbing Millenium Clock, some more of Paul's favourite Lewis Chessmen, a huge array of archaeological finds, and some goldfish!

Kicked out at closing time we finished our bus tour and were feeling quite pleased with how much we'd managed to fit into our day.