Edinburgh

Wednesday 07 September

Very unsettled weather all day, cold, windy and lots of intermittent rain. Welcome to Autumn in Scotland. We took the mini bus service directly from the caravan park straight to the city centre. Our driver acted as tour guide and had us watch out for relevant sites of interest. The major one being Fettes College school used in the Harry Potter films as the Hogwarts school. Another being the Donaldson's School For The Deaf where the film in which Maggie Smith won her Oscar (The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie 1969) was made.

Not far from the drop off point, we finally got the chance to join the National Trust for Scotland. This will allow us free entry into all National Trust sites within the UK and in Australia too for a year. Our first visit was of The Georgian House initially owned by a well to do family in the late 18^th century. Set in the New Town, the interior of this 5 level home has been restored to its original state to depict what life was like during the period. 

Very knowledgeable volunteers of the National Trust were stationed in each room to provide information and answer any questions. The kitchen, located in the basement, held a very modern “fan forced” rotisserie, and just outside were the series of bells linked to each upper room. The ground floor held the master bedroom with original flushable loo, positioned just outside the dining room containing its original fireplace. The upper floors contained bedrooms, drawing room and attic. Really enjoyable.

Heading in the direction of the Castle, we came upon the monument to prolific author and patriot Sir Walter Scott (Scott Monument). It apparently contains many sculptures of writers and characters from his novels, but is so covered in black grime it's hard to see anything. It is still impressive though with its many spires and you can climb the 257 steps of the spiral staircase for the view.

Once you're on the Royal Mile in the Old Town you're on your way to the Castle, but there is so much to see. One big distraction was the High Kirk of St Giles, the original medieval parish of Edinburgh. Parts of the church date from 1120 but the resplendid crown spire dates from 1485. The 2 pound charge to take photos is well worth it (though most didn't bother to pay) as the interior is magnificent. 

 Everything is gorgeous and heavily detailed – the bosses on the ceilings, the stained glass windows, the many plaques giving snippets of information, and the Thistle Chapel is mind blowing. Built in 1911 as the private chapel of the 16 knights of the Most Noble Order of the Thistle, you could spend a day inside this relatively small chapel and still not see everything. Loved it.

By the time we got to the Castle it was too late in the day to do it justice so we'll return tomorrow. One part that shocked us was the size of the parade grounds in front, made famous by the Edinburgh Military Tattoo (held yearly the month of August). On TV this area looks massive but in reality it is quite small. The stands (which apparently take 7 weeks to erect and the same to dismantle) seem to take up more space then the grounds themselves.

We did visit the second National Trust property available here – the Gladstone's Land – which is again a restored house of the 17^th century. Being in the Old Town, this one was much smaller and less ornately decorated but one fascinating aspect in the master bedroom was the discovery of a beautifully painted wood panelled ceiling found many years after restoration began. Again volunteers were in each room to give detail and answer questions.

During one rainy spell we ducked into the Museum of Edinburgh for a quick look. It is set in a small building of creaky wooden floors and network of rooms and holds some items of historical significance – the original plans for the New Town, the deerskin containing the petition for religious freedom (1638).

To finish off the day we ended up in front of the Holyrood Palace built in the 17^th century for Charles II and once the home of Mary Queen of Scots. Sylvi had already visited in 1992 and we didn't want to spoil the memory of Buckingham Palace with this far less superior version. The exterior is very beautiful nonetheless and you can just see the ruined 13^th century Abbey to the side.

Since 1707 Scotland hasn't had it's own parliament after joining the English Assembly. All that changed in 1999 when the country's directly elected assembly was reintroduced. The new Scottish Parliament building is a modern monstrosity directly opposite Holyrood Palace. Completed in 2004 for an astronomical 400 million pounds, a mere 360 million over budget. It really looks out of place in this city of history.

Thursday 08 September

Today the wind has gone and it's beautiful and sunny. Back in the city we walked past the Princes Street Gardens in the New Town, full of blooming rose bushes in a multitude of colours.

We had bought our Edinburgh Castle tickets and audio guides online so retrieved those and swept past the crowds still lining up.

The rock the Castle is built on was formed following glacial retreats and volcanic action centuries ago. The oldest part of the building dates to the 12^th century and the newest additions from 1920. Along the upper walls are canon gun batteries strategically placed to provide the best defence against attacks. The most enormous canon, and in the end useless – the Mons Meg – weighs nearly 7000kg and was last fired in 1680 when the barrel burst on discharge. It has since travelled between the Tower of London and Edinburgh Castle for viewing purposes only.

The Castle grounds are very large and still used as a working military base. There are several museums, a chapel, prisons of war and military prisons with full reconstructions, the Great Hall with armoury displays, the Scottish National War Memorial and of course the Royal Palace containing the crown jewels (The Honours of Scotland).

When we first tried to visit the Honours, the crowd stretched out the door so Bill suggested we return at 1pm when most people would want to see the firing of the One o'clock Gun as has traditionally occurred since 1861 as a time marker. That was a brilliant idea. The Honours consist of a pearl and gem crown, sceptre and sword. There were also some other magnificent pieces of jewellery on display and a lump of stone known as the Stone of Destiny.

This was a really fantastic visit and the audio guides were the best we've had so far, giving just enough information about each topic without waffling on.

Sylvi had vegetarian Haggis for lunch, if that's possible. Apart from mushrooms and oats, the contents were a mystery but delicious anyway. Bill had his favourite pork belly.

We tossed up whether to head to the port to visit the Royal Yacht Britannia, settling on a walk up Calton Hill (the other end of the Royal Mile) for a great 360 degree view of the city, and the monuments there.

Edinburgh became known as the “Athens of the North” for it's Grecian style architecture in the New Town, however this was taken a step too far on Calton Hill with the National Monument. This half completed copy of the Parthenon was to be a memorial to those lost in the Napoleonic Wars but funds ran out and only 12 columns eventuated. There is also a memorial to Admiral Nelson who won the battle of Trafalgar (Oct 1805), defeating the French and Spanish fleets without the loss of a single British ship. And also the City Observatory 1818 which closed its doors at the end of the 19^th century due to pollution and the advent of street lighting which impaired the views of the stars.

On our way back to catch the bus we stopped to visit a spooky old cemetery, which amongst others is the final resting place of David Hume known for his importance in the period of the Scottish Enlightenment. It was he who suggested a walking track should be built on Calton Hill for the health of locals and so foreigners could discover the beauty of Edinburgh from on high.

Friday 09 September

Constant drizzly rain and the fact we slept in late due to broken sleep the past couple of nights meant we missed the bus into town and decided to just slop around and catch up on emails and the blog. The camp site is actually within the flight path of the Edinburgh Airport and the planes run very late into the night. Much later then Berlin anyway. And of course it all starts up again quite early in the morning.

An interesting thing about the camp site is that it's directly opposite this old mansion which now serves as a temporary home for the homeless. 

The camp site's main buildings also have a military history which the bus driver mentioned on our first day, but we can't remember exactly what. They are gorgeous old stone buildings anyway.

The late afternoon suddenly brightened so we went for a walk along the Firth of Forth (a fjord formed by a glacier) which surrounds Edinburgh. Out in the distance we could see a small island with what appeared to be several buildings. There were no signs anywhere indicating what this island was or if you could get to it. A later search of Google Maps revealed the island but not its name, nor was there any reference to it via council sites. We imagine it might hold some secret, spooky past or be a Scottish Alcatraz. Actually a further Google search revealed it to be Inchcolm island and once housed n Augustine Abbey and can be visited by ferry. We like our version better!!

Another island we could see in the distance (Cramond Island) turned out to be an old Roman settlement which you can only get to when the tide is out and even then you only have 2 hours to walk out there, explore and make your way back to shore or else call the Coast Guard to come rescue you.

Totally loved Edinburgh.

More photos here.