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Deciding the car might be helpful in reducing walking time, we took the car
down to Holyroodhouse Palace, passing the infamous parliament building under
construction on the way. Wayne dropped us off at the entrance and parked,
while we explored the gift shop. It was a foggy, misty day, so you could
just barely make out Arthur's Seat from right there at Holyroodhouse. The
tour of the palace was quite interesting - it included a recorded audio tour,
so you could take the rooms at your own pace and still hear all the history
and commentary. It was very well done. Wayne and I were particularly taken
by the fountain outside the gate it had elaborate carvings on all sides
featuring a wide variety of animals and people.
The palace itself is set up in a square, with an open courtyard in the middle we later found the ground floor entry similar to that of Iona's cloisters at the abbey. The great hall/ballroom with the amazing collection of portraits of the kings was quite impressive. My favorite part was the apartments of Mary Queen of Scots at the top of the palace. We were afraid we weren't going to be able to get Mom up to that portion of the palace, because the entry was a very narrow circular stairway, but a bit of exploring showed that the exit stairway was straight and wide, so we took her up the back way. |
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After exploring the palace, we got the car and wound our way (through several detours due to construction) to the other side of the Royal Mile, to St. Giles' Cathedral. Wayne dropped us off there and parked the car while we got a wonderful guided tour of the cathedral. I'd been there several times, but had never gotten the tour. We got an in-depth explanation of the Thistle Chapel and the Scotland's Order of the Thistle. We learned of the Marquis of Montrose, whose dismembered body was collected for burial here, as completely as could be done more than ten years after his death. We learned about John Knox's association with the church and the role the church had in the reformation. It was a terrific tour. After the tour, we went down to the cafeteria beneath the church for lunch -- good sandwiches and millionaire shortbread!
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We headed back to the B&B.
I had a difficult choice to make regarding our time in Edinburgh I had several friends I wanted to see while in that area, and our time was very limited. I ended up having to make a choice between staying in Edinburgh and seeing a close friend Heather Yule and driving back to Glasgow to see another friend Cheyenne Brown. We ended up opting to see Heather, which was truly a wonderful time.
We met at Metropole Café, just a couple of blocks from our B&B. We had a light meal and more millionaire shortbread. (Can you tell I have a weakness??) It was fantastic getting a chance to catch up with Heather, who was just getting ready for the opening of the Edinburgh Harp Festival the following day. Heather gave me an adorable Lapwing stuffed toy that makes bird noises. We talked about everything from family and friends in common to Glencoe and Scotland tourism. It was a wonderful evening.
I felt quite badly that we weren't able to work anything out to meet with Cheyenne. I really hope to get to visit her sometime soon.
It was also frustrating to know that we were so close to the Edinburgh Harp Festival, but weren't going to attend. I have a lot of friends that attend the festival that I would have liked to see, and it would have been great to be exposed to all that wonderful harping. However, I felt it was also nice to take this trip to Scotland with absolutely no music obligations or plans - it turned this into a true vacation for me, instead of one related to work in some way. I think it ended up being a good decision.
We ended the day with Magnum Intense bars before bed.