Edinburgh, Scotland

Day 58- Greenock, Scotland for Edinburgh

We arrived in Greenock, Scotland for our tour to Edinburgh, which was a two hour drive away. Scotland is about the size of Maine and has a population of 5 million. Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland. The currency is the pound Sterling(GBP). Today we toured with Friends, Ros, Linda, Paul, Ann and John. Randy asked our tour guide Robert if they are still looking for the Loch Nest Monster, he laughed and said only the tourists are looking and the locals like the tourists. We made a stop about 20 mins outside of Greenock to look at a castle build at the base of the hill. This is where William Wallace was betrayed to the English. They are getting the Castle ready to open it to the public.

Next we drove into Edinburg to Authors Seat which is on the top of a dormant volcano crater. We took in great views of Palace of Holyroodhouse and the City as well as the locals who hike the trails and walk their dogs in the area. We next went into the Palace of Holyroodhouse and the Abbey. Holyroodhouse is The Official Residence of the Queen of England, when she is in Scotland. Sorry I don't have pictures inside the Palace, no cameras allowed. We enjoyed the Palace as you could see the Old rooms and the rooms that were used today by the Queen. They had velvet ropes around the furniture and the priceless rugs rolled up where we walked around the rooms and you could just picture how when the queen was in residence they just removed the ropes and unrolled the rugs and she would be comfy. There were many bright flowers and plants around as she was due in the next week for her summer holiday. There is an old Abbey attached to the Palace that is in ruins. It is amazing that they could build such grand architecture in the 10 century. Next up was the National museum and as we were driving by it was under renovations and we decided that since we were short on time we would skip it and head to Edinburgh Castle and spend some time on the Royal mile. The Royal Mile is the area from the 12 century Castle to the Palace. Even though our tour guide Robert told us how lucky we were to have a lovey warm summer day, we opted for a quick stop for coffee, hot chocolate, scones and jam because we found it chilly. After the refreshing rest we headed up to the castle. We had to walk through a temporary stadium they set up in summer for the military tattoo. This is a military march with bagpipes ending with a lone bagpiper on the Castle Tower with Fireworks over the Castle. The Castle was in great condition and we were able explore the embattlements, cannons, prisoner of war cells, War Museum, Dragoon guards quarters, and St Margaret's chapel with its wonderful stained glass windows dating back to the 10th century. We saw a wedding couple walking down from the church. We were so glad we skipped the museum or we would not have had time for the Castle and walking the royal mile, enjoy lunch and looking in the shops. Next is Stop Dublin, Ireland.