“This is a city of shifting light, of changing skies, of sudden vistas. A city so beautiful it breaks the heart again and again.”
Alexander McCall Smith
The entry gate features statues of William Wallace and Robert Bruce.
Uphill is an older actual defensive gate. You can see that that the stonework of the upper part is newer than the lower. You can also see our guide Elinor’s green umbrella in many of my photos.
The Castle is a military base. The area pictured below is all military museum stuff. The statue is of a guy named Haig who was celebrated as a hero of WW1, then reviled as “Butcher Haig,” and more recently had his reputation somewhat restored.
These guards were headed from their barracks to their duty station. Elinor is in the frame, too.
This entire building is a memorial to Scottish war dead.
Long ago the Scots used this cannon that was so big that when castle defenders knew it was coming they would surrender before it was deployed. It is known as Mons Meg.
The oldest building in the castle & city:
A cemetery for royal pets:
Ceremonial stuff, because it’s the King’s official birthday:
The Walter Scott Memorial in Princes Street Gardes is the largest memorial to a writer in the world.
“Piled deep and massy, close and high; Mine own romantic town.”
Sir Walter Scott
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We took a bus to Leith to tour HMS Britannia, the Royal Yacht. The first photo is the flag locker, for contrast with the one in Lemuel Moody’s Munjoy Hill Observatory. |
Then here’s the barrel they served the rum ration from until the Navy discontinued that.
More random fancy yacht stuff:
“The view of Edinburgh from the road before you enter Leith is quite enchanting: it is, as Albert said, fairy-like and what you would only imagine as a thing to dream of, or to see in a picture.”
—Queen Victoria
Back in the Old Town we walked on Victoria Street, the inspiration for Diagonal Alley.
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