Happy Halloween!

Hope your day is frightfully fun!

Exploring Edinburgh And Searching For Nessie!

If you aren't interested in seeing a bootyload of Scotland pictures, then this isn't the post for you. That said... we woke to an amazingly gorgeous day in Edinburgh and decided to make the most of it. Today was the day to explore the city. This is what was just outside our hotel. We rounded the corner onto the Royal Mile, and this is what we found. I know. It's just too perfect. Russ immediately asked me if this is why I booked our hotel. Nope. But it is one fantastic bonus. :0) You know how I love my Starbucks collector's mugs.Even if you don't have an agenda, just get out and walk on the Royal Mile. It's one of the most interesting streets in Europe. It's an eclectic mix of historic buildings, restaurants, and souvenir shops. In other words, there is something for everyone.

There are narrow alleyways off of the main streets called closes, and they all have names. Some are plain, and others have really interesting details. We stopped to check out the ghost tours of the city. Hmmm. This looks like lots of fun, considering how close it is to Halloween...
See? Everyone loves Edinburgh. Actually, this is the famous heart of Midlothian. It's supposed to be good luck to spit on it, but I passed on that one. Of course, that did explain the dampness and build up of chewing gum.
After a few minutes, we made it to Edinburgh Castle. In ancient times, this was known as Din Eidyn, or the stronghold of Eidyn. The English invaded around 638 AD, and it's been known as Edinburgh ever since. It's now a World Heritage site, and is a working military installation.
A bronze statue of Sir William Wallace stands guard outside the castle. On closer inspection, it looked nothing like Mel Gibson, but who am I to judge.

You can take off on your own to explore the castle, but we chose to tag along with the guided tour. It was really interesting to hear all of the stories about the castle and the people who lived there. This is the back side of the Scottish National War Memorial. It was formerly a church, and later the North Barracks.

This is the Great Hall, built in the early 16th century. It was refurbished in the 1880s. The medieval roof is very famous, and is the oldest surviving one of it's type in all of Britain.

Here is the front of the Scottish National War Memorial. You can't take pictures inside of it.

The Royal Palace began as an extension to David's Tower, but was enlarged to be the royal residence in the castle in the 1430s. No royals have lived here since Charles I in 1633. Now it's home to the royal crown and scepter.

The Queen Ann building was once the Royal Gun house. The chambers beneath were used as a prison during the wars with France in 1793 to 1815.

The views from the castle are amazing.

This is the One O'clock Gun. It's fired at 1 pm every day except Sundays, Good Fridays, and Christmas Eve. The One O'clock Gun first fired in 1961, and the tradition is alive and well today. The current gun is a 105 mm field gun, and it was installed in 2001. The gun is used to keep everyone in the city on time. When asked why it didn't fire at noon, the guide told us that the Scots are a cheap folk, and by firing at 1 pm, they only have to use one bullet a day. You can't argue with that logic.

These cannons are strictly ornamental. They were added by the queen for a stately appearance. They are real cannons, and were once used on a ship.

After spending a few hours wandering around the castle, Brandon checked his messages and we were off to explore more of Edinburgh.

So of course, we headed back down the Royal Mile.

Scott Monument is in honor of Sir Walter Scott, and it was built between 1840 and 1844.

The Balmoral Hotel is the former North British Hotel. It's across from the Scott Memorial and up from the Waverly Train Station. The clock on the tower is always 5 minutes fast (except for New Years Eve) in order to keep distracted passengers from missing their train.

We traveled on from the Balmoral Hotel and climbed up to the top of Calton Hill. We had seen it from the castle, and decided to go and check it out. It was well worth the hike. This is the Dugald Steward Monument. It was built in 1831, and is modelled after the Tower Of The Winds in Athens.

Also on the hill is the National Monument of Scotland. It's designed to look like the Parthenon, and construction started in 1826, but it was left alone and unfinished in 1829. Funds for the project ran out, and it's referred to as Edinburgh's Disgrace or Folly. (Is it just me, or do the Scottish really like to represent other countries in their monuments?) The views from the top of Calton Hill are some of the best in all of Edinburgh. On the way back down, we stopped for a moment in Old Calton Cemetery.

Then it was back to the Royal Mile and out hotel. We were pooped after a day of walking/hiking around the city, but the adventure was not over yet. After dinner, the kids hung out at the hotel and relaxed while Russ and I...

went on the Hidden and Haunted Tour of Edinburgh with Mercat Tours. It was a lot of fun. We weren't really scared, but our guide did a fantastic job of telling gruesome, historic tales of the people of Edinburgh as we wondered around the darkened streets of the city.

The tour ended with us walking in haunted, candlelit chambers far below the city streets. No spirits showed themselves to us, but we were assured that they were there just the same. It was more than a little creepy, and we thoroughly enjoyed the tour. I'd have to say that our first full day in Scotland was a complete success.

The sun was just starting to come up when we made our way back outside the next morning. After much debate, we decided to just go for it and take the Loch Ness Tour with Scotline Tours. I am so glad that we did. It was fantastic, and turned out to be the highlight of our trip.

There was so much to see on our ride. Check out this beautiful castle.

Doesn't this look like something from a Harry Potter movie? It should, because it's almost identical to the one just down the road that was used in the film.

We took a coffee break early on in the trip and met Hamish. He and his lovely family are Highland Cattle, the oldest pedigree breed of cattle in the world, dating back to the 6th century.
We also met the wife... And of course, Junior. Highland cattle don't have any fat to keep them warm, so they have an extra layer of hair for insulation and weatherproofing instead. They shed the extra hair every Spring and then start the growing process again for the next winter.

We made several stops along our tour, so that we could get out, stretch our legs, and admire the gorgeous scenery. Fall is one of the most beautifuls seasons in Scotland. This is the Weeping Glen of Glencoe, famous site of the 1692 Massacre.

This is an old drovers bridge. Drovers were the people that drove the Highland cattle from the mountains to the markets for sale.

More beautiful scenery to admire.

Finally, we reached Urquart Castle, located on the famous Loch Ness. I can't tell you how excited I was to finally get here. For as long as I can remember, I've been fascinated with Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster. I do think that Monster isn't a very nice term, so I prefer to think of her as a shy aquatic friend.

Again, the scenery didn't disappoint. It was absolutely stunning.

We climbed to the top of the castle and searched everywhere for Nessie. Sadly, we didn't locate her anywhere. I did see several clues to her existance, though. Don't worry, Nessie. I'm still a believer.

After touring the castle, we walked down to the dock to wait for our boat ride down the Loch Ness. Nessie was still being shy, but we did happen upon the Loch Ness Duckster. He was quite ferocious. I continued my search for Nessie. She's so close, I can just feel it...We saw strange ripples in the water, but still no official sighting. Sadness. I knew we weren't guaranteed to see her, but a gal can hope, can't she?Our boat soon arrived, and we were then cruising on the Loch Ness. How cool is that?It offered us another view of that amazing Urquhart Castle. A storm was approaching in the distance, and the clouds were so pretty. Much too soon, our cruise was over and we were at the dock.At one point, I almost felt like someone was watching us, so I think that Nessie was very close, but still... no sight of her. She is very stealthy. Most people think that there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, but we in Scotland know that it really points the way to Nessie. We saw 7 rainbows during the days tour, so either Nessie gets around a lot, or she has a much bigger family that we had imagined. We drove along the banks of the Loch and back down to the city of Edinburgh, arriving back at our hotel around 9 pm, exhausted and very very happy. Just another wonderful day spent in a gorgeous country. The only sad part was knowing that we had to fly back home the next afternoon.

We woke up bright and early, and said goodbye to our lovely Scotish home away from home.

having a few hours to explore before we took off for the airport, we walked the other direction down the Royal Mile and ended up at the Palace of Holyroodhouse. It was too early in the day for a tour, but we wanted to see it before we left.

The Palace of Holyroodhouse is the official Scotish residence of the Queen of England.

Given more time, I would have loved to have peeked inside.

Beside the Palace is Holyrood Park. The largest hill in the park is called Arthur's Seat. I've heard that it offers the best view of the city. If you find yourself in Edinburgh with lost of energy and time, be sure to check it out. Having not much of either this day, I decided to admire the view from down below.

We casually strolled back to our favorite streets to walk around just a little longer. We'd passed by St. Giles Cathedral quite a bit over the last couple of days, so we decided to take a little look inside.

I love European churches and cathedrals. They are so peaceful and inspiring.

Here is a better view of the front of St. Giles Cathedral.

With a final walk back up the Royal Mile,

we said a fond farewell to Edinburgh Castle.

Then we slowly made our way back down the road.

We said a fond warewell to the city that we had grown to love in such a short time.

After picking up our luggage from our hotel, we slowly made our way back to Waverly Train Station to catch our bus to the airport. Edinburgh ranks in the top 5 of all our vacations, both in and out of Europe. I'm so glad that we had the opportunity to visit her. She's amazing.