We slept in a bit and then headed to Holyrood Castle - the Queen's residence in the summer, and one-time residence of Mary Queen of Scots. It's a beautiful old place filled with tapestries and lovely furnishings. I loved the throne room, and the room where folks are knighted. The castle sits in the shadow of Edinburgh's highest point - Arthur's Seat - part of a dormant volcano. It was too soggy to go tromping around in the park or hike up to the point...and I was freezing my bollocks off. Here's the castle:
That bit to the left side is the ruins of an ancient abbey:
And here's the fountain in the forecourt:
It's a beautiful castle. Queen Victoria was the one who really loved it and decorated most of it with the finishings we saw today. Gorgeous!
After our tour we found a pub and grabbed some lunch and a couple of pints. We also checked in at the Royal Mile Whisky store. I think they're going to be able to help us get some whiskey out of the country! They also had a really nice beer selection, so we picked up a couple to take back to the room.
We had a picnic this evening - some fried chicken from a nearby restaurant and our beers - we needed a quick early bite so Joe could make his whisky tasting this evening. I'm spending the evening organizing my suitcase (almost time to start packing), and getting our tourist tax refund slips filled out and ready to go.
Tomorrow is supposed to be a wicked cold and rainy day. We have a bit more shopping to do, need to make a stop at the post office to mail some items back to ourselves (probably cheaper than buying an additional suitcase), and then go back to the Bow Bar to spend a chilly afternoon in front of their fireplace!
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