We then commenced to looking at some of the royal quarters and the great dining hall. I took a few pictures, as they were both very nice. One of the rooms in the royal quarters is actually still used for government affairs. The great hall had some beautiful stained glass and was decorated with lots of armor, swords, guns, etc. We then decided to eat lunch, because the Edinburgh Castle Tea Rooms were very close. We had hot chocolate and scones which were much more filling than you would expect! They served them to us with jam and clotted cream, which sounds disgusting but is basically very rich and easily-spread butter.
We then checked out the Scottish War Memorial, which commemorates all of the Scottish soldiers who have died in wars from World War I to the present day. It was quite pretty in there, but you weren’t allowed to take pictures out of respect. It was then almost 1:00, when they fire off the one o’clock gun everyday (expect Sundays) at the Castle, so we watched that from above. I have a video of it shooting off, but I’m not sure how to post it here so it may have to wait until I get back. We then entered St. Margaret’s Chapel, which is the oldest surviving building in Edinburgh. It’s really quite small in there but nice and pretty. Our tour guide earlier had informed us that it was the only building there to pre-date 1310, when Robert the Bruce, after conquering the castle from the English, destroyed it because they didn’t have enough men to defend it.
We then went through the Scottish Regimental Museum and the building that had been set up as a prison, which were both very interesting. After a few more pictures and minutes walking around the cobblestones of the castle, we decided to leave and head for the Royal Mile.
The Royal Mile is a cobblestoned road between Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood Palace. There are lots of pubs, cafes, tourist shops, and even a few museums along the way, so we bought some souvenirs and also visited the tartan weaving mill, where we got a glimpse of how they make the iconic Scottish fabric. We also saw some pretty churches and courtyards around the way. After what felt like quite a bit longer than a mile, we arrived at Holyrood Palace. We couldn’t go inside or anything, but we took a few pictures through the iron gate before heading back up the Royal Mile to our bus stop.
We then rode the bus around the city and saw some really nice residential neighborhoods, but were very tired so we just stopped by the grocery store to pick up supper before heading back to the hotel. The weather today was as random as it was yesterday, and when we left the grocery store it actually started hailing. It was over quickly though, and then we got back to the hotel to rest and relax before our free day tomorrow! We plan to go up to Calton Hill, try some haggis, and do some more exploring around the Princes Street area. Ta ta for now!