The
National Rail System was our chosen conveyance from London to
Edinburgh. In anticipation of a boring ride, we went to
the liquor store the night before and got 3 bottles of wine for
the 4 hour trip for the three of us(!!). The train was
fast and was not really boring. Particularly after the
passenger boarded the extra seat in our cubicle. He talked
our ears off, like it or not. The good news was that the
wine dulled our senses and we found him funny after awhile.
The photos below are what we saw.
This is
the ceiling of the King's Cross station for the National Rail
Service. NRS consists of a number of individual lines and
you have to know which vendor you are going with as they do not
have unified tickets.
It rains
in London, so all the bigger stations are essentially sheltered
from the rain and snow. Our ride was 4 hours, but the time
passed quickly.
It was a
beefy walk from the train station in Edinburgh to our
hotel. Our path went up a rather steep grade and hauling
luggage, even if it does have wheels was somewhat
burdensome. But, somehow we prevailed. Edinburgh is
suffering from the same building boom as London. The old
buildings and viaducts are original construction.
Looking
back toward the train station we could see some interesting
structures on the far hill. We never visited these as we
ran out of time.
The
train station is in the building in the foreground and in the
distance is the Balmoral Hotel.
We
walked up the hill until we hit the Royal Mile and then turned
west. The Royal Mile was rather crowded with pedestrians
making travel with luggage difficult.
Kathleen
had chosen our hotel and it was both modern and nice.
Above, she sits in a stylish chair in the lobby.
Since
there was plenty of light left, we decided to go out and see
some sights. This is Royal Mile looking east from the
hotel.
From the
other side of the street we could see St. Giles cathedral.
Note the buttresses on the tower.
To the
north was the City Hall building.
To the
west was another cathedral, but I have not yet established the
name.
As we
got higher on the hill, we could see new things.
Our
objective was the Edinburgh Castle. The wind was howling
and Kathleen had to hang onto her hat to keep it from blowing
away. We should have been concerned that the doors were
closed, but we "remained calm and carried on".
From the
south side of the Esplanade we could see a big chunk of the
city.
The
castle was built on the crest of the steep hill to aid in
defensibility.
We
passed this large interesting structure near the mouth of the
Esplande.
Now that
we reached the close gates we finally realized that we were late
to the party and the castle was closed for the day. Above
the drawbridge is the national motto for Scotland: Nemo Me
Impune Lacessit: You will not harm me with impunity.
The
walls of the castle are formidable. The drawbridge could
be raised to make a frontal assault impractical.
There
were two very nice statues surrounding the entrance
portal. This one is William Wallace.
Statue
of Robert the Bruce.
As part
of the closing process, the personnel came out and lit the
torches. The castle was started in the tenth century, but
there is evidence that the site has been occupied since the
Bronze Age. It is a very defensible position on a volcanic
plug that has been scoured by glacial action.
Scotland
is famous for its whiskey. These girls stumbled by,
clearly hammered and I said "Well, how was the whiskey
tasting?" They literally swarmed me and demanded to have
their photos taken. Most of it was for show, but the gal
with the drink in her hand got right down to business. She
grabbed my hand and put it around her waist and started nibbling
on my earlobes while her buddies were making silly
selfie-faces. Their cab soon arrived and they were gone in
the blink of a shutter.
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Photos and Text Copyright Bill Caid 2014
all rights reserved.
For your enjoyment only, not for commercial use.