Edinburgh, Day 2, Part I - The Castle

We spent the daylight hours of Monday, 12th August touring the heck out of the Edinburgh Castle and the Royal Mile, which is a road leading downhill from the castle for just over a mile to the Holyrood House at the bottom end.
 The bleachers on the left shown in the second picture are part of the temporary stadium which has been erected in the plaza in front of the castle for the three weeks of the Edinburgh Military Tattoo - we'll attend a performance tonight, to be covered in the next post.

The weather continues to be awesome - high 60s to low 70s, partly cloudy. Dipping into the 50s at night. Great castle-touring weather!
We entered the main gates of the Castle and walked under the teeth of the massive portcullis. In to the outer bailey area we strode.





The Edinburgh castle is a combination of preserved castle, tourist attraction, royal site and more. You see, now that Scotland has received some local autonomy and had opened its own Parliament for the first time in centuries, the castle is also used for political and diplomatic meetings. The Castle also houses the Scotish crown jewels, including the crown, scepter and also the Stone of Destiny, known more generally as the Stone of Scoone. This square slab of rock is a national treasure of Scotland because of its use for centuries in the coronation of Scottish monarchs. It was recently returned to Scotland after being in English hands for centuries. Don't worry - the Scots have promised to lend the stone when the time comes to crown a new King. You see, the stone had been placed in a special slot within the Coronation Throne for the last few hundred years.
 

 
In addition to being a gorgeous castle - and busy with tourists - it also houses a few small museums and exhibits. I mentioned the Scotish crown jewels above. I couldn't take pictures, but I was able to see them. Here are a couple of pics of some of the indoor spaces of the castle (sorry, no dungeons!):

 
We spent the entire morning at the Castle, so we stopped for lunch at a 350-year-old pub - the Ensign Ewart - just outside the Castle. Good lunch and a couple of pints, we tried to stroll down the Royal Mile. We did make it down the entire length of the Mile, but through dense crowds, street performers, and flyer passer-outters. You see, the are a few festivals happening simultaneously in Edinburgh including the huge Fringe festival. 

From the bottom of the Royal Mile we returned to the B&B for a couple hours' rest before dinner and the Tattoo, to be covered in the next post.