2018-04 - Edinburgh Castle, Edinburgh, Scotland

Edinburgh Castle, on a sunny day

Our first day of dreary weather on our England-Scotland vacation; and, we were on our way to tour Edinburgh Castle. We walked up the Royal Mile, across the esplanade and between the statues of William Wallace (remember Braveheart?) and Robert the Bruce flanking the gate.

Statues of William Wallace and Robert the Bruce flanking the gate

 As we stood in line to purchase our tickets, the drizzle intensified. More prepared people popped up umbrellas. Even more prepared people had purchased tickets online earlier, saving both on ticket price and wait time in line.

Up the stairs we go!

Once inside, we realized that we were still outside in the elements. I had mistakenly assumed that a "castle" would be completely covered. However, much of Edinburgh Castle is outdoors. We analyzed the map and planned our attack of the castle, starting with the 69 stairs up to the upper level.

Upstairs, there was a man dressed in traditional Scottish costume drawing us in with his talk of fighting during the 17th century. We became part of the audience and learned how to "schiltron", or fight with pikes. We practiced positioning our pikes, pretending to thrust our pikes into our enemies (the British!) and yelling our war cries. It was quite a workout, both for the arms, shoulders, quads and throats!

By this time, I was shivering. We moved inside to check out the Crown Jewels of Scotland. There's two different routes to view the jewels. One way is to take an entrance directly up to the jewels. The second route is to take a more round about way through rooms set up with historic scenes and information written on the walls. We opted for the second option and learned various historical anecdotes, including that Mary, Queen of Scots was crowned as an infant. We also learned about the Stone of Destiny, a rock throne that each Scottish ruler sat on to be crowned. There are no photos allowed of the Crown Jewels or the Stone of Destiny.

Roof of the Great Hall

Our next stop was a short walk outside to the Great Hall. Finished in 1511, it is a large open room designed to host feasts and generally impress any visiting dignitaries from other kingdoms. Overhead the ceiling looks like the hull of a great ship, with intricate wooden arching. At one end, there is a large fireplace. To the top right, there was a small grate where the king could spy on anyone in the hall. It was built by the Scottish King James IV. Unfortunately, he died a few years later. This hall then had the unpleasantness of being used as a military barracks and wasn't returned to its grandeur until the late 19th century. Today, it looks more like a military museum, with various weapons lining the walls.

Looking down on New Town. The 1 o'clock gun is in the center of the photo, on the overlook

As you walk around the Edinburgh Castle, there are various lookouts. Placards point out the various sites below. One such placard near the One O'Clock gun (yes, it fires at 1 pm daily), talks about the New Town on the other side of Edinburgh Castle. Most of original Edinburgh is along the Royal Mile. However, there was such overcrowding, that the plague had a deleterious effect. We're talking about buildings cramped close together without any type of sewage system. People threw the contents of bedpans out the windows, leading to general sewage sitting in the courtyards, closes and streets. New Town was a way to alleviate the problem. It was a planned community with wide streets. Edinburgh's first modern suburb.

There are many great museums with the Edinburgh Castle complex. Many of them are dedicated to some aspect of the military or wars; and, part of the castle is still used by the military.  One interesting one that we did visit was The Prisons of War. It had several rooms set-up to reflect how POWs were kept. Plus, there was a door carved with graffiti from at least the time of American prisoners captured during its Revolutionary War. In addition, there was a section on money counterfeiting.

As we were heading toward the gift shop, we noticed that a free docent led tour had just started; and, we joined in. It was great to walk around with a guide pointing out different interesting tidbits. She recommended the National War Museum of Scotland within the complex, dropping a tantalizing hint about an elephant kept at Edinburgh Castle. We didn't have time to visit. However, the National War Museum is a back-up for bathrooms (in case the long is too line in the cafe). The museum was quite extensive, as I walked through the entire museum to get to the toilets.

Walking out of Edinburgh Castle

The Red Coat Cafe inside Edinburgh Castle offers lunch items as well as pastries and cream tea. It is a great stop to rest the feet and recharge to continue your tour of the sites. For an upscale experience, there is also the Tea Rooms.