Hooray for Holyrood!

Mum, Dad and I spent a couple of hours without Rod and the kids at Holyrood. They went off to the far more exciting Edinburgh Dungeon and Museum of Childhood instead. There was a good exhibition called "Conversation Pieces" at the Queen's Gallery and then we went in to Holyrood proper.
After seeing the personal quarters for poor old Mary Queen of Scots I can well understand why she met her death so stoically. I reckon she was glad to escape from her bedroom which would have to have been the smallest, darkest, dingiest room in the whole palace. And the portraits on the wall of her room all seemed to be terribly grim faced, gloomy gentlemen - enough to give the poor woman nightmares! We also got to visit the room where poor old Rizzio got done in - and I'm sure the floorboards still show the bloodstains! Like a lot of places we have visited, interior photos are not allowed so you will have to make do with outside views!

More photos here.

Geocaching in the Village of Dean.

We have spent the last couple of mornings a little closer to "home" and went out geocaching in the local area. There are a few caches quite close by and so far we have a hundred percent strike rate on them. Yesterday we tackled three caches situated along the Waters of  Leith Walkway - a glorious walking track that meanders along by the river. There is one just behind our apartment close to one of the weirs and another two in the other direction - one at the Dean Bridge and the other at a little classical "temple" called St Bernard's Well. It is an interesting way to check out some of the lesser known attractions of the area. This morning we did an epic multicache which led us through the spectacular Dean Village Cemetery. WOW - I have never seen memorials in this league before. Many of Edinburgh's "Great and Good" have ended up here and the memorials are fitting to their status in life. We found at least one Lord Provost and someone whose role in society was Deputy Commissioner of  Lunacy; as well as several "Writers to the Signet", whatever that is.

Photos to follow! And here they are.

Edinburgh Castle

Yesterday we bought jump on, jump off bus tickets on one of the several tours that go round the city of Edinburgh. After we had our bearings a little we decided that we would walk up the Royal Mile to Edinburgh Castle. The Royal Mile is very touristy but quite good fun, with plenty of interesting people to watch and some amusing street theatre. And of course there is the reward of the castle at the end. We had organized British Heritage passes before we left home, so while the masses had to queue at the gate, we just strolled right on in as if we owned the joint! We couldn't have asked for better weather as you can see from the photos. The view from the castle was amazing and it is easy to see why it was such a defensible location in times of trouble.

There is lots to see at Edinburgh Castle and some of the displays are excellent. I particularly enjoyed the section devoted to the Crown Jewels of Scotland as the story of how they were hidden away and then were rediscovered was quite fascinating. We also enjoyed a 20 minute presentation from a Scots "Cavalier" who told us the story of King Charles I and his relationship with Scotland. As far as Kings go, he was not much chop - and maybe that's why he ended up with the chop! Much to our surprise the Cavalier's name turned out to be..... Alastair.

Dean Village - an oasis of calm.

I suppose I had better tell you a little bit about the part of Edinburgh in which we are staying. The Village of Dean by the Waters of Leith sounds like it should be a little hamlet miles out in the country but it is actually only 5 minutes walk to the top end of Princes St, one of Edinburgh's mail thoroughfares. (Although to be perfectly honest, there is not much thoroughfaring being done as many of Edinburgh's streets are being dug up at the moment to install a tram system.) The Village was once home to the Guild of Baxters, and the mills on the Waters of Leith provided Edinburgh with all the ground meal required for bread making. Today, many of the buildings in the area have inscriptions and carvings on them representing the role that the Guild played in the local community. One of the old mills is right across the street from us and has also been turned into apartments; the mill wheels however, are long gone.

There is a lovely footpath that goes along beside the water and we are planning to explore it this afternoon. The streets in Dean Village are very quiet as tere is hardly any through traffic. I am sitting on a wide window ledge in our bedroom on the third floor and have just watched two policemen ride up Dean Path on horses. Their hooves made a wonderful sound on the cobbled street.

The apartment we are in is in an old school. Our apartment is at one end of the building and is arranged around a winding staircase. It is very comfortable, but being on 4 levels means a lot of upping and downing during the day. Yesterday evening as we were enjoying happy hour in the kitchen, we looked out the window to see a group of about 20 people all standing and looking up at us - well, the house really! It looked like one of those walking tours that take place in historic areas. We felt very famous, just by association!

The Old Schoolhouse - Edinburgh

Today we are finalising the payment on our apartment in Edinburgh. It is just a few minutes from Princes St in the area known as "The Village of the Water of Leith" - I love that name! Being schoolteachers, I think it is a particularly apt place to stay. Gordon, the owner, has been really great to deal with which is reassuring as we have only chatted via email. He and his partner have several apartments to let in Edinburgh as part of their business A Fab Place to Stay. I will make sure to let you know if it is any good! With the exchange rate so good, this has worked out to about $20 Au per person per night. Another plus for this apartment is that we get a parking space - I believe that these are like gold in Edinburgh!