Edinburgh, Arthurs seat and the Salisbury Craigs

Friday, nice sunny but cool day. Just the day to climb up to Arthur's seat. Arthur's seat is a the remainder of a 360 my volcano and the Salisbury Craig is the volcanic sill. It is here where James Hutton formulated the"Theory of the Earth"-he is considered the father of geology. So it was great to see where the subject I enjoy became a reality.
The walk up started well, just follow the path then road. Then it got demanding, but hey, we managed it and were rewarded with great 360 degree view of Edinburgh and its environs. Must mention while it was sunny, the wind was cols-had a wind chill factor of around 5 or 6 degrees. Thankfully we had the sense to put on thermals.

After this we worked our way down to a small village "Duddingston" which is the home of "The Sheep Heid Inn". This is a 14th Century Inn, one of the oldest in Scotland. Too ealy for lunch or a beer so settled for a 'cup o tea'. But alas no scones.

From here we explored the old Kirk and graveyard of  Duddington. Now they had a small cafe that sold scones. However, she who can not be named thought it was too early.

We then walked around Holyrood park back to town. We were aiming for the Scottish Parliament and the Royal Holyrood house (Scottish residence for the queen).
Didn't make it!!!!
Somewhere along the way we took a few wrong turns and ended up somewhere....anyway had a quick stop of lunch then headed for the port. I forgot to mention we had brought an all day bus ticket, so was out to use it. After a couple of bus changes we made it to Ocean terminal- to visit the HMY Britannia. Turned to be an interesting tour-they even had a garage on the boat for the Rolls.

Following this it was bus back to Princes Street and a well earned rest for some very weary legs and sore feet.


Saturday was to be Carlton Hill day. Not nearly as strenuous but enjoyable. Weather was overcast with cold winds again...thank-goodness for thermals. Anyway, there were a collection of different building, monuments and ruins...all celebrating something Scottish.   See below

  This was meant to be a monument to all the Scottish soldiers who died in the Napoleonic wars. However, they ran out of money. Go figure.  It is called 'The National Monument. Started in 1826 but money ran out in 1829. It has the nickname- "Scotland's Disgrace".

 This is a monument to Nelson. Nelson won the naval battle of Trafalgar

                                                          Dugald Stewart Monument.
From here we headed to the Palace of Holyroodhouse- the official residence of the British monarch. Decided not to venture in..surprise, surprise.

Walked up the royal mile... heading to Edinburgh Castle..detoured to Edinburgh museum..interesting.

Tried to book for Real Mary King's Close... only booking available was at 8.30 pm that night..no thanks.
Unfortunately no tours on Sunday..so that's the end of that idea.

Sunday: Off to Glasgow we go

Got to Waverley and proceeded to buy train tickets...ended up buying returns rather than singles. Oh well another donation to Scottish Rail.
The trip was quick. The train moved at 100 mph..now that is quick. Took only 53 minutes to get to Glasgow.
Too early to check in, so dropped our bags and went to Glasgow Cathedral -also called the High Kirk of Glasgow. This is meant to be the resting place of Saint Mungo and apparently he is in the lower crypt The church is one of the few Scottish medieval churches (it is Gothic architecture).

Started to rain, so we headed for the Glasgow necropolis. This is a Victorian cemetery. 50,000 individuals are reputed to be buried here. The necropolis represents the wealth of the period (tobacco, grains etc). To get to the cemetery you have to cross a bridge - 'Bridge of Sighs" - no not the Venice bridge but this was associated with the funeral processions.

From here it was back to the hotel and a welcome rest break.