May 28, 2025 - Today is our last day in Edinburgh so we’re trying to get everything in that we’ve missed so far First thing in the morning we walked 15 minutes up the hill to Calton Park. Next we walked to the Sir Walter Scott monument. After lunch in the park we walked down the hill to the Royal Scottish Academy and next door to the National Galleries of Scotland for a quick walk through. Then we walked down Victoria st and headed to Grassmarket for a beer before hitting Grayfriars Bobby for dinner. At 9:00 we walked up to the Royal mile for a tour of the underground city. We walked 8.5 miles and didn’t get home til 10:30. We slept great!
Beautiful views from Calton Park
In the distance is a volcanic plug (like what Elaine & Ian are surrounded by at their new house in Los Osos)
The National Monument of Scotland is dedicated to the Napoleonic Scottish soldiers. Construction began in 1826 and in 1829 was left unfinished when funds dried up.
A bench with the view of Arthur’s seat (the flattish hill across the way)
Edinburgh Castle in the distance
View of the Clocktower from the park
View of St Giles
Pretty flowers
A bench on a corner
The Scott monument which is the largest monument dedicated to a writer in the world at 200 ft tall. It was dedicated in 1846.
Lunch in the park
A bench bed.
The National Galleries of Scotland
Kev’s favorite piece
I liked this Cezanne with lots of blue
And a Van Gogh I've never seen
We walked back down Victoria St again and I couldn't pass up another picture
Always a line to get into the Harry Potter Store (Ollivanders?) on Victoria St
The HP shop started as a brush shop in 1873
We walked down to Grass Market and had a beer at the Last Drop. In front of this pub is the place where they used to hang people.
We saw a little sun and headed outside with our beers to enjoy it.
This is the statue of Bobby a Skye terrier who was a constant companion of night watchman John Gray. In 1858 John died of TB and was buried in Greyfriars cemetery. Bobby who outlived John by 14 years was said to have spent the rest of his life sitting on John's grave.
We had dinner at Greyfriar's Pub in this cozy little "snug"
Cullen Skink...yum!
British Steak and Nicholson's Pale Ale Pie
Cranachan is a traditional Scottish dessert-whipped cream, whisky, honey, berries and toasted oats
In the evening we signed up for the Real Mary King's Close tour. This tour took us under the city to where the original city was. The city used to be 16 stories high in this area and when they wanted to build the Royal Exchange they tore them down and used the lowest levels for the foundation. On the tour we heard stories about life in the 16th-18th centuries in Edinburgh.
During the Edinburgh plague outbreak of 1645, George Rae was the second doctor (the first died of the plague) to treat the sick. He wore a long beak mask that was filled with herbs to protect him from the "miasmas" of the people he treated. He wore a leather coat and cape as well as gloves, which all protected him from the fleas that were causing the plague outbreak. He successfully lived through the outbreak and never received the large payment that the city of Edinburgh had promised him for his service. They had expected he would also succumb to the disease.
Our walk home after the tour...St Giles lit up
So many of these alleyways in Edinburgh and so pretty at night
May 29, 2025 - Today we checked out of our Airbnb early and grabbed an Uber so we could pick up our rental car. We are headed north with our first stop in Inverness a 4 hour drive from Edinburgh. On the way there we will stop to see the Kelpies, Falkirk Wheel, and Sterling Castle. We are staying at St Ann's guest house in Inverness for 3 nights and will do day trips from there.
After checking out of our Airbnb we rented a car for our drive around the Scottish Highlands for the next 8 days.
First stop the Kelpies.
These statues were completed in 2013 to honor the "heavy horses" (draft horses) that worked the canals.
A kelpie is a mythological creature that is a shape shifting water horse that lures people to ride them then takes them to a watery grave
They are built on the Forth and Clyde canal and actually have a lock that boats can go through, between the two statues.
Just a few minutes from the Kelpies was the Falkirk Wheel, which is a rotating boat lift. The red boat pulled into the wheel, the "lock" is closed so that the boat has water to float on
And the wheel begins to spin
It doesn't take long at all (the whole process takes about 10 minutes)
It's getting close to the top
it made it! Now it opens the "lock" at the other end and drives out of the wheel and into the higher lock
Before the wheel was added it took 11 locks to move from one canal to the next. Construction on the wheel began in 1999 and it was opened by Queen Elizabeth in 2002.
Next stop was the Wallace Monument, which commemorates Sir William Wallace who was a 13th and 14th century Scottish hero (Braveheart). It was a bit of a rainy walk up the hill to the monument, but that's why we brought raincoats. (It is Scotland after all!)
There were lots of interesting benches and wooden sculptures on the hike up to the monument
this one was cool but not quite as fun as the last one
Not a bench but still fun
It was a socked in day from the Wallace Monument
The Wallace Monument up close
I'm not sure, am I knighting Jeanene or stabbing her???
Next we stopped at Sterling Castle, which was free with our Scottish Explorer passes. We did a tour that came with our entrance to the castle and then wandered a bit on our own.
The sun came out!
The Great Hall is a grand banqueting Hall which was completed for James IV in 1503
"The Hunt of the Unicorn" (we saw the original at the Cloisters a few weeks ago)
The Sterling Heads are oak carvings on the ceiling of the King's Presence Chamber
Beautiful views of the countryside and Wallace Monument in the distance
Jim & Jeanene in the turret
Stirling Old Bridge is the bridge that Sterling Castle was protecting which was the only route crossing the River Forth. The first bridge was built in 1297 and this bridge was built in the late 1400's or early 1500's
Some of the landscape on our way to Inverness (from the car)
sheep and rocks on the hill (it's hard to tell which is which)
St Ann's guest house, our home for the next 3 nights
We got to the Bed and Breakfast late (as there was an accident on the road we were traveling on and we had to sit there for and hour and a half) so we had a little trouble finding anything open in town at 9:00. But we ended up having dinner at the Kitchen (with views of the River Ness)
Roasted chicken and veggies
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