Edinburgh, Scotland

Day Two in Edinburgh was packed with sites and lots and lots of walking and more tasty food.

Our first stop after walking the Royal Mile again was Edinburgh Castle. It was a formidable place built out of the mountain of rock at the highest point in the city. It was fascinating how black in looked in the rain.

We headed through the large inner gates and picked up the audio tour and set out. The castle is so much bigger than I had imagined when looking at it from the outside. 

Caleb was in full tourist apparel mode with his fancy umbrella and headphone on his audio tour.

One of the amazing things housed at the castle was this giant cannon called the "Castle Crusher." It could only be fired 6 times in one day because of the enormous heat that it generates. It was so heavy that it was finally brought to Edinburgh to stay because of what it took to haul it around the country. Super cool.

There was also a very touching memorial to all Scottish military personal who have given their lives for their country. It was guarded by the unicorn and lion, the symbol of Scotland and England.

We also toured the Mary Scots museum, and found this great sign, as well as taking in a bit more history. The museum also held the Scottish crown jewels and told us the story of how they were found after being lost for hundreds of years. We also saw the queen's original suite which was filled with unicorn carvings, and the closet where she gave birth, though not much explanation as to why she was in a closet when she had 4 rooms.

Lots of armor to check out, even a sword as big as Caleb.

There were also prisons and several military museums and many memorials. We wandered in and out of the rain for several hours and got the full view of the castle, and lots of views from the top.

The view from the cannon, right down the Royal Mile.

My favorite things about Edinburgh were the tiny nooks and crannies that make it such a maze of places to be explored. Even little gardens with flowers blooming in October, hidden through the busy streets. There was so much different food to be found and even the cafe where most of the Harry Potter books were written. We had the best chocolate croissants and more meat pies, and probably the most spicy Indian food I have ever consumed.

It was fascinating to see all of the street performers out for the weekend, and I loved the way that so much of the stone buildings turned black in the rain because of the dark stone they were built from. 

Stopping to fix my shoe in one of those small gardens.

We spent the rest of our day visiting the Natural History museum and wandering the shops. We even found this great T-shirt.

Even after so much walking we had to head back up to the hill viewpoint when it got dark and take in the sights at night. It was windy and cold, but such a great site.