Moving Day

With the transition from a business trip to an holiday trip I also had to change hotels.  The one I had been booked into for the duration of the work days was way beyond my budget but I found a hotel just across the road that was more affordable. I was a little concerned about moving from a four star to a two star hotel but was pleasantly surprised at how nice the new hotel is. Okay it doesn't have a bath and the promised free wi-fi doesn't exist but other than that it is very nice. I found a public wi-fi hotspot for which I could purchase prepaid data time so I'm happy.

After checking out of the other hotel and putting my suitcase into storage for the day, I headed off to visit the Edinburgh Castle. When I woke up this morning it was sunny but by the time I went to the castle dark clouds had rolled in and a cold wind was blowing. Below are some photos from the walk to the castle and some that I took at the castle too.
 St Giles Cathedral
  St Giles Cathedral
 Just some of the buildings
 St Mary's Cathedral

 The regimental band having a small practice session
 The Edinburgh Castle entrance








 Earl Haig on his horse
 Ceremonial sword







 Where the Scottish crown jewels are kept - no photos allowed
 The Great Hall


 Gargoyle on the ceiling
 The massive fire place
 The other end of the Great Hall
 Some weapons
 Fireplace in the residential block
  Another fireplace in the residential block
 The Scottish War Memorial - also no photos allowed which was a pity as it was the highlight of the visit for me - so beautiful and moving.



 Ready, Aim, Fire!




 Love the shadows
 The Gate House
The road from the castle

From the castle I went into an amoury that also have a tartan weaving exhibition.
A double loom weaving two different clans' tartan

I took a walk from the amoury to the Scottish National History Museum and here are some photos from along the way.

 St Giles Cathedral again

The museum was fascinating because there was so much to look at. I did get a bit of museum fatigue towards the end though. It was interesting to see a different view point on the nation's history from the British one. So here are some photos from the museum.
 Celtic cross
 Standing stones with religious carvings
 Picti carvings
 Another Picti carving
 Viking silver
 Dugout canoe
 Horse mask
 Roman battle mask
 Roman scale body armour
 Roman shoes from circa 90 AD
 Roman war trumpets


 Queen Mary's tomb covering
 The roof of the old building
 The hall of the old building

When I was walking around after the museum visit I was treated to a military parade. Not sure why they had it but it was nice to watch.





My last visit for the day was to the Scottish National Gallery. I had read that they had some paintings by my favourite artist Claude Monet and I was desperately looking forward to seeing them. Those paintings were so fantastic to see but I definitely wasn't blown away by many of the others. No photos are allowed to be taken inside the gallery but here are some others from the roadside and of the outside of the gallery.





The Scottish National Gallery


And that is it for today. My feet are sore from traipsing all over the place and I am looking forward to a good night's rest in preparation of another day of sight seeing tomorrow.

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