Religion, Politics and Art

It wasn't raining this morning but was still overcast and cold and I thought that it wouldn't be necessary to wear a layer of thermals under my clothes. Well that thought lasted ten steps out of my hotel room before I doubled back to go and put on more clothes! It was freezing cold.

My first stop this morning was the St Giles Cathedral. I had seen it in walking by but hadn't been inside.  It really is a magnificent building that ranges in age from 700 to 100 years of age depending on the section. I enjoyed seeing all the detail in the stone and wood carvings.

St Giles Cathedral on the outside

  Some of the carvings on the outside

Gargoyles are my favourite

 Another one

 More stone carvings

 Looking to the front of the cathedral

 Some old military flags

 One of the many stained glass windows

 The organ pipes

The memorial to James Stewart the Scottish regent from 1567 to 1570 in the Holy Blood Aisle 

 Another stained glass window

 One section of the ceiling in the Thistle Chapel where the Knights of the Thistle worshiped

 Some stone angels in the Thistle Chapel

 Wood carvings in the Thistle Chapel

Part two of the ceiling of the Thistle Chapel - my photos do absolutely no justice to how beautiful this chapel is! 

 Angel lamp holder

 The crest of the Knights of the Thistle

 Looking from the front to the back of the cathedral

 In the Chamber Aisle

 Statute of John Knox who was a minister in the cathedral from 1559 to 1572 and was the leader in the Reformation of Scotland

The angelic font at the entrance

From the cathedral I walked down the Royal Mile heading towards Holyrood Palace and the Scottish Parliament. There were a few interesting things to look at on the way.

 Behind the tall grey buildings that line the Royal Mile there are sometimes these amazing little courtyards that are so pretty and peaceful

 I love all the clocks on the buildings

A shop that only sells Christmas things all year round!

I went into the parliament, through the security check and into the entrance hall. In the main hallway are some displays showing various historical documents from the Scottish parliament as well as some information about the building itself. I was not blown away by the experience and in addition the parliament was not in session apparently they don't sit on Fridays.

 This is an Act written in 1457 by King James II banning football and golf! The king wanted the people to concentrate more on their archery practice.

This is a commission from 1659 recording the election of John Campbell as commissioner of Perthshire

I had a look in the debating chamber but there was nothing to see except two policewomen and a whole lot of empty chairs. Photographs were not allowed either. Really disappointing.

I crossed the road from the parliament and went to the Queen's Gallery. The Queen's Gallery is currently exhibiting treasures from the royal collection in celebration of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. This includes various paintings, statues, jewelry and ornaments. I'm not a huge fan of the old paintings but some of the other items were very nice to see.

 Two pieces by the Russian jeweller Fabergé

 Some pricey little items

 Cameos, etc.

 My fav pieces were a set of two candelabras made for Queen Victoria in 1854

This chair was made from an elm tree that stood near the centre of the British lines at the battle of Waterloo

When I emerged from the gallery the rain was pouring down so I found a little restaurant to have some lunch and wait out the rain. The food was really good, tomato and chicken soup with homemade bread. Unfortunately the rain did not abate and I returned to my hotel via wandering in and out of some of the souvenir shops along the way. My main reason for returning to the hotel was to change jackets to a more waterproof one but I also needed a little time out. While I was in my room the sun came out and I took that as my cue to carry on sightseeing. What I didn't do was change my jacket. Big mistake!

The next stop on my list of places to see was Carlon Hill. This is a volcanic mound which has a few monuments on it.

 Dugald Stewart Memorial - he was a philosopher and mathematician

A Portuguese canon - this canon was won in the Burmese War sometime around 1886

 The Nelson Monument - erected in honour of Nelson's victory at the Battle of Trafalgar. It is used as a signal beacon with a timeball at the top which is raised every day just before 1pm to be dropped at 1pm exactly so that ships could and can set their chronometers to the exact time. I climbed the 170 steps to the top to check out the view. By the time I came down the rain was bucketing down!

 The National Monument which commemorates the British soldiers who died during the Napoleonic wars

 The Royal Observatory

 A bird's eye view of Prince's Street - the mess in the middle is where the tram lines are being installed

Part of the Observatory complex

Before I called it a day I made one last stop and that was to an old graveyard.

 A memorial to Scottish-American soldiers - strange to see a statue of Abraham Lincoln in Edinburgh!

Old graves with part of the Governor's House in the background

After walking in the pouring rain for ages I had had enough and eventually called it a day. I made my way back to my hotel for a hot shower and a hot cup of tea.

And there you have it, my last full day in Edinburgh. Tomorrow afternoon I will head off to the airport and begin the long journey home.