The royal mile, that's not a mile

What a whopper of a day (21,000 steps)!  We started the day by being at the gate of our first stop (Palace of Holyroodhouse) at 0900 (they open at 0930) to make sure we were through the door first as we had a jam packed day. We were successful with this and had done the tour of the palace and gardens by 1045 and headed back up the Royal Mile (actually 1.1miles long).  

The Palace of Holyroodhouse (The name Holyrood comes from - Rood, the word for the cross on which Jesus was crucified thus the name Holyrood is equivalent to 'Holycross') is still a functioning palace for when the royal family visit.  This is where the Royal family would stay if in Edinburgh.  There are also 2-3 offical ceremonies held here each year with members of the Royal family such as Prince Edward the Duke of Edinburgh and Anne Princess Royal. The audio tour throughout the palace has some of the members of the Royal family saying how much they enjoy staying here when they do due to its smaller nature (must be a tough life if this is considered a small house). Bet their car parking bill is not going to be as much as ours.  The audio guide, and flow of the tour and the 'exhibitions' are very well done.  Unfortunately, no photos were to be taken inside the property which is a shame.  Again lots of history among the walls (if only they could talk).  Some of the things we viewed were dining halls, one where it could hold up to 400 people (there was a hidden door) in this room where there is a lift for wait staff.  We went into the Throne room, where Queen Elizabeth's body laid when she was brought to Edinburgh following her death at Balmoral.  We also saw Mary Queen of Scots' bed chamber and where her private secretary (David Rizzio) was murdered in Mary's supper chamber.  There is still a stain on the floorboards which is said to be from his blood.  Carrie missed this as she clearly saw shiny things (d'oh!).  Luckily she works in an industry where she can see blood every other day of the week.  

We then ended the tour in the gardens via the Holyrood Abbey, which was founded in 1128 by David I - this was later turned into a modern renaissance palace - Holyroodhouse and became the Royal Families main home in Scotland during the 15th century.  The abbey church was used as a parish church until the 17th century and has been ruined since the 18th century and the remaining walls lay adjacent to the palace.

The gardens of the palace are as perfect as you'd expect.  We even saw a groundsman 'hand mowing' the lawn.  So we should never complain about mowing our front lawn again.  Th garden at the palace was designed with a 'ditch' at the back to make it look like the gardens flow directly into Arthurs Seat. Arthurs Seat is a hill, formed by an extinct volcano, that is the highest point in Holyrood Park, a large green space next to the palace.

On the way up the mile we got a quick drink and headed to Edinburgh Castle. We got to the line (we had pre-booked our spot) to find out they weren't letting anyone else in at this stage due to a fire alarm going off somewhere in the Castle.  This was short lived and the line started moving pretty quickly.

They are currently in the process of removing the grandstands that were in place for the Edinburgh Military Tattoo. Cranes moving overhead of a large crowd, not something that would happen at home.

Once inside the Castle we had a look around, saw the Crown Jewels, visited the cells, had a giggle in the prison (see photos) and just generally became educated and picked up some cul-cha (culture). We saw the one o'clock gun (a cannon fired daily from Edinburgh Castle to signal time to the ships in the Firth of Forth - which began in 1861 to help mariners synchronise their watches), this is now just a tourist attraction. It was then time to go get some lunch before our walking tour of the old town of Edinburgh. We found a pub that was coincidentally across the road from our accomodation but also only a 4 min walk from the start of our tour. We snuck in a quick pint, a game of cards and shared a hot dog.

 (chess played by prisoners in Edinburgh Castle, we added our own little touch. Cards travel with us everywhere, see below, whipped out while waiting for lunch)

The walking tour took us around the Royal Mile and showed us where the old parliament used to be held, they now have a "fancy" $400m building further down the mile.  It was originally supposed to cost $40m when they set out to build it.  Seriously, no wonder the locals are pissed off at the cost of it and the modern look of it.  We walked over to the mound to look into the New Edinburgh (which is more of  grid like layout - like Adelaide really).  We had a quick look at the University of Edinburgh and down through the Grassmarket and Victoria Street and past the Elephant House Cafe where JK Rowling wrote majority of Harry Potter books.  However, the original venue burned down in 2021 so they moved and opened up in Victoria Steet but by some miracle the actual table where JK Rowling somehow survived. It was magic clearly!  

After all of this, it was time to head back to our accomodation for a quick break and then down to the tailor to get Carries jeans, complete with new zip. Back to accomodation for a shirt change then off to dinner.  It was a simple meal tonight of pasta and a pint and then back to sort out the Chinese laundry again and get ready for road trip tomorrow.

Unless we win the lotto, we are collecting funds from anyone who wishes to donate, haha! We have many things that we still wish to do in a few places we have been and we are sure there will be more.