I decided today that I much prefer going to places that are out of the way of big cities, there were a lot of people at The Edinburgh Castle today and it was a bit overwhelming... loud, people too close in my personal bubble, and my word the selfie sticks!
That being said, I did really enjoy a few things at the castle. The first was the brief, but informative tour. I never knew any of the history I found out today, from William Wallace to Mary Queen of Scots, and King James VI of Scotland who is also King James I of England. It was really great and the guide was very entertaining. I also, obviously, appreciated the architecture work here, I never will get over the scale of these buildings and just how old they are. Last, the views! I mean, wow! You could see the entire city (useful for a fortress like this one), all the way to the ocean.
I did see the Crown Jewels and the Coronation stone and a few other things, but then decided to hightail it out of there. I walked a bit down the Royal Mile but then escaped down a side street. My next stop was the Scottish National Gallery, which contains paintings and sculpture from a number of famous Scottish Artists. One in particular that stuck out was Revd Dr Robert Walker Skating on Duddingston Loch. Why you may ask? Well, it's a painting that I've seen a lot growing up at my Grandmim and Granddad's house. I actually really just stopped here to see that, I knew it was there because it's on the gigantic banners hanging outside the museum, not to mention all over everything you can imagine in the gift shop. They have a large Sir Henry Rayburn exhibit right now.
After that I decided to just walk, we'll walk and stop in a few shops. I'd been out and in the sun for most of the day so I decided to head back to the hotel to rest a bit. After that I went to a lovely little Italian Restaurant for dinner, yum!
Tomorrow I have an early train to Newcastle for a little exploring!
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