Castles, palaces and scones...oh my!
So my endeavour to feel less sick seemed to pay off in the morning, as my sore throat had largely subsided; however, my sinuses were definitely feeling stuffed. We had actually slept in ’til about 9am, which was novelty after the 6am starts of the last few days. David blissfully made breakfast (left-over trout with cream cheese on toast), and we eventually got ourselves together and out the door. First on the docket for the day was the Palace of Hollyroodhouse, situated at the end of the Royal Mile. The sun was out in full force today, thankfully, although the wind was certainly having a go of it. It was a leisurely walk in the sunshine across the campus and over to the Mile. We came across an odd looking building, which we initially thought might be hyper-modern apartment buildings, but later discovered was actually the (rather controversial and oft-scorned) Scottish Parliament Building.
Across from the Parliament was the Palace, an impressive sight to be sure. There are unicorns on the crest adorning the front of the palace! D and I decided on the audio tour (D had never used one before, which was a little amusing to me). So with our British person talking into our respective ears, we made our way through the Palace. Apparently, it’s the official residence of the royal family when visiting Scotland. Although it’s had quite a hallowed history, housing (among others) the ill-fated Mary Queen of Scots. The palace interior was suitably regal, but I couldn’t help but compare it to the other rather regal residence I’d visited last year (Versailles). It definitely had a much darker, almost medieval feel to it; lots of dark woods and tapestries. There were also some beautiful ruins of an abbey adjacent to the Palace, along with an impressive view of Holyrood Park. D was feeling hunger pangs, so we made our exit and wandered up the Mile a little to find a bite to eat. Despite D’s skepticism, I suggested we give Calidra’s Tearoom a try. It was a cute little restaurant with doily-covered tables and hand-written signs. D had a delicious soup, and we both had some quiche lorraine and pie, which suitably hit the spot.
We headed back up the Mile and to Edinburgh Castle, an imposing stone castle rising above the city. We passed under the portcullis and up through the castle grounds. There were some spectacular views of the city from atop the walls, although it was might blustery up there! We poked our head in to see the Scottish Crown Jewels (insert joke about kilts here) and the “stone of destiny”. After wandering through the Scottish War Memorial and the Great Hall, we made our way down to the exit. D was excited about the Scotch Whisky Heritage Centre right next door, but upon poking our head in, we discovered it was rather jam-packed full of whisky-thirsty tourists looking to take the tour as well, so we decided to save it for another day. Feeling successful, considering my ill-health, we called it a day for our touristing endeavours and walked down through the winding streets in search of a quick snack. I came across a cheese monger and was incapable of going any further, so the nice cheese lady walked (or tasted rather) us through their selection of Scottish and Irish cheeses in particular. I figured we may as well buy local, since Scottish cheeses are relatively rare finds back home. We made out with a bag full of cheese and a baguette and headed to the grocery store to buy fixings for an albeit small Thanksgiving dinner.
