We took a quick two-day trip to Edinburgh while Carol was here to see a bit more of Great Britain (and to add to Carol's list of countries visited!) We had lovely sunny weather, with temps in the high 60's. We took full advantage of the very long days (sunset at 10pm) and packed a lot into our short visit. Here is D being "piped in" to the country. Welcome to Edinburgh, D!
Edinburgh is located on the eastern side of Scotland. In this photo, taken from Edinburgh Castle looking north, you can see the body of water called the Firth of Forth, an estuary leading to the North Sea further to the east.
We toured Edinburgh Castle, parts of which date back to 1130.It is built onto the imposing Castle Rock, with fabulous 360-degree views of the rest of the city.
We walked along the Royal Mile...
...stopping at the St. Giles Cathedral along the way. One of us (me) enjoyed seeing the chancery chapels and stained glass in the church...
...while others of us (who shall remain nameless) snoozed in the back. (They
claim that they were "meditating"!)
D's mom became very curious and interested in learning more about Scotland, it's politics, and it's governance. We learned that in 1997 the Scots voted in favor of establishing their own Parliament, separated from the Parliament in England. The new Scottish Parliament has a considerable role in goverance, especially regarding health, education, and housing, although it appears that major financial controls are retained by the UK Parliament in Westminster. We were able to tour the spectacular new Scottish Parliament building...
...and we actually had the opportunity to sit in on some debate in the main chamber. Photography was not allowed in the chamber, but here is a photo from the Scottish Parliament website. We sat in the gallery seats at the rear.
We toured the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the Queen's official residence in Scotland.
While there we stumbled upon a wonderful ceremony officially welcoming Scottish soldiers back from Iraq.
We ended our visit with a tour of the royal yacht
Brittania.
She was decommissioned in 1997 due to budget cuts and is now a tourist destination. Of course,
we didn't act like tourists while aboard. Not at all!
Queen Elizabeth and her family used the 400-foot long yacht extensively during its 44-year history. The tour gave a fairly intimate view into the life of the royal family away from their palaces. Prince Charles and Princess Diana famously honeymooned on the yacht; we learned during the tour that the only non-twin-sized bed aboard ship was the one Charles brought in for that honeymoon voyage. Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip had his-and-hers staterooms, each with a twin bed only. (Awww. But they made a point of telling us that they did have direct-line phones to one another's state rooms...maybe there was the occasional randy phone call?) Here is her room:
We had a great trip.
We took a quick two-day trip to Edinburgh while Carol was here to see a bit more of Great Britain (and to add to Carol's list of countries visited!) We had lovely sunny weather, with temps in the high 60's. We took full advantage of the very long days (sunset at 10pm) and packed a lot into our short visit. Here is D being "piped in" to the country. Welcome to Edinburgh, D!
Edinburgh is located on the eastern side of Scotland. In this photo, taken from Edinburgh Castle looking north, you can see the body of water called the Firth of Forth, an estuary leading to the North Sea further to the east.
We walked along the Royal Mile...
...stopping at the St. Giles Cathedral along the way. One of us (me) enjoyed seeing the chancery chapels and stained glass in the church...
...while others of us (who shall remain nameless) snoozed in the back. (They claim that they were "meditating"!)
D's mom became very curious and interested in learning more about Scotland, it's politics, and it's governance. We learned that in 1997 the Scots voted in favor of establishing their own Parliament, separated from the Parliament in England. The new Scottish Parliament has a considerable role in goverance, especially regarding health, education, and housing, although it appears that major financial controls are retained by the UK Parliament in Westminster. We were able to tour the spectacular new Scottish Parliament building...
...and we actually had the opportunity to sit in on some debate in the main chamber. Photography was not allowed in the chamber, but here is a photo from the Scottish Parliament website. We sat in the gallery seats at the rear.
We toured the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the Queen's official residence in Scotland. 
While there we stumbled upon a wonderful ceremony officially welcoming Scottish soldiers back from Iraq.
We ended our visit with a tour of the royal yacht Brittania.
She was decommissioned in 1997 due to budget cuts and is now a tourist destination. Of course, we didn't act like tourists while aboard. Not at all!
Queen Elizabeth and her family used the 400-foot long yacht extensively during its 44-year history. The tour gave a fairly intimate view into the life of the royal family away from their palaces. Prince Charles and Princess Diana famously honeymooned on the yacht; we learned during the tour that the only non-twin-sized bed aboard ship was the one Charles brought in for that honeymoon voyage. Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip had his-and-hers staterooms, each with a twin bed only. (Awww. But they made a point of telling us that they did have direct-line phones to one another's state rooms...maybe there was the occasional randy phone call?) Here is her room:
We had a great trip.
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