Visiting THE Castle in Edinburgh

Tickets to Edinburgh Castle are not cheap as this is one of the most touristy attractions to visit while in Edinburgh.  We were very strategic about planning our visit on a Monday instead of on a weekend day.  We did learn that on Saturday alone there were over 8,000 visitors to the castle!

Every day at 1:00 p.m. a gun is fired, and it is called the 1 o'clock gun for this reason.  After waiting in line for over an hour to enter the castle, we made it to the area 5 minutes before the shot was fired.  It was loud! We learned that the 'Time Gun' was established in 1861 as a time signal for ships in the Firth of Forth.  The gun could easily be heard by ships in Leith Harbor, 2 miles away. This allowed ships in port to accurately set their chronometers prior to sailing.  We live in Leith so that piece of information was fun for us to know.  Today when it is fired it is half as loud now as it was back in the day which is crazy for me to think about how loud it would have been back then.

We immediately joined a 30 minute tour that provided us with overall history and layout of the castle before we began exploring in depth.  Not only could we see areas of the castle as they once were, we were also able to peruse a couple of museums held within the walls.  These are the areas that we visited:  National War Museum of Scotland,  St. Margaret's Chapel, Mons Meg (a giant 6 ton cannon that shoots 385 pound stone balls), Royal Palace (before Holyrood was built), Great Hall, Queen Anne Building, Scottish National War Memorial, and more.  If you are interested in the history, then you can read and see more pictures HERE.   By the way, Bobby makes fun of me for including these links so hopefully someone out there is happy that I have made looking at the history more convenient.  ;)

We had a long, full day at the castle.  We were actually the last to leave.  Surprise, surprise...the Walkers are going to get their moneys worth out the day.  Haha!  No, it was more about Bobby being so intrigued since he is a history buff.  The museums were interesting with all of the war artifacts.  However, the rest of the family wasn't as amused in the museums.  Amelie enjoyed Craigmillar Castle much better as there was more freedom to climb and run.

Views of the city were great.
We took turns carrying Liam on our backs.
He fell asleep on mine and it about killed me. ;)  Thinking now that he is just too big for a pack.
Next step:  kid leash.  (just kidding....kind of....) 

Eating lunch in the Cafe.  Surprising, the Cafe had reasonable prices and a delicious hot meal. 

We even splurged on a scone, clotted cream, and jam to finish the meal.  You can see each kid awaiting to be fed another bite.
What you can't see is that I was in a similar pose. ;)

Everyday there is a different reenactment at the castle.  At the end of this soldier's tale, he shot his gun.
Because we were in the square and close in proximity, it was LOUD.
Liam continues to ask about "Shoot? Man? Gun?"
It made an impression!

This was the prop from a WWI plane that didn't yet have the right timing with the guns. Bullets were actually timed to shoot through the prop on each rotation.

Prisoner of War Area in the prison.

Aren't they cutie-pies?

Liam in Mons Meg.  Mons Meg is a cannon made in 1449.   

Inside St. Margaret's Chapel, which is the oldest surviving building in Edinburgh.  It was constructed in the 12th century.  It is a very small chapel.  Weddings are still held in this chapel.  We actually saw a bride and groom drive up through the castle to be married here.  

An area of the castle retold the story of the Scottish Crown Jewels also called the Honours of Scotland.  There are 3 pieces that we were able to see on display:  crown, sceptre, and sword.   The picture above shows the finding of the Honours by Sir Walter Scott in 1818 after they had been hidden for over 100 years. 

Inside the Great Hall.  

While I agree with Amelie that this was not my favorite castle experience, we did however learn a lot about the Scottish military and Edinburgh's overall defense over the centuries.  We also enjoyed the good weather and being able to have the freedom to be out and about.

We Didn't Even Know What We Were Missing

Every July the Queen makes Holyrood Palace her residence.  We didn't even know she was in town.  We drove by the Palace numerous times, and hadn't the faintest notion that she was there.  While we were visiting the Palace on Friday (July 19th), we learned about her recent presence as well as about the Ceremony of the Keys.  Here is a short clip of what we could have witnessed first hand:

Queen formally receives keys to Edinburgh by reuters

Although we kicked ourselves in the rear for missing out on the events surrounding the Queens stay, we did enjoy touring through one of the Royal residences.

The Palace front showing 16th-century north-west tower on the left.
The rest of the Palace dates back to the 17th century.

We were provided with audio guides that really helped explain features of the castle as well as the overall history of the monarchs of Scotland.  Personally, I enjoy hearing about Mary Queen of Scots the most as she is one of the most famous monarchs in Scotland.  We were able to see her chambers and the ways she made it more sophisticated like the French palaces she grew up in.  All of our pictures were from the exterior of the castle as we were not allowed to take any pictures inside for security reasons.  Our favorite part of the visit was walking around the ruins of the Abbey.  Here are a couple of pictures from our visit:

Amelie listened to the Audio Guide for around 30 minutes and then it became a toy shared between her and Liam.

The impressive entrance.

The interior courtyard of the Palace.  If you look closely you can see that each level has different style columns.  As you go up levels, the style becomes more elaborate.  

There was a family area inside the Palace that had dress-up period clothes, historic toys, coloring sheets, and more.   Amelie and Liam enjoyed a break from the touring to play.  It was perfectly positioned and we were very thankful for the break of trying to keep them quiet and happy while we were listening to the audio guides.

Inside the Abbey.

Everything is considered a play area for small children, even old stone coffins.

Bobby and Liam in the center of the Abbey.

Liam was either running, trying to pick up the gravel from the path to throw, or talking on the "phone."
I love that he doesn't stop moving...ever!

We did not tour the entire gardens (as that was a separate ticket), but we did enjoy walking through most of the gardens.  There were spectacular views of Arthur's Seat.  It is clear why this spot was chosen for the Palace.

It would have been a fun memory for Amelie to be able to say that she saw the Queen.  However, she is not too shook up about missing out.  :)  

After visiting the Palace, we headed back home to eat lunch at the Malt and Hops, a pub at the corner of our apartment.  They only serve food on Fridays for lunch.  Amelie and Liam ate ham and cheese toasties with chips (fries) and baked beans while Bobby and I ate a Spicy Chicken Baked Potato.  All for super cheap! ;)  We all had a royally good day.

Craigmillar Castle

I have been excited about the opportunity to visit castles in Scotland.  There are so many to visit, but we  have to focus on the ones close to Edinburgh...specifically, those within our bus zone.  Craigmillar Castle is one of the castles that is a little off the beaten trail.  As we were riding the bus we found out how far off the beaten trail it is.  We ended up talking with some locals about where we were going and they informed us that our current route to get to the castle was dangerous with a stroller and we should go a different route instead.  They pointed us to the Royal Infirmary (hospital) and then to a walking path to the castle.  Yes, we had to cut through a hospital to get to our destination...sometimes, you just have to laugh!  Also they let us know that nothing is labeled so you just have to feel your way through the fields and what not.  An adventure to get to the next adventure, right?! Anyways, once we arrived at the castle we were so happy that we persevered and made it there.  We had free reigns to the castle ruins to explore and walk about as we would like.  It was SO fun!!!  We were able to look in holes and walk in little spaces.  There were a couple signs here and there that indicated if the room had been used as a kitchen or a bedchamber or a dining hall.  We were able to walk into the cellars, the prison, the pigeon cage, and more.  Really, it was SO fun!  There was only one other family present so we really had the place to ourselves which was fun too.

To give you a little history, this medieval castle has ties to Mary Queen of Scots.  As this castle is only 3 miles outside of Edinburgh, she would come here for reprieve from the city.  More famously, following an illness after the birth of her son Mary came to Craigmillar and a pact known as the "Craigmillar Bond" was made to dispose of her husband, Lord Darnley.  We were able to see the bedchambers that she used during her stays.

Here are some fun pictures of our day:

We brought our picnic lunch with us.  Once we arrived, we sat in the shade of a large tree with the castle ruins in the background and broke our bread.   

While Bobby and I were finishing our lunch, Amelie and Liam had fun running around in the grass playing with sticks and taunting each other.  This is Liam chasing Amelie with a stick.  She in return would scream and giggle while running away.

Approaching the castle. 

There were lots of winding staircases to climb up and down.

One of the cellars.

Liam wanted to "walk" (really run) throughout our visit.  He had so much fun climbing and figuring out what was behind the next bend.  

We were able to walk around the top of the castle wall.  This is Liam sitting on top of one of the spires with views of the mountains and the Sea behind him.   

One of the grand fireplaces found within the castle.

They had fun jumping off a ledge all together.

Everyone had to climb....thankfully no one was hurt in the process... 

We did our "rest time" under the shade of another tree near the castle gardens.  Amelie and Liam played horsey while Bobby and I chilled in the grass.  The lighting isn't great in these pictures because it was so sunny and we were taking the pictures from the shade, but I couldn't help but share. ;)

Amelie has already been asking about when we could go back to this castle.  I cannot describe accurately how fun it was to have free reign of the castle without any prying eyes watching your every move.  We all had a blast!  If you are ever in Edinburgh, you should definitely take the time to visit Craigmillar Castle.  You will be happy you did.

Turning Lemons into Lemonade

Don't you love computers?  Computers are a wonderful piece of technology...especially when they work properly.  Unfortunately, my computer has been given me problems.  This is not good if your livelihood depends on working from your computer.  There is not an Apple Store located in Edinburgh, but there is one in Glasgow.  About 2 weeks ago, Bobby went on his own to Glasgow to take my computer to get fixed.  However, they could not recreate the problem so nothing was really done.  After continuing to have problems with connecting to my hard drive, we decided to make a family day of taking my computer to try to resolve the problem.

On Tuesday (7/16) we rode the train into Glasgow.  Surprisingly we were a little late for our appointment time at the Apple Store, but thankfully they were able to work us into their day.   I joke about us being late, but we really work at being on time.  Depending on public transportation to get everywhere can be difficult when keeping appointments.  Honestly!

Even though we had not originally planned on visiting Glasgow, we were glad we made the trip.  It is another beautiful Scottish city with a lot of history.  Like most of our days, we walked a whole bunch in order to see as much as we could reasonably see.   My background in history is not very stout.  Through walking around museums, churches, and other historically buildings I am learning a ton!  I am a hands on/visual learner, so being able to see and do has been an amazing teacher.  I am hoping that as Amelie and Liam age we will be able to continue to afford to travel and allow them to learn by doing and seeing.

Below are some fun things that I learned (with pictures included).

• Inside Glasgow City Chambers the armorial insignia of the city could be seen in many forms: tile work on the floor, reliefs on the inside and outside walls, on many light posts, and more.  Each part of the symbol included the involvement of St. Mungo, even "Let Glasgow Flourish" was part of sermon given by St. Mungo.  My favorite story coinciding with the insignia was about the fish with the ring in it's mouth.  Here is how the story goes:   the fish with a ring in its mouth is a salmon and the ring was a present from the King to his Queen, Languoreth. The Queen gave the ring to a knight and the King, suspecting an intrigue, took it from him while he slept during a hunting party and threw it into the River Clyde. On returning home the King demanded the ring and threatened Languoreth with death if she could not produce it. The Queen appealed to the knight who, of course, could not help and then confessed to St Mungo who sent one of his monks to fish in the river, instructing him to bring back the first fish caught. This was done and St Mungo extracted the ring from its mouth.   (If you want to read the other stories about the bird, tree, and lock you can go to THIS website.)

    

Seen in the picture above is Barony Church, which is now owned by the University and is Barony Hall.   There was a sign outside that said free tours so we ducked our head inside to find an elderly gentleman (in his 80s or 90s) excited to be able to tell us the story of the church.  He actually told us the story of the fish with the ring in it's mouth.  As we finished the tour, he walked us outside down the street to the cross walk.  He was very sweet.   Many of the churches in Scotland are not open to the public like they were in Paris.  Many have been repurposed into other venues or are still existing churches.   Amelie enjoyed dancing in the wide open spaces of this church while we talked to the gentleman.

Stain glass window inside Barony Church of St. Mungo.  You can see he is holding fish.

• The Glasgow Cathedral is the only medieval church in Scotland to have survived the Reformation.  It was built in the 12th century and it still has an active congregation.   We were able to see many levels of the church and the many wings inside.   

It is not very common to find Adam and Eve in the stain glass.  The stain glass not only had biblical themes, but also had Scottish history included.  

Another example of Liam napping. ;)

This sanctuary is still in use today.  Imagine worshipping in a setting like this!

• Eating a snack in the only authentic dry stone Japanese Zen Garden in the UK definitely helps to replenish and refresh.  This garden is located outside the St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art.  Bobby was able to pursue around the museum while I waited with the kiddos in the garden.  Liam was still napping so Amelie and I were able to chill and enjoy the quietness and peacefulness of our surroundings.   We made dandelion rings after we ate our snack.  

Bobby captured her picking the flowers in the zen garden from his perch inside.  

• The Glasgow Necropolis is a 37 acre cemetery located on a small hill near the Glasgow Cathedral.  There are 50,000 individuals buried in this cemetery.  Following the creation of Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris (we visited this cemetery too!) a wave of pressure began for cemeteries in Britain. This required a change in the law to allow burial for profit. Previously the parish church held responsibility for burying the dead but there was a growing need to give an alternative solution. Glasgow was one of the first to join this campaign, having a growing population, with fewer and fewer attending church.  The Cemeteries Act was passed in 1832 and the floodgates opened. Glasgow Necropolis officially opened in April 1833.

Tolbooth Steeple built in 1626.  The Tolbooth was demolished in the 1800s and the steeple is all that remains.

McLennan Arch in Glasgow Green park.  This was originally the facade to Robert and James Adams' Assembly Rooms, erected in 1796.  It has moved locations 2 times and was moved to it's present site in 1991.  We played at the playground right next to this.  The playground had ship themes and of course the kids had a blast.  Liam kept wanting to be the captain of the ship and drive us around. ;)

This is my attempt at being artsy.  Capturing the new next to the old. In the windows of the modern office building you see the side of  St. Andrew's Cathedral.

One of the department stores had old sewing machine windows displayed in the windows.  Bobby and I counted around 1500 sewing machines.  I was very impressed with this display!  It's not the best picture because of the reflection.

Glasgow Gallery of Modern Art.   We tried to walk through this museum, but Liam likes to run around and it makes everyone nervous around the art so we did not make it through all of the galleries.    To be honest, I was a little bored myself so I didn't mind cutting it short. ;)

We did not get notified that my computer was ready to be picked up until after the store had closed for the day.  Bobby was able to go back the following day while we played at Leith Links close to home.  We had a wonderful day in Glasgow eating out, learning, and just hanging out as a family on a beautiful summer day.  I am learning that being flexible and rolling with the punches is essential.  Although traveling an hour plus by train each way was not optimal, we all enjoyed our day.

I found out today that I will have to fly back to ATL at the end of the month for work again.  Although I am not looking forward to being away from my family or paying for a plane ticket, it will be another chance for me to see the lemonade instead of focusing on the lemons.