Scotland Dream: Edinborough and countryside

The symbols of Scotland: the unicorn, the thistle plant, and ther red on yellow coat of arms.

Holyrood house

The outer courtyard area. The picture shows the main entry way into this 247 room palace. The Queen and family will be here in several weeks and then it will be closed to the public. Being very security conscious, no pictures are allowed inside the building.

This is part of the ruins of the abbey located next to Holyrood (Holy Cross) palace.

Edinborough castle

This the walkway leading up to Edinburgh Castle. The lower outer walls are British built in the early 1800's and are of different stone and cut. The inner walls date from much earlier, with the inner chapel going back to the 1200's.

This is a part of the main battlements guarding the main gate. The guns were placed here to stop the expected Napoleonic invasion. The walls are up to 10 feet thick solid stone.

This is the entryway into the War Memorial. Inside are volumes listing the KIA of wars over centuries. We found about 5 McVeigh's listed, most during W.W.II. No pictures allowed inside.

Richard, our tour guide, was excellent in knowlege and explaining all we saw.

The great hall, used for huge banquests, is filled with military weapons and armor from the Middle Ages into the 1700's.

View from the castle wall overlooking part of New city section of Edinburgh.

Streets of Edinborough leaving the castle. It is all downhill back to our hotel. We saw a young man demonstrating sword play and defensive moves. Very interesting but I didn't think to take a picutre.

Edinburgh countryside going north. This is the top of an extinct volcano. Edinburgh is built on top of six massive volcanic plugs. I never thought of Scotland having volcanic action before.