Tuesday, October 4

We got up early & walked up to the castle, hoping to beat the crowds. It turned out that a few thousand other people had the same idea 🙁

The original parts of the castle were built over 1300 years ago and through the centuries it has been renovated & expanded numerous times.

We joined a guided tour of the grounds. The guide was excellent & had so much historical information, facts & figures to share that it left our heads spinning.

The views of Edinburgh from the castle walls are spectacular.

We toured the great hall & saw the Crown Jewels of Scotland. Unfortunately no photographs were allowed in the main room.

After braving the crowds at the castle we got back on the Hop On/Hop Off bus & toured the “New Town” part of the city. This area is full of beautiful Georgian style buildings & has broad streets & numerous parks. It has a much different atmosphere compared to the Old Town part of the city where we were staying.

We even found some time to do some shopping in Jenners, a classy department store just a few steps away from the Sir Walter Scott monument.

It was a treat just to walk around inside the store.

On the way back to our hotel we stopped by the Writer’s Museum of Edinburgh for a visit but nobody was home. Maybe next time.

Cheers!