Old and New England with Scotland.The cripples on tour.

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So the more public areas for receptions,dinners etc-

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The story given is the Queen initially wanted a coal fire in the ante room but naval regulations were that then a seamand would need to stay next to the fire with a pale of water full time so it was thought inappropriate.
When we came out on deck a pipe layer was departing for the North sea-

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Now the warrant officers mess-

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Next down the order were the marines-

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The marines mess was a little more down market-

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Then the sick bay-

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And then the laundry-

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The spotless engine room-

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And finally right in front of the engines the ordinary seamen slept-

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So to Holyrood palace-

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The tower to the left is the oldest part left of the palace and housed Mary Queen of Scots for a while.

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No photos allowed inside.Fortunately they had a lift to the first floor so we got to see just a little of behind the public parts.So the next part of the pictorial is of the derelict Holyrood Abbey-

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So to the outside of the palace and gardens-

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The contrasting foliage is beautiful-

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And the old and new.behind the gate house is the new Scottish parliament-

 

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Now back to the shots from the bus.First the old port-

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Of course there is a little modern architecture.What a blight-

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And the new parliament house is to me awful-

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So back to the old stuff-

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Our second night in Edinburgh we ate at the Sheraton.OK food but lousy service.Mrsdrron had the slow cooked veal cheek and I the flat iron steak-

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Then some more of my post prandial walk down Princes street in the rain-

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And the Walter Scott memorial-

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And a change of pace with roses in Princes Park-

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The tower to the left is the oldest part left of the palace and housed Mary Queen of Scots for a while.

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My daughter had an office on the 2nd floor in the front corner of the wing for a week. The photo ban exists for staff and visitors, and I only have one photo of her taken surreptitiously in a hallway while waiting to enter the gardens for a function.

 

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Late that second night when I turned out the lights I noticed the sky was clear and the castle lit up-

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The next morning it was raining again.The hot selection at the lounge was a poached egg on a muffin with spinach.The other 2 mornings it was bacon.nothing else hot just bacon.Today we went on the 2 bus routes we hadn't been on.So first some more happy snaps mainly of residential areas-

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And a distant view of the castle-

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But I didn't forget this is a FF website-

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We stopped off at the Botanic Gardens.This turned out to be a bit of a disaster.The main door to the entrance building was closed so we missed the fact that wheelchairs were available and that the main greenhouses were closed.Add to which it rained most of the time we were there.If it was fine and you are able bodied it would be an enjoyable stroll.

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So back to the bus-

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The last one is the site of the home of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.Amazing the number of people born or educated in Edinburgh.My favourite though would be Ronnie Corbett.The next photo is Queen Mary's bathhouse-

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So many statues.Here the Duke of Wellington-

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Plenty of buskers with bagpipes-

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The defining architecture of Edinburgh-the chimney pot-

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The Royal Mile-

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And more of the Scottish Parliament.Budgeted to cost 40 million GBP but ended up costing 430 million.

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The rain was still coming down so at 1500 she went back to the hotel whilst I continued on to the castle.The drivers of the busses were great.On both days they dropped mrsdrron off outside the Sheraton even though it wasn't one of their stops.So for me back to the Royal Mile and into Edinburgh Castle-

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Great views from the Castle.And the 1 O'clock gun-

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The last photo is the National Scottish War Memorial.Books contain the names of every Scottish soldier known to have died in war.The next photo is of the royal quarters which contain the Scottish National Jewels.No photos of those or inside the War Memorial allowed.

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And the hall with the biggest full timber ceiling and supports in Scotland-

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The chambers of Mary Queen of Scots-

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And the oldest part is St.Margaret's Chapel dating from the 12th century-

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More views from the upper level-

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Mons Meg an old siege gun-

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Then there is the military museum stating the No case for the upcoming referendum-

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And some great recruiting posters-

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Viewing from the other side you could see the Sheraton-

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They are getting ready for the Tattoo.

 

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So back to the-

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It was then back to the hotel.Had a couple of drinks in the exec lounge.Met a couple of women from California who were talking about their experiences with US awards.Was able to give them some pointers and put them onto FT.After that it was down to Wagamama for a takeaway dinner.Whilst waiting I got out my camera and eventually ended up in the St.cuthberts graveyard-

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This is the graveyards watchtower.In the past Edinburgh medical school had the best department of anatomy in the UK.Unfortunately many of the specimens came from the graveyards hence the watchtower-

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Finally at nearly 11pm the sun came out-

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