Edinburgh

Click on any of the pictures to see larger ones

The City | Edinburgh Castle | The Royal Mile | Calton Hill | Camera Obscura

Why Edinburgh?

We had originally planned a trip to Paris for the millennium. When we decided we wanted to get married while we were there, I had some work to do. As it turns out, there is a 30 day residency requirement to get married in France. After checking numerous Consulate websites around Europe, I found 2 places that didn't have any restrictions: Scotland and Italy. We decided on Scotland and so I started to investigate venues and the process there. Luckily, I found a great wedding coordinator that helped point me in the right directions and we narrowed the choices down to two. The first was Linlithgow Palace (right), located at the water, about 12 miles east of Edinburgh. This is where Mary, Queen of Scots was born. As it turns out, it is a ruin, which meant we were subject to the elements. This would have been perfect if it were in the Spring or Summer. After much thought, we finally decided on Rosslyn Chapel. You can find the links to that page below.

The City

As we arrived on Princes Street, the main thoroughfare of the city, one of the first things we saw was a very prominent building across the street. This turned out to be our hotel, The Balmoral. As it turns out, this was the original train station in Edinburgh and was converted to a hotel in the late 1800's. The clock tower is one of the most prominent icons on Princes Street. It has always run a few minutes fast so that people could make their trains. The hotel owners tried to set the correct time and the town went into an uproar. The time was reset a few minutes faster once again. The tower also serves as the main water supply for the town as well.

Here are some other pictures of Edinburgh from the hotel as we arrived:

The first picture is a view of Princes Street, the main street of the newer section of Edinburgh. The city was originally all located on the crag known as the Royal Mile. As the town grew in the 1700's, the new section was built for the wealthier townspeople. The second is a view of the royal mile starting at the Castle and moving down to the Holyrood Palace as shown in the third photo. The last picture is Calton Hill, where the town has built many of its monuments and memorials. Included on the hill are memorials to the American Civil War, Sir Frances Scott and the Parthenon.

Edinburgh Castle

Starting at the top of The Royal Mile, Edinburgh Castle was built on a large rock at the top of a crag, providing perfect protection from invasion. The castle has been rebuilt many times since the times of the Moors. Here are some photos we took of the castle.

Queen Margarets Chapel That Was Built in the 1100's

There were some great views of Edinburgh from the Castle as well.

The Royal Mile

The Royal Mile is so named because it is 1 mile from the Castle to the Holyrood Palace (actually, it's 1.1 miles, but who's counting!). If you move your mouse over the map to your left and it changes from an arrow pointing to a finger, you can click there and see a picture of that area.
1. You start at the Castle including
2. Queen Margaret's Chapel.

3. The National Gallery.
4. Then to a view of The Royal Mile from the Camera Obscura.

5. The Scott Monument.
6. St. Giles Cathedral.
7. A great picture of a close called Anchor Close (these were the small pathways that went between the buildings with street front businesses, homes, etc. The closes would wind down the hill to the roads below.
8. The Balmoral from the Castle.
9. Another view of The Royal Mile below St. Giles Cathedral.

10. Overlooking Canongate Tolbooth and Canongate Kirk looking onto Holyrood House.

11. The Holyrood Palace. This is where the Queen stays when she visits from England.

Calton Hill

One nice area we enjoyed was Calton Hill. We had just gone ice skating by the hotel. By the way, this was a blast! They set up a rink by the hotel and everyone came from all over the area to skate. We listened to Tom Jones and lots of Disco. Everyone had a great time! Anyway, back to my story. As we were finishing, we noticed there were lots of people walking along Princes Street carrying torches. As we investigated, we discovered it was a holiday celebration. People were carrying torches, there were drum corps, costumes, etc. We decided to join in and they marched all the way to the top of Calton Hill. At the top, there was a huge bonfire and different types of dancers on stage and at the base of the Parthenon. As people gathered, the fireworks began right above us. We enjoyed the fireworks and thought about how it would be by the Eiffel Tower on New Year's Eve! After the celebration on the hill, we meandered back onto Princes Street and walked through the carnival that was set up right next to the hotel. I don't think we could have planned it any better that night. I think this was one of Katie's favorite evenings. You can the see pictures above.

Camera Obscura

This was another interesting site here. It is a tower that was built in the mid 1800's and was actually one of the first of it's kind. What they did was refract light from a lens on the roof onto a white, concave dish. They would then move the lens to view different part of the city. This was before photography and people had never seen images like this before. It has been popular ever since! Here are a few photos we took from the observation deck of the Camera Obscura.

I hope you enjoyed the Edinburgh page! Check back soon. I am going to add some video including the ice skating and fireworks!