Edinburgh

Hello!!! For Christmas, Brandon and I took a trip up north to jolly Edinburgh. We hopped the  train from London's Kings Cross station, and just four hours later we arrived in sunny, warm Scotland.

Cowdog loves train rides!

Train view - ocean and sheep!

Kidding! We were immediately pelted with diagonal rain and 30 mph wind gusts from Siberia. Brandon and I got frostbite waiting for the rain to pass to get this photo.

Worth it? B says yes...

Welcome to the north! For those pf you that read/watch Game of Thrones, I was constantly reminded of Winterfell and Castle Black during our trip. Remember the Red Wedding episode? It was based on a real life wedding in Edinburgh Castle. Those Scots were more gruesome than the English!

Tartan can kill...

We spent six days wandering through the centuries-old neighborhoods via cobblestone paths. The hilly city's historic, brooding architecture paired nicely with foggy weather. We only took photos in the brief moments of sunlight, so don't be fooled! We rented an apartment next to Holyrood Park, once the royal grounds of the palace - perfect for queen Cleo!

Palace on the left, our apartment on the right

The first day we toured Edinburgh Castle. The foundation of the castle has been a fortress since the 2nd century AD. It survived multiple sieges and cannon fire, and its rocky appearance sure looks the part. After the unification of England and Scotland in 1603 the castle was used by the military instead of the royal family residence.

Windblown

View from inside the castle walls

Side note - The extinct volcano (called Arthur's Seat) in the background of the last photo was right outside our apartment window. More on that later - back to the castle. A medieval cannon named Mons Meg fended off invaders with a shooting range of two miles! All the way to the invading ships.

Took eight men to fire and move Mons Meg

Most of the current castle's buildings are less than 500 years old, but the St. Margaret's chapel along the inner wall is from the 12th century. It's the oldest structure in all of Edinburgh. St. Margaret was a Scottish queen in the 11th century.

Chapel is the stone building on the left behind the tree

After the castle, we popped into a pub for some mulled wine and hot toddies to warm up (we used the cold as an excuse to drink whisky at noon almost every day.) Then we took a walking tour of the old town. After three hours in the cold we were ready for our first whisky tasting. Turns out we really like whiskies from the Speyside region. They are usually a bit sweeter and very smooth, due to their casks  - previously used to make bourbon in Kentucky. Yay USA!

We visited the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, which was a beautiful Victorian building. The Scottish history was a little over our heads since we were just starting to get the hang of the British monarchy lines. We'll figure it out eventually!

We visited Edinburgh's most famous church, St. Giles Cathedral. It had gorgeous Gothic architecture. 

The novelist Robert Louis Stevenson is buried here (Treasure Island, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.)

My favorite part was the Thistle Chapel (Scotland's national symbol is the thistle.)

Ceiling

Choir stalls

On Christmas Day, everything was closed, so we planned to hike the extinct volcano named Arthur's Seat, in our backyard. It turned out to be the sunniest day of the week, so we chose well! We started with a big breakfast, paired with English Christmas crowns of course!

Then we were off!

Christmas card 2015?

Cleo thought it was the best day ever

The peak really looked like a volcano.
The woman on the left was yelling at her dog because it was jumping around like a billy goat.
So was Cleo but I just didn't watch...

Life behind the lens

After the hike, we ate a huge meal. But not before checking out the Christmas Market in Prince's Gardens one last time.

We love Edinburgh! And Brandon takes amazing photos. All the good ones are his and the crappy ones are mine. We took a day trip outside the city, but I'll save that for the next post. Hope everyone had a great December!