I let the boys sleep in a little since we were out so late the night before. But I didn't want them to sleep in too long because I wanted to get to Edinburgh castle early in the morning before all the other tourists arrived. So we parked in the same spot, on the other side of the Royal Mile, and hiked it up to the castle.
This is the front gate to the castle.
My boys standing where so much history has happened. It still amazes me how much we are able to see and do while living here in Germany.
These are the Lang Stairs. This was one way into the castle, but the easier route was the road that was built in the 15th century.
Michael at the top of the castle enjoying the view.
I thought this was so neat. It has been used since Queen Victoria's reign (1837-1901) as a burial place for regimental mascots and officers' dogs.
This is the one o'clock gun which is fired every day (except Sunday) at precisely 1300, allowing citizens and visitors to check their clocks and watches. The origin of the tradition lies in the days when sailing ships in the Firth of Forth were able to check and reset their chronometers in the days before accurate timepieces were available.
This is Mons Meg, the world's most famous medieval gun showed the strength and prestige of Scotland's kings. Mons Meg was made from wrought iron near the city of Mons, now in Belgium, in 1449. Just eight years later, she was given by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy to James II, King of Scotland. James had married Philip's great-niece, Mary of Guelders.
St Margaret's Chapel is the oldest surviving building in Edinburgh. King David built the chapel in about 1130. He dedicated it to his saintly mother, Margaret. The royal family often worshipped here. Robert the Bruce spared the chapel when he destroyed the rest of the castle after its recapture from the English in 1314. After Margaret's death, she was made Scotland's only royal saint by Pope Innocent IV in 1249. Mary Queen of Scots had a gilded shrine containing Margaret's head brought to the castle in 1566, to protect her during the birth of the future King James VI.
The boys showing their muscles in front of Mons Meg. She has a 20 inch wide barrel, was built to smash castle walls. The gunstone can be shot about two miles.
Some gentleman was nice enough to take a family photo of us in front of Mons Meg. When she was brought to Scotland, she was carried on a reinforced cart pulled by horses or oxen. The road was levelled by gangs of labourers before her. Even so, she only moved about nine miles a day.
This is the Forewall Battery built in 1544. Rebuilt by King James V on the line of the medieval defences. The guns were made about 1810. David checking out the view, or aiming the cannon for Michael. ;-)
Michael trying to use all his muscles - unfortunately it didn't budge.
This is where all the cannons were for the Military Tattoo. They were shot off a lot and it looked really cool!
We found David's tower. I told him I was going to leave him there. LOL. Two important things happened in David's Tower. In 1941, they were afraid of the German's invading so they buried the Honours of Scotland, the nation's Crown Jewels. The Crown was buried under the floor of a medieval toilet once used by the king and queens.
The second important event was a "Black Dinner." In 1441, King James II had rivals to the throng, the chief among them the Black Douglases. He invited him and his younger brother to dinner here in David's Tower. They ate royally until a servant bearing a bull's head on a platter - a sure sign that someone was about to die. They accused them of treason, tried them on trumped-up charge of treason, then taken out into the courtyard and beheaded.
This is the place where they housed the Honours: the crown, sceptre and sword of state used in coronation of Mary Queen of Scots. Unfortunately we couldn't take pictures inside.
Here is the crest of Scotland in Laich Hall which was used as a dining hall when the kings and queens stayed here.
The boys were very excited about this room and I bet you can guess why. This is the Great All. It was built for King James IV as a majestic setting for ceremonial occasions. It is still used today for state and royal functions. Almost 400 years of warfare produced the weapons and armour displayed here in the Great Hall.
The hall was also used as military barracks in 1650. They packed over 300 men living in here, I couldn't even imagine having the space for all of them to sleep.
The boys wanted their picture with the lion. I don't blame them!!!
My soldiers, my protectors!!! :-)
They made the middle of the road elevated to keep it clean and easier to bring in horses and wagons.
The vaults in the castle were used as prisons of war for over 50 years from 1757-1815. This door is one of them. The graffiti carved on them provide vital clues to the prisoners' identities and feelings. During the war of American Independence, there were almost 1000 prisoners of war - American, French, Spanish, Dutch and British held here.
This is where the prisoners slept. At least it was off the ground.
The prisoners were given clothes, six pence a day. Each prisoner also received daily ration of: 2 pints of beer, 1 1/2 pounds of bread, 3/4 pounds of beef, 1/2 pint of pease every other day, and 1/4 pound of butter and 6 ounces of cheese instead of beef on Saturday. Because Americans were officially regarded as pirates, they received only 1 pound of bread a day.
Michael decided that he wanted to take a little break.
AJ decided that he wouldn't like using the prisoners' latrines, because they were basically just holes in the floor.
This showed soldiers that had been caught breaking the rules.
Here you can see the road for the horses and carriages up to the castle.
We decided to stop for a little break at the café and David found Bitter and Twisted beer. He had it the first time he came to Scotland and was excited to have it again! It was allegedly named after the brewer's wife.
A nice view of the city.
Heading out of the castle, it was a lot more crowded then when we first went it.
Having some fun with mirrors on the walk back down the Royal Mile.
As par with the Fringe, there are a lot of free shows on the streets. The boys wanted to stay and watch this one. It was just beginning so I headed into the church right behind them.
This is the Thistle Chapel. The Order of the Thistle is Scotland's great order of chivalry, and membership is considered to be one of the country's highest honours. The Thistle Chapel was designed by Robert Lorimer and finished in 1911. It contains stalls for the 16 knights, the Sovereign's stall and two Royal stalls.
You know I love my organs - and this one is pretty nice!! I do wish I could have heard it play!
The stained glass windows in there were beautiful! During the Middle Ages, there wasn't much stained glass in the church. The Reformers disapproved of stained glass windows, because these often depicted saints and other images. In 1870s and 80s, William Chambers was determined to insert stained glass again when he restored the Cathedral.
When I went back out to check in on the show and the boys and I saw this. Michael with a whip and a machete. I am not sure what was going on.
Then the performer came back on the stage and said for us to clap really loud and they will see Michael up on stage and wonder what he did. So we all did and lots more people came. It was great!!!
Next the performer said he was going to read Michael's mind. He wanted him to think of an animal and he was going to make it with balloons. He read his mind right and made Michael a dog!!!
This guy was hilarious!! He said he was going to jump up on the uni-cycle, but instead he climbed up instead.
He then went on to do a bit of fire juggling. You can tell he LOVES what he does!!! It was so much fun to watch and to have Michael participate in the show.
Michael with his dog and tadpole.
It started to rain, so we decided to head down to the Starbucks we saw to get dry and enjoy some cards. We had a little bit of time before our show!
There were so many shows to choose from that it was hard to do. We finally decided on 360. It was an acrobatic, music show.
We weren't allowed to take pictures of the show, but this is right before the show. We really, really enjoyed the show!! It was a mix of people from all over the world doing a show together!! The boys really enjoyed it as well!!!
As we were heading back down the Royal Mile, the boys were pulled into this shop. They wanted to make one of the little figurines, so this nice gentleman helped the boys. They were very interested in the game. We spent a bit of time there. It was another great day!! We really enjoyed seeing the different places and shows along the way!!!
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