The All in One Edinburgh Tour.

Ahoy mateys! More of Edinburgh! We got a great package bus tour deal: three big sites in two days, from the top of Edinburgh Castle to Holyrood Place to the Royal yacht Brittania at the Firth of Forth docks. All aboard.

 

                  Captain Glenn Hill at your service. (there are also stuffed corgis all over the ship)

 The official yacht of the British royal family from 1953 until it was decommissioned in the late Nineties. It sailed the royal family all over the world in its heyday, and even Charles and Diana spent their honeymoon on it in the Eighties, although all the beds were tiny doubles with chenille bedspreads, and given the height of both of them I'm willing to bet their feet hung over the end of the bed.

All in all a very basic, functional ship and just a smaller version of the ocean liners I sailed on as a child, not like the monster water hotels that are the current cruise ships.

   

                                         Suggestion:  Don't serve soup on the high seas.

A don't miss visit to the Holyrood Palace. Home of Scottish royalty, including Mary Queen of Scots.
Photos were not allowed inside many of the interiors. Lots of Stuart history inside, (Bonny Prince Charlie, you tried), and the British royal family still holds official functions here. Also: secret panels in walls!

                                                     The ruined abbey on the grounds

And the grounds were beautiful

 I really wanted to climb Arthur's Seat in the background for the full view of Edinburgh but our legs were so tired from all the walking that we couldn't quite muster.

And of course, Edinburgh Castle stands over the city at the top of the Royal Mile. More uphill walking. Thighs of steel.

                                        It was a beautiful day, and a busy day for tourists.

Here is one of the notes I made in my little travel diary while at Edinburgh Castle: "Spending half the trip waiting in long lines for the loo. Men are in and out in a flash. Grrrrrr...."

                           Once again, Glenn was on duty, proudly wearing his tartan wool scarf.

                                                                         The cannon.

                                       The lookout, with the Firth of Forth in the distance.

We ate a lot of fish on our travels. This one a sole baked in parchment, with a nice beaujolais, at a lovely place called The Wee Restaurant.

            And so farewell, Edinburgh, and on to Durham to see the next batch of relatives.