E D I N B U R G H
4 - 8 May 2007

The Present

We have been planning to visit Edinburgh ever since I arrived in the UK but what finally got us up there was a birthday party. My wife's cousin turned (insert round number here) and decided to treat herself to a Posh Do so our first evening found us in formal dress reconnecting with people I haven't seen in years and meeting others for the first time. It was good fun, and I continue to be amazed at being considered 'family' by a room full of men in kilts.

Edinburgh Castle

We managed, without trying, to catch the Famous Edinburgh Run (me, neither). Approximately 8,000 men and women went running through the streets as we were on our way to do touristy things. It was an unexpected, but interesting diversion.

The Edinburgh Run

Later, we popped into Holyrood Palace, confident it would be open for tours as the Queen was in the US at the time. They don't allow visitors at Holyrood when the Queen is around lest you stumble across her taking a bath or clipping her toenails.

Holyrood (courtesy of the Holyrood website)

     
The hallway, portrait room and throne room
(courtesy of the Holyrood website)

The gardens and the Chapel

As palaces go, Holyrood is perfectly adequate; majestic, clean, imposing and conveying the sense that we, as common people, are entirely irrelevant to and inhabit a world (and not a very important one) different from the ruling class. Basically, it's the same feeling one would expect to receive from a trip to parliament.

However…

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