An overview from Edinburgh

Day 5 and 6: Edinburgh
Km driven: 91
Explorer Pass: Edinburgh Castle, Linlithgow Palace, Blackness Castle

We spent three nights in Edinburgh.  Our host very nicely let us live in her flat under the close supervision of her pet ferret. This enabled us to enjoy the city at every time of the day.

The first morning,  we gathered our courage and walked to Holyroodhouse Palace, the royal family's residence when they are in town. We visited the dining room (with a menu and list of the toasts), the rooms of Mary Stuart and other royal apartments. I (Solene is writing) could very well picture myself living there... I also learnt about the existence of the Commonwealth Games.

We then walked through the city, stopping at every souvenir shop (where I incidentally found a kilt), had lunch at the Elephant House (the café where Harry Potter was written) and went to the Museum of Scotland, expecting an insight on the lives of Scottish people through time. Even though the pieces we saw were very interesting, we were disappointed by the museum, which didn't offer visitors a thread to follow.

As we had some time left, we  climbed up the hill to Edinburgh castle, where our Explorer Pass allowed us to avoid the queue. Notably, the Honors of Scotland were displayed, and so we learnt about the crown, the sword and the scepter used in the coronation of the kings and queens of Scotland.

That evening, we had diner at a Malaysian restaurant with our host and her boyfriend, then stayed at the pub until it closed, at 1 am. We had a wonderful time but the morning after that found us eager to sleep in. We cooked an english breakfast, with eggs and bacon, a scone, some local cheese... Comfort food after several days of intense visiting.

Finally, we detached ourselves from our books, and drove to Linlithgow Palace, an impressive ruin full of  side corridors, alcoves, and stairs. We tried climbing up one tower before discovering the only one with an access to the top was the opposite one. We had fun playing hide and seek, and had breathtaking views on the country around.

Next stop was Blackness Castle, where there wasn't much to see (compared to what we are getting used to), except for a viewpoint over the Forth Rail Bridge. On the other side of Edinburgh,  we went to Rosslyn Chapel, expensive but definitely worth it. The whole building is exquisitely decorated, with precise and intricate sculptures all over the walls, arches and ceiling.  We were explained about Green Men, masculine figures with leaves coming out of their mouth, thought to represent abundance and fertility of the soils.

Back at the flat, we focused on getting ready for an early start the next day, finally spending one night in the city sithout going to the pub.