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Mom and I flew into Gatwick Airport on Dec 16th, 2001, and took the Flying Scotsman train directly up to Edinburgh. Mom says that following a nine-hour plane ride with a five-hour train trip wasn't a very good idea, but I don't have much problem with it. We crashed early that evening after finding food in a small restaurant near the B&B we stayed at (The Stuarts. We recommend it.) and the next morning took a Guide Friday open-top bus tour around town. After the bus tour, Edinburgh Castle was the first stop. You can get a far better summary of its history and a photo tour at the Caledonian Castles Edinburgh Castle website than you can here. | |||
 Shot up in the main area of the
castle. The building to the right is a memorial to Scottish soldiers who
died in war this century. | |||
 Every day at 1:00 PM, Staff Sergeant
Tom 'Tam the Gun' McKay fires the One O'Clock Gun from the ramparts of
Edinburgh Castle, to serve as a time-signal for the ships in the Firth of
Forth. The gun has been fired every day since 1861. This picture was
taken just moment after he shot the gun - you can see the smoke drifting
off to the right. A page written by Tam the Gun himself can be found here. | |||
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 A better shot of the inner area of
the castle. St. Margaret's Chapel - the oldest building in Edinburgh - is
the building to the left with the roof that looks pixelated. | |||
 My mother. Mostly taken so we have
something to show our relatives when they ask "But didn't you take any
pictures of yourself?" Why *do* people have the urge to take pictures of
themselves in front of monuments? To prove they were there? Documenting
myself just seems to be an urge I'm missing. | |||
 I'm standing outside the main gate
looking out towrds the city. That big parking lot is where the Black
Watch does the Military Tattoo. | |||
 View from the castle parking lot out
over the city to the south. | |||
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A shot from
the curving drive shortly before the final gate of the castle (the castle
has 6 gates in total), over Edinburgh New Town to the north. You can see
the Firth of Forth - that bit of ocean - and just beyond it the land mass
known as Fife.
The walls of
the castle, from the same place as the previous shot. I just turned to
the right. You can tell how steep the drive is - good defenses when the
castle was built. The bricks and stones in the road were laid by French
prisoners of war during the early 1800s.