The city of Edinburgh arose in the 11th century, around the Castle, in the area now known as Old Town. The city was largely destroyed in 1544 in the border wars with England, but rebuilt using a new style of stone architecture.

Our idea of heaven when we travel is finding a beautiful city where we can walk all day, and having a good book of walking tours. We wore our feet out every day in Edinburgh.

This is a view of the city from the Castle, with the Nelson monument on Calton Hill in the background. We walked there, too.

Dr. Samuel Johnson, a writer and philosopher, produced one of the first dictionaries in the English language. Johnson was also one of the first English writers to bring the works of Shakespeare to public attention after a century of being ignored. James Boswell, a lawyer, visited often with Johnson and chronicled their travels together. This is a plaque outside a restaurant where they once had lunch.

One writer has speculated that the only reason Johnson is so famous is that his good friend Boswell hung onto every clever word he said, and wrote them all down.

 

Holyrood Castle, has an interesting legend attached to the name. It is said that in 1128 King David was hunting when a stag charged, startling his horse causing him to fall. As the stag tried to gore him, King David grasped the antlers and they magically became a golden cross in his hands. On the gate, not visible in this photo, there is the figure of a stag with a cross in its antlers.

Holyrood is also where Mary, Queen of Scots lived before she was imprisoned and where her second husband, Lord Darnley, was murdered. Hers is quite a story. A rival to Queen Elizabeth I, she eventually got caught up in a plot against the throne and was beheaded.

When the present Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip are in Edinburgh, they stay here, as did the Queen Mother before her recent death.

The tip of the hill in the background is Arthur's Seat. We got there, too.

We got lost on the way to our climb to Arthur's Seat (when it comes to getting lost, we're a great team) and ended up in this section of town. We wouldn't be able to find it again if our lives depended on it, but it was pretty and we found a good place to pick up food for lunch.

(An internet friend who grew up in Edinburgh reports that this street is just off the George IV Bridge and leads to the Grassmarket. It's also right at the border of the Edinburgh University District.)

There were several signs pointing to the dungeon but we didn't go. We guessed that it's a resource for parents with misbehaving children in tow.

This looks like a church. And that's what it used to be. Now it's used for meetings and concerts - perhaps a symptom of the waning interest in organized religion in the Britain.

This church, according to the inscription over the door, was erected as "mortification" for unspecified deeds of one Thomas Moore, upon the order of King James VII. For Tomas Moore's sake we hope that "Mortification" meant something different in those days.

This is a fountain in the park between the New Town, where we stayed, and the Old Town. The Castle is in the background.

We weren't industrious enough to write down anything about this building in Edinburgh's Old Town, one of many interesting buildings on the Royal Mile. We just liked the architecture.

Thanks to an internet  friend we have since learned that it is the Toll Booth. Built in 1591, it was used as an administrative office primarily for the collection of duties and tolls. The building included a council house, court room and a jail. A version of Medieval one-stop shopping for miscreants.