We can't get enough of Scotland- so we made our fourth trip in October, 2006. We went for the history, the architecture, the nice people and- of course- the whisky. Since we'd taken a longer vacation in Greece earlier in the year, this was a fast trip- fly to Edinburgh Thursday, land Friday morning, leave Monday morning. We knew how to pack a lot into a four-day weekend, having done it a few times before. Click on any photo for a more detailed view Below at left, we're surveying our domain on the deck of the Royal yacht Britannia, now permanently docked in Leith and open to tourists and corporate events. At center is Princess Gardens, still beautifully in bloom in early October. And at right we are looking down over the city from the top of the hill we ascended shopping along the Royal Mile.
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Edinburgh's streets are full of interesting statues. At left
above is Sir Walter Scott, who occupies a majestic monument overlooking Princes Gardens.
At center is Robert Burns, oddly placed at a busy intersection. And Queen
Victoria's realm is also reduced to an intersection now. The statues at left and right we didn't identify because they just don't get much respect. The group at right got some early Halloween costumes courtesy of Saturday night partiers; the other is, well, thoroughly disrespected by the local pigeon population. Click for better views. |
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Interesting architectural details weren't just restricted to the outdoors. We stayed at the Hilton Grosvenor, which had been created by combining six Georgian townhouses. It made for a rather eccentric layout, but the rooms had majestic high ceilings and lots of ornamentation. |
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