5-6-2022: Edinburgh Castle

On this day we visited Edinburgh Castle! The girls had visited Edinburgh before with school, as part of their IB education. They were staying in Stirling at the time, so even though they did visit Edinburgh (and Glasgow), they didn't visit Edinburgh Castle. I personally really would have liked visiting Stirling Castle like they did, but it made more sense to visit Edinburgh Castle during this trip (less travel & the girls hadn't been there before). 

We started our day with a simple breakfast in our hotel. After being spoiled with full English/warm breakfasts, a continental breakfast seemed somewhat boring, but it was fine anyway (we don't have to be completely spoiled the whole time). After breakfast, we took the bus to the city. We probably got confused with the number of stops or a stop got skipped, because we got off one stop too late. Oops! The upside was that we had some extraordinarily pretty views of the castle on our way to the castle, so we weren't all that upset about it. 

(Sir Walter Scott Monument)

At the entrance of the castle we could just walk in. I really recommend getting tickets online beforehand, because otherwise those waiting lines are really long! I'd also pre-arranged a visitor guide. I really liked having that guide to read things at ease. 


The castle is huge and impressive. We were also quite in awe of the Scottish crown and regalia. We weren't allowed to take photos of them, but boy, that sword was huge! We also saw the 'one o'clock cannon' (which is fired at one o'clock every day, hence the name). 


There were also a lot of weapons and armors on display. Some of the displays really gave "Game of Thrones" vibes according to the girls (I haven't seen that show yet). 


After our visit to the castle, we walked the Royal Mile. About halfway we visited a pub and I tried Haggis (when in Scotland....). I have to say: it tasted better than expected, so I was pleasantly surprised. Another fun thing to mention: the waitress saw the girls and spontaneously said "wow, you two are absolutely gorgeous!". She was gorgeous herself, so that comment really made the girls's day. 

By the way: should you wonder what our step-count is so far: the average is about 12,000 a day (and that includes travel days!). 

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