As I went through the castle, two things were very apparent to me. Firstly the amount of care these guys have taken to preserve this and make it more 'relatable' from a tourist perspective. So you have boards at all the places that state what this particular place is all about, you have guided tours, you have audio equipment etc. Secondly, the amount of pride the Scott's take in this.
Wish we could inculcate even part of that - and stop giving the crap about being a poor nation. Its more about mindset/attitude
View of the city from the castle - notice the greenery, the lack of tall buildings and north sea in the distance.
At almost all places of interest in Europe (that I have been) you have the option of taking a headset for a small fee which guides you as you go along that site. I never tried that - especially because its expensive. But here its very cold and since we are at a height, the wind is gusting and hence largely to protect myself from the cold I buy that headset - no more the cold air rushes into my ears. It's 3 pounds. Interestingly, the currency notes here are different. They do not have the photo of the queen on it.
As usual, every castle needs guns to protect itself. These are 7 here at base level of the castle, a few more at the top (including a monster of a gun)
This is main structure - housing the church, war memorial, royal residency etc
This is the 1'O clock gun. This gun is shot at 1pm every day and has historically been an indicator to time to local people and ships. Why 1'O clock you ask? Apparently, the Scottish people are stingy so if it was a 12'O clock gun you would need to fire 12 shots every day - which costs a lot more than if you fire 1 shot for 1'O clock. Hmm... I see some similarities between the Scotts and me!
On the right is the governor's residence
This gives a nice view of the castle from one of the taller spots on the castle. What you see immediately in front was a horse stable now converted into a small refreshment center, then you see the 1'O clock gun and to its right (not in the photo) are the seven guns captured in one of the photos above.
Here are the guns, face the city - ready to defend it
This is the oldest part of the castle and as you can see, its undergoing repairs.
A small church. I was told, this is the oldest structure still standing today in Edinburgh!
This is a monster of a gun. It's called 'Mons Meg' and was received as a gift from someone about 600 years back. It's firing range is more than a 2 miles. Look at the canon balls on the left. Phew...
And, somethings you would not find in India - a cemetery for the dogs of the guards.
This is interesting. There's a big story about the honors of the kingdom (Scotland) and how they were lost and re discovered. There's an entire section dedicated to these honors - the Sword, the Sword belt, the Scabbard and the Crown. These are legacy things that kings of Scotland have inherited and have been part of their royal regalia. But they were lost somehow and later on found by the famous poet Walter Scott. The (original) case in which they were found is shown above.
This structure hosts the official Scottish war memorial. Has entries of all Scots who died with date and their regiment etc. No photography allowed inside, but it was serene inside.
Time to head back and route towards the exit. The castle closes at 6pm and the guards literally escort us out.
Final parting shot - Its actually not that big by standards of Indian forts.
See the snow capped peaks in the distance, its that north and yes, its fricking cold
India buildings - though I do not know what this means...
National Library
National museum
Nothing significant of the building except that the lights (in the building together with fading sunlight) created a good color effect.
Notice also, all main structures are made of stone (old and new) - hardly any brick work.
By this time I had completely run out of batteries, the cold weather had taken its toll. But I simply had to take this photo - so i am hectically reversing the batteries, trying different combinations of batteries (i had 4), turning off the LCD display to get this final snap.
This is the head office of the Royal Bank of Scotland - you cannot read the plate but it reads "Incorporated by Royal Charter, AD 1727". Man this is old. Now you get a sense of how deep this place is seeped in history.
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