Edinburgh Scenes

We recently returned from a holiday in Scotland. We spent eight days on a golf tour, with members of our local club from Canmore. Once that was completed, Rolande and I spent a further eight days touring the Highlands.

We arrived in Edinburgh, departed from there and spent 4 days in the city in the course of our golf tour. It’s a very pleasant city, offering great hospitality, a profusion of history and of course, great photographic opportunities. I captured 200 pictures, making choices for this blog a dilemma.

I’ve chosen to share a half dozen scenes that I like and which I believe provide a sense of this charming city. I begin with this panoramic view of the city taken from Edinburgh Castle located on a prominence above the city.

Looking from below is this view of Edinburgh Castle, the city’s most prominent landmark. Edinburgh Castle is a historic fortress which dominates the skyline  from its position on the Castle Rock. Archaeologists have established human occupation of the rock since at least the Iron Age (2nd century AD). There has been a royal castle on the rock since at least the reign of David I in the 12th century, and the site continued to be a royal residence until 1603. From the 15th century the castle’s residential role declined, and by the 17th century it was principally used as military barracks with a large garrison. Today, it is Edinburgh’s top tourist attraction.

Another important landmark is the Sir Walter Scott Monument, the largest monument to a writer in the world.

This is the Governor’s House in Edinburgh Castle. Edinburgh Castle is in many ways the spiritual home of Scotland’s proud military past. The honorary post of governor and continued use of the Governor’s House is just one example of this strong link to the past. It is an enduring and historic role that goes back many centuries. The present Governor’s House was built between 1740 and 1742 and is an outstanding example of Board of Ordnance architecture, designed by Dugal Campbell.

In the course of our city tour, our guide led us off a main street into one of may quiet courtyards that still remain. The picture’s here because I like it.

Holyrood Park is a royal park in central Edinburgh, about a mile to the east of Edinburgh Castle. It has an array of hills, lochs, glens, ridges, basalt cliffs, and patches of gorse, providing a remarkably wild piece of highland landscape within its 650-acre (260 ha) area. The park was created in 1541 when James V had the ground enclosed by a stone wall. Holyrood Park is now publicly accessible. Arthur’s Seat, the highest point in Edinburgh, is at the centre of the park. I ascended to the summit of Arthur’s Seat for this next photograph.

That’s it for Edinburgh. I’ll follow this soon with more photos from Scotland.