The Royal Yacht Britannia

We arrived in Ednburgh on the evening of 28 June.  The following morning, Jean and I stepped aboard the Royal Yacht Britannia, which is permanently moored in Edinburgh's harbour.  The Yacht was launched in 1953 and remained one of the Queen's homes until it was decommissioned in 1997, having sailed more than a million miles around the world.

The experience of seeing the Britannia includes an exhibition in the building alongside which the Yacht is anchored.  A lot of information and pictures adorn the walls of the exhibition.  Here, we see a model of the Yacht.

We took an audio tour of the Yacht, which started out on the Bridge.

At the stern is the former private area of the Royal Family.

Very near the private deck is the Sun Lounge (above) where the Queen liked to sit and take tea.

Just above the private deck is now a tea room where Jean and I took tea...

We had scones, jam and clotted cream on board the Royal Yacht Britannia.

The above is the Grand Dining Room, where the Queen entertained many notable dignitaries down through the years, including Ronald Reagan, Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher, and Bill Clinton.

This was the Queen's bedroom.  We were amazed at the lack of luxury.  Nearby was the Duke's bedroom.

The above is the drawing room.  It was both a private retreat for the Royals but also served to entertain guests of the Queen.

Around Edinburgh

While in Edinburgh, Jean and I separated from Neil and Carolyn and went off to explore the city at our own pace.  We walked to our heart's content around the city's 'old' and 'new' parts.  The old parts of Edinburgh were built centuries ago, whereas the new were constructed downhill from the old from about the 1730s.  Over a period of about 30 years, most of the buildings and houses constructed in the new town that we see today had been built.  The economy must have been booming.

During the few days in Edinburgh, we inspected the Royal Yacht Britannia, took a walking tour of the city, sat briefly in the Scottish Parliament, visited St Giles Cathedral, and otherwise walked and walked and walked.  I'd considered going inside Edinburgh Castle, but I'd been many years ago, and Jean visited it in 2009, so we decided against it.  We wanted to go inside Holyrood Palace, but couldn't because the Queen is in residence until 10 July.  In the vicinity of Holyrood and the Parliament, for something different, we climbed the series of hills that dominates Edinburgh's skyline there, and overlooked the city.

Looking down Princes Street to St Giles Cathedral

This needs no explanation:  Scotland is renowned for its kilts.

We'd been told that 'Oink' was a very good restaurant.

At Oink, they cook the pig whole.

This is the monument to Sir Walter Scott, famous Scottish playwright and poet.  It reminded me of London's Albert Memorial, but this was less ostentatious.

One of the peaks overlooking Edinburgh is Arthur's Seat which is an extinct volcano from about 350 million years ago.  In fact, Edinburgh Castle sits on part of the old volcano.  We didn't climb Arthur's Seat, but a nearby peak closer to the path that leads down to Holyrood Palace.

Climbing the hills reminded us of walking the Camino in Spain, which, although only about seven weeks ago, now feels like some holiday in the distant past.

Holyrood Palace, which we walked past as we came down from the hill.  The Royal Standard is flying, indicating the Queen is in residence.