Edinburgh by day

 To get to the city centre we are lucky enough to have a bus stop around the corner from our B&B and the bus took us straight to the heart of things. We found the tourist centre and organised our way around the city. Our first visit was to a place called Mary King's Close,. When Edinburgh was first settled around the castle, on a track of land about a mile around the castle,  they couldn't build outside the walls of the city. So the house went up -about 11 /12 stories. Naturally these weren't very well made but the street space between the buildings, called Closes or narrow lanes, were filled with markets, rubbish and household filth including the contents of the toilets -from 12 stories of lots of small room 'houses'. The tour guide explained how everyone lived and worked and quite frankly,  we don't know how anyone survived on a daily basis let alone things like the plague. A really interesting visit.

Then it was on to Edinburgh Castle. They are beginning to assemble the seating for the Tattoo in August. Kerrie is standing in the middle of the car park and the cranes are in the background. You don't realise how high you are until you get onto the castle walls. The room above is the banquet hall.

We enjoyed finding out about the history of the castle and the Guards who are based there. There's a lot of ceremony but it is really impressive. We followed the line of tourists to see the Scottish Royal jewels and the history associated with it. No wonder they have a problem with the English!The castle is an amazing space with an amazing view of the city.

After a very late lunch and return bus,  the feet certainly voted for a rest.