Edinburgh Castle

Hello and Happy New Year to anyone reading this!!

Yesterday my mum was having a cataract operation so we spent time doing some sightseeing.  We were originally going to go to the museum but seeing as it was a lovely morning, we decided to visit Edinburgh Castle instead.  It was fairly expensive to buy tickets for the entrance fee, but all the exhibits inside the castle are then free and they are all pretty impressive.  Photographs are allowed in most of the place, but not inside the War Memorial or where the Scottish Crown Jewels are kept.

Here's a selection of some photos that I took:

View of the Castle

On the esplanade

View from castle towards East Lothian

Princes Street - work continues on dismantling the big wheel

We just happened to be at the castle for one-o-clock when the gun is fired to mark the time.  The ball is also raised on the tower at Calton Hill and it falls, also at one-o-clock which lets shipping in the Forth know the exact time of 1 p.m.  I managed to capture those moments although, even though I knew that gun was going to go off with a bang, I still jumped!!

The ball is raised

The gun goes off

As we could see that the cloud was beginning to build up from the west, I took more photos of the stunning views that can be seem from the ramparts of the castle

I have the big wheel in my sights!!

Taking aim ......

...... fire!!

 These photos are in other areas of the castle that we visited after the cloud cover came over and dulled everything down!!

St. Margaret's Chapel

St. Margaret's Chapel

The Great Hall

Mary Queen of Scots' chamber

Prisoner of War accommodation

So, all in all this was a very worthwhile visit as we haven't been up at the castle for around 20 years!!

Festive Edinburgh 2012

It's been a while since I posted anything, so it's high time I started getting something done!!  I finished my Christmas shopping fairly early in December, but unfortunately it was a very grey day, so the photos weren't very bright and it was too windy and cold to have a turn on the Big Wheel.

Snowman and Big Wheel

Festive Mice

Pottery Bikers

Jenners

Santa and Big Wheel

About a week afterwards, I had another trip into town and this time the weather was a little better with a small dusting of snow!  This time I did have a turn on the Big Wheel and took more photos.

Edinburgh Castle

Looking towards Princes Street

Big Wheel and Scott Monument

Edinburgh Castle from Big Wheel

Scott Monument and Big Wheel

The next time we visited Edinburgh was a night to go to a dinner and party night and to get there we took a walk through the gardens and the various markets - with camera in hand, I took more photos!!

Scott Monument and Big Wheel

Jenners and Big Wheel

Helter Skelter

I quite liked the photo of the Scott Monument and the Big Wheel, so I had a play around with it and came up with these:

I quite liked how that second one came out so  have ordered some Christmas cards in that design for next year!!

More of Festive Edinburgh

We went with friends into Edinburgh yesterday (27th December) for lunch at the Slug and Lettuce (yes, that IS it's correct name!!) in the Omni Centre before going to see We Will Rock You at Edinburgh Playhouse.  The show was fantastic but I feel that the one we saw in 2009 was slightly better.  We still enjoyed it though and I'd highly recommend it to anyone who is reading this!  If you get the chance, go and see it!! I had wanted to take photos to test out the new camera, but as the announcement at the beginning of the performance said photography and recording was prohibited, I didn't really get a chance to fiddle with the camera.  I did sneak these though!!

Sneaky photo taken at We Will Rock You

Another sneaky photo taken at We Will Rock You

When we came out of the Playhouse, it had been raining but it was still mild and dry when we left.  We had a wander through George Square after drinks at Valvona and Crolla's then we progressed down into Princes Street Gardens and my friend and I went onto the Big Wheel and the Carousel before walking up to George Street with the intention of having dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe but, on getting there, we were told that there was a problem in the kitchen and that they had stopped serving food!  We then walked down into Rose Street where we had a meal in Milnes pub which we discovered was a Taylor Walker pub, the same chain that runs one of our favourite places in the Grassmarket - The Beehive.

After dinner, we made our way back to the train station and home.  All in all, it was a great day out.  Here are some photos taken during the day.

Big Wheel and Scott Monument

Big Wheel

Edinburgh Castle

Princes Street and Edinburgh Castle from the Big Wheel

Princes Street and Carousel from the Big Wheel

Balloons

Human Snow Globe!

Christmas tree at The Dome

Chair o' planes

Festive Edinburgh

'Tis the season to go shopping, tra la la la la, la la la la!!  The day started off a bit damp and cold but the sun came out for a little while too and I was able to get onto the big wheel and the carousel, which is a 'must do' on the Christmas shopping day - but it's vital to do this BEFORE you have too many carrier bags full of shopping with you!!  There are loads of food stalls and also the 'German Market' where you can pick up many nice and unusual gifts.  Here is a small selection of photos:

The Big Wheel

Awesome view of Edinburgh Castle and Princes Street from the top of the Big Wheel

The sun came out!!

Carousel horses

Giant penguin

Chair-o-planes

Edinburgh silhouette