Scotland: Edinburgh Old Town (UPDATED)

Edinburgh was rather gray and had a lot of tourists. It is famous for its Royal Mile, between the Castle and the Palace. The street is filled with souvenir shops. The atmosphere = circus. Easily half of the people are on guided tours, while busking bagpipers make a ruckus.



To be fair, the Royal Mile is essentially a narrow ridge. When it came time for expansion, the buildings went upwards. The Royal Mile has some of the tallest Medieval buildings in Europe, clustered around alleys or courtyards known as "close." We went up in a few of those buildings, rather claustrophobic as expected.

The other thing I noticed was decommissioned churches which we'll encounter time and again. The number I was able to ascertain is 30%-40% of all churches. Fewer and fewer people attend church services. I guess all the religious genes went with the Puritans to the New World.

We had a walk to Arthurs Seat, an ancient volcano with views over the city. We went there first thing in the morning, by the time we finished, we noticed an astounding number of people were heading up the walk. I thought nearby Calton Hill had the better view.

At the castle end of the Royal Mile, workers were building grandstands for the famous Edinburgh International Festival, held every August.




We strolled down the busy Royal Mile, loosely following a Rick Steves walking tour, turning into several "closes" such as Lady Stair's Close (2nd below), and Gladstone's Land Tenement (3rd below, center building, 3 windows wide).








We walked by Hostile Vehicle Mitigation (HVM) security barriers near St. Giles' Cathedral. They provide protection from hostile vehicles, and help manage pedestrian traffic during festivals.A few days later we attended an evening Choral Concert at St Giles'. The concert was ho-hum, but we liked the building.








One section of the Royal Mile is especially busy with street performers and free tour touts.






The palace end of the Royal Mile features Holyrood Palace (official residence of His Majesty The King) and the Scottish Parliament Building (2nd and 3rd below, free admission, visitors welcome)






Above the Palace is Arthur's Seat, a must climb, from which one can see Edinburgh below, and the Firth of Forth Bridges way in the distance. First below is a view back to Edinburgh Castle, second, the Firth of Forth Bridges, and third a view to Parliament (center left), Holyrood Palace (center right) and Calton Hill (right).










And opposite, sits Calton Hill with a massive historic (1939) Art Deco government building, St Andrew's House (1st below), views to the Royal Mile (2nd) and Arthur's Seat (3rd), and an unfinished model of the Parthenon in Athens (5th)










View of Waverley Station and the Iconic North Bridge from Calton Hill (1st below). And a view to the Port of Leith (2nd below).




By chance, we were walking on the Royal Mile during "Pedal on Parliament", a bicycle safety awareness event.







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