Day 121: Edinburgh, Scotland

No wonder the Romans decided they'd rather just build a big wall than bother enter this forsaken land.  For real.  How is it possible that this place is so cold, and bleak, and dreary, and windy.  That said, it was a pretty nice day here in Edinburgh.  It was actually clear and sunny for most of the day, but VERY windy.  It was not much warmer than freezing and humid, plus it was really windy.  Like I said before.  We got up pretty early, mostly because we had to move Megan's car by 8:30.  We drove into town, parked, and then found some breakfast.  

This is a typical Scottish Breakfast. 

That stuff on the right is Black Pudding AKA:  BLOOD.  Basically, they take blood and cook it with a filler, until it congeals at room temperature.  Also, I ate Haggis AKA: GROSS.  This is the lungs, liver, heart, and some other crap(not that it really matters at this point) of a sheep, cooked in its stomach.  There is a reason this stuff is not Kosher.  IT IS DISGUSTING.  Really, who looks at blood and goes, "You know... I'd sure like to cook that up"?  If you need me, I'll be in France.  With the food.

After our "meal", we walked towards the Edinburgh Castle along High Street also known as the Royal Mile, because it covers the (Scots) mile (1.12 actual miles) between the top of the Castle Rock to Holyrood Abbey.  There are lots of shops and government buildings and all sorts of old stuff here. 

This is some of the Royal Mile.  It was empty because all the real Scotsmen were still drunk/drinking/hungover from last night's festivities.  Jan. 1 is a big night to drink in Scotland because it is a night.

St. Giles Cathedral, the seat of the Church of Scotland.  We couldn't visit because it was not open, an hour after it should have opened.  Presumably, the clergy were all still hung over from the festivities.

This is a REAL name.  WALTER FRANCIS MONTAGU DOUGLAS SCOTT, 5TH DUKE OF BUCCLEUCH AND 7TH DUKE OF QUEENSBERRY, KNIGHT OF THE GARTER. Really...

The Castle.  It is on top of the Castle Rock.  CAKE sings about the Castle Rock in one of their songs.  I never knew what that meant.  Now I do.

The Castle Rock is very steep, and was a volcano.  344 million years before the world was created.

This thing seemed old.

Once we got our tickets for castle entry, we headed to Usher Hall, to see a performance of Handel's Messiah.  Megan didn't tell me that she had seen it only a few weeks ago.  It was very cool of her to let us go.  THANKS MEGAN!! This was the 125th annual Edinburgh performance of the Messiah.  They seem to take a lot of pride in it.  They have some neat traditions, including eating a picnic lunch at the long interval, utilizing young soloists, and long history of bizarre happenings.  This year, an old person fainted in the front row, and the countertenor(singing the alto part) jumped off the stage to give them his water.  

Very cool staircase, in the newer addition to the hall.  The shaft was lit, and leads to a skylight in the roof. 

A look into the hall.  We sat on the far right, kinda near the back.  Our view was a little cut off, but the acoustics in the hall were fantastic, and everything sounded great. 

Looking down the same staircase.

Our French-ish picnic lunch.  I liked it.

Overall, I thought it was a really great performance, and it was highly enjoyable.  It was very cool and I'm glad we went. Here's a little sample of the performance.  The video quality was reduced to 0.05% of the original to upload it to interwebs.

 

After the concert we went quickly(it was getting dark) to the castle.  We got there right in time for the final tour of the evening.  Our tour guide was funny, and it was a good tour.  

Me in front of the main gate of the castle.  This was once the first of seven gates guarding the castle. 

Part of the inner castle and Edinburgh in the distance.  I like how the castle is built into the hill.

St. Margaret's Chapel inside the castle.  And the oldest building in Edinburgh. 

This building had a purpose a long time ago, when it was built, and now it holds the crown jewels of Scotland. 

The greatest event in the history of time itself. Ever.

Princess Street and Waverly Station in the dusky dusk.

The castle, c. 5 pm.

After the castle, we went back to our room for a bit, and then headed out for dinner.  Megan wanted pizza, and my stomach was still not feeling great, so we got Italian again.  I am quickly discovering that Italian food is the best Scottish cuisine.  My dinner was some good pasta, and I had a really good panna cotta for dessert.  

Yup.

After dinner, we came back to our room, and now we are watching The Help.  It is good.  It was good.