Today we headed into Edinburgh for a look at the Royal Mile - a stretch of road link inking Edinburgh Castle on the hill to Hollywood Castle at the lower end of the street . We caught the bus in and got off still in the city and walked down to our start point , Hollyrood Castle . The next photo is of the Waters of Leith , which is beside and behind our apartment . A small weir catches the water and sends it cascading down further under the road , then the canal viaduct and the railway line bridge .
This is Arthurs Seat , as you can see , it's popular with walkers clambering up the sides to get an elevated view of Edinburgh . You can see dozens of people there . A bushfire broke out here the next morning !
This is Queen Mary's bath house , a curiuos shaped building on the edges of the Palace of Holyrood .
These are the side gates into the Palace .
This is the front of the Palace , with it's manicured gardens , lawns etc etc .
Across the road from the Palace Precinct is the Scottish Parliament Building . On the side of the building are interesting patterns and some rocks jutting out of the walls , just above street level . There's a imprinted design of some of the older buildings of the city .
Here's some of the buildings / shops at the lower end of the Mile .
The road kept slowly rising , crowds of people also increasing , but the different architecture was very interesting .
Many different buildings and designs kept popping up, as well as small laneways leading behind all these buildings , we checked out a few on our walk .
The crowds have increased , making us question our reason for being here !!
One of the cathedrals .
Looking up at the Edinburgh Castle , all we could see were thousands of people , but we persevered .
Getting nearer the castle , we decided to take a side street down parallel to the Royal Mile , then took the stairs back up near the entrance to the castle grounds . The seating is for the Military Tattoo , which is held here .
Getting back up on the Mile ,we looked back down where we had come from , people everywhere . Checking at the Visitor Info Centre didn't give us much joy - you need to have booked tickets to do a tour of the Castle . As it was Friday and late , there were no tickets available till Monday - guess we won't be doing that tour then .
I settled for the Scotch Whiskey Experience instead , that gives you a rundown on how it's produced and what with , and what gives it its authentic flavours . This was the first room we went into .
The process continued and we learnt about different aspects of whiskey production . These barrels show some of the scotch that is yet to be bottled .
After the education we move into the tasting room , where you are served a dram of your choice - not from any of these bottles on display though !! There's over 3,400 bottles in the collection to drool over . You even get to take home your tasting glass , to enjoy your next scotch whiskey of course .
This isn't the best photo , but there's a scotch for sale in a deer shaped bottle .
Nearby was another small laneway , named Fleshmarket Close - not sure how it got that name .
We decided to beat a tactical retreat when we were walking back down the Mile , and take a side street . It gave us views of the city and some of the buildings .
This is the National Gallery of Scotland
Further down this very steep cobblestoned street , we found the University of Edinburgh , with an impressive entrance .
We entered and found ourselves in a courtyard section with views to the Cathedral behind it .
Our walk continued down past the National Gallery and to the bus stop for our trip back out to the apartment . Edinburgh is certainly buzzing with people , and is only going to get worse as the Edinburgh Festival is happening soon . Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1rwLtihhE7igBd1GDV0rMVw3AuMpx4T4&usp=sharing
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