Edinburgh, Scotland – day 1

Our ship docked in Leith which is the current port for Edinburgh. It has been the major trading town for Edinburgh for over 600 years, being established by King James IV. It is considered a royal borough which means that the people here can trade abroad. Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland with a population of half a million. It lies in the central belt of Scotland, dividing the highlands from the lowlands. The total population of Scotland is around 5.5 million. There are more sheep in Scotland than there are people, around 6 million.

They are almost 100% electric from wind power. They are very dedicated to being green, but it is harder with the current world wide oil crisis. They are working on tidal power since Scotland has over 9,000 miles of coastline.

Our tour took us out of town. We drove about 30 minutes to the town of Stirling and majestic Stirling Castle. It was started in the 1200s as a fort. It was battled for over many centuries by the various kings who were trying to be independent from England. Robert the Bruce is the most famous Scottish king. He defeated the English at the battle of Bannockburn. In the 1300s the line of Stuart kings took power and all the next kings were named James.

William Wallis, the original Braveheart, was a noble in 1296 and fought in this area. Our guide told us that most of the movie, Braveheart, had major historical and costume errors. But he agreed that the movie was a good one.

The royalty like to live at Stirling Castle. It was a good place to raise children because of the temperate weather. We were able to see the well preserved buildings. We toured the chapel, which was a huge room for the time. Later in history it was used as a banquet hall. We toured the main building with some of the rooms decorated as they would have been in the old times. There was an exhibit of military dress and medals as well as an exhibit of the tapestries that had been woven for use in the palace part of the castle that used colors and techniques that were authentic to the original times.

There were several beautiful gardens that we were able to walk through. The views from the castle were terrific because it was on top of a small mountain.

We then went to the Battle of Bannockburn center. We had a short movie which told about the people who fought there. We then went into another theater where our guide told us about the battle. He had small army figures which he moved around the battle field and gave a very exciting and interesting showing of how the battle was fought and how Robert the Bruce was able to beat the English with half the number of troops. After we were able to walk to the monument marking the site of the battle.

We returned to the ship and after a quick lunch caught the shuttle into the city of Edinburgh. We walked up to the castle. Then we walked down the Royal Mile for a bit. We stopped into St. Giles church, which has a crown for it’s turret. The church was lovely, but we had the added treat of listening to a choir and orchestra practicing. We sat for a while to enjoy the music.

A stroll down Princes Street along side the various parks in the city got us back to the shuttle to take us to the ship.

It was a busy day AND we had sun and blue skies all day. We even were able to take off our heavy jackets.