2022 Nordic Seas - Day 21 Edinburgh

We were up early and ready to pick up tender tickets when the gangway opened. We were docked in Newhaven, which seems to be technically part of Edinburgh. We were told it was about an hour walk into town, but we had no idea where in town (and Edinburgh, as the capital of Scotland, is not a tiny village). So we opted for the local bus, a deal at $11 for two return (round trip) tickets. 

We landed at low tide


and left at high tide…with different lighting. and different boats

We got off the bus at the Scott Monmument and spent the day walking in, more or less, a big oval. The Old and New Town of Edinburgh is one of six World Heritage Sites in Scotland. We spent our time today in the Medieval Old Town. (The New Town contrasts with its Georgian architecture.)

The memorial is dedicated to Sir Walter Scott, author of Ivanhoe and other Scottish literature classics. It is currently closed for post-pandemic maintenance, but when it’s open, you can visit a first floor museum and climb 287 steps for a spectacular view of the city. 

We ducked into the rather exclusive Balmoral Hotel to get a tourist map, and proceeded to Calton Hill. Calton Hill is a piece of quiet in the bustling city, and offers great views in every direction. It also is home to several historic monuments.

The National Monument, a memorial for the Scottish servicemen killed in the Napoleonic Wars, was planned as a full-size replica of the Parthenon in Athens. However, only 12 columns were installed and it was never finished.



The Nelson Monument, honoring Admiral Lord Nelson, is shaped like an inverted telescope. The ball at the top is coordinated with the One o’Clock gun at Edinburgh Castle, dropping at precisely 1:00 PM. The gun and the 5-ft diameter time ball were used to enable ships moored in the Firth of Forth to set their timepieces accurately. The time ball has been used since 1852. The castle gun was added as a backup in 1861, as the ball drop could not be seen from the harbor on hazy days. The gun fires and the time ball drops every day but Sundays. (We could, for the record, see our ship moored offshore in the harbor from Calton Hill, and also see the Nelson Monument from the ship. But it would have been impossible to see the time ball without binoculars…or a telescope.)

The City Observatory is also on Calton Hill, and the Dugald Stewart Monument, which serves as foreground in one of the more famous views of Edinburgh. 

Edinburgh Castle is in the center distance, and the Scott Monument visible through the bushes.

We headed downhill past the Burns Monument (commemorating Scotland’s most famous poet) and through the Calton New Burial Ground. “New” is a relative term. It was created when construction of Waterloo Place, a major road, necessitated the immediate re-internment of roughly 300 bodies that were buried in the Old Calton Burial Ground. This took place from 1817-1820 when the remaining plots were opened to the public. There are many notable figures buried here - admirals and architects and politicians and educators. The only ones familiar to me were several family members of Robert Lewis Stevenson.

Arthur’s Peak, an ancient volcano and the main peak of the group of hills in Holyrood Park, seen from near the burial ground. It is within walking distance of Colton Hill, the castle, and Holyroodhouse Palace, and a popular hiking spot.

We looked through the gate at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, which is the Queen’s official residence when she is in Edinburgh. You can visit parts of the palace year round, and explore both its historical connections and how the Queen uses it today. 

We proceeded down the Royal Mile, which runs from Holyroodhouse to Edinburgh Castle, and left all semblance of quiet behind. Our one day here coincided with both the famous Edinburgh Fringe Festival and the Royal Military Tattoo. For three weeks each August, both attract hundreds of thousands of participants and spectators from around the world. 

The Fringe Festival started in 1947. It’s the world’s largest arts festival. In 2018 there were over 55,000 performances of 3548 different shows in 317 different venues. Due to COVID, this is the first full fledged festival in 3 years. Many of the events require tickets (it’s surpassed in ticket sales only by the Olympics and World Cup) but we encountered several live pop-up shows as we worked our way through the crowds. 

Mark - remember that street performance near the Centre Pompidou?

St Giles Cathedral - getting near the castle.

We detoured off the Royal Mile for a brief visit to the National Gallery to see another work by Vermeer. And then climbed Castle Hill to Edinburgh Castle for our 12:00 timed entry. It turned out that tickets were sold out for the day, so we were glad we’d purchased tickets a month ago. 

It was super crowded outside the castle, and super picturesque. Some of the Harry Potter films contain footage along the Royal Mile, and this area certainly has the right vibe. 

The esplanade outside the castle entrance has been a parade ground for soldiers, a battleground during sieges, and an execution site for traitors and witches. While we were there, it was set up with a grandstand to host the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo. The grandstand takes 40 days to set up, and seats nearly 9,000 people. The Military Tattoo was first held in 1950. Today, over 220,000 spectators watch display teams and bands from around the world perform live, with a further 100 million watching televised broadcasts around the world. 

Edinburgh Castle looms 443 feet over the city below. Its location on a high volcanic crag offers a strategic advantage that was recognized by Iron Age people who built a hill fort here. The royal castle that stands today was built from the 11th through to the 21st century. It has served as a royal residence, a prison, and military barracks. Today it is a World Heritage Site and a busy tourist attraction with over 2 million visitors each year. 

An important military stronghold, the castle is the most besieged place in Britain. It fell to opposing sides several times during the Wars of Scottish Independence (14 century), and was involved in the Jacobite rebellion (1745). Researches have identified 26 separate sieges during its 1,100 year history. Nearly all buildings constructed prior to the 16th century were destroyed during an artillery bombardment. Exceptions include the Royal Palace, the early 16th century Great Hall, and St. Margaret’s Chapel which, from the early 12th century, is considered the oldest building in Edinburgh. 

Portcullis gate into the castle complex

World War 1 Field Marshall Sir Douglas Haig. He’s had a complicated public image, from admired hero to not-so-admired figure held responsible by some for unacceptable losses.

St Margaret’s Chapel was built by her son, King David I, about 1130. He dedicated it to his mother, known for her learning and piety. Margaret was a Saxon princess who fled to Scotland soon after the Norman Conquest in 1066. Four years later, she married Malcolm Canmore.After she died in 1093, her body was smuggled out of the castle past a besieging army to be buried at Dunfermline. She is the only canonized Scottish royal. 

The chapel is tiny. Its thick stone walls and small deep set windows show its medieval origin. When Robert the Bruce razed Edinburgh Castle in 1314 after its recapture from the British, he spared St. Margaret’s Chapel, which was revered as one of the holiest places in Scotland.  After the Reformation in the 1560s, the chapel was converted into a storehouse for gunpowder. Eventually its original purpose was forgotten. Several sieges later, the Chapel was rediscovered. With the support of Queen Victoria, it was restored a few years later. 


St. Margaret, one of the three small windows in the little chapel nave. The stained glass was installed in 1922.

A crowd assembled along the parapet to watch the One o’Clock Gun fire in the courtyard below. We heard it, but didn’t press to the front to watch. From the castle, we could see the Nelson Monument. We were too far to see the time ball drop, but it was fun to reverse the view we’d had a few hours earlier from Calton Hill. 

We could also see our ship in the Firth of Forth. The views from atop Castle Hill made it clear what an ideal place it is for a fortress.

The Scottish National War Memorial (below) is located in a former barrack block in Crown Square. (The other three sides were royal residences.) Originally conceived to commemorate Scottish service personnel and civilians who died in World War I, it officially opened in 1927. It contains the Rolls of Honor, volume after volume listing all Scots killed as a result of wounds, diseases, or injuring while serving in the armed forces, women’s services, and nursing services. It also includes those not serving in Scottish regiments if they or one of their parents were born in Scotland. The Rolls of Honor are continually updated, and include 135,000 casualties of WWI and 50,000 from WW2, as well as those from the subsequent engagements such as the Korean War, The Troubles, the Gulf Wars and Afghanistan. 

You can’t take photos inside, but it’s a beautiful space you can view online. 

Detail on the War Memorial wall. 

The castle complex is sprawling and full of appropriately-castlesque views. The Great Hall sits opposite the War Memorial. It was complete in 1511 for King James IV. (His future successor, James VI of Scotland would become James I of Britain, the first of the Stuart kings.) Its original hammerbeam roof is one of the finest in Britain.The beams are supported on stones jutting out of the wall; they are carved with heads and Scottish symbols.

Only two years after the Great Hall was completed, James VI was killed in battle while fighting against the forces of his brother-in-law, Henry VIII of England

To the upper right of the fireplace is a grated opening known as the Laird’s Lug, as the Lord’s Ear. The king could eavesdrop on those gathered in the hall below. It’s pretty obvious - not like an electronic bug planted under a lamp. One would think it served more as a deterrent to discussing treason in the Great Hall than as a source of information for the King. But maybe lots of ale promoted lack of discretion.. 

The Great Hall continued to be used for state events and large banquets until Oliver Cromwell’s army captured the castle in 1650. In the same makeover that relegated St. Margaret’s Chapel to an ammunition depot, the Great Hall was converted to a military barracks. It was renovated to its original state (with the addition of decorative armory) during the Victorian Era. 

In the palace itself, we saw the Honours of Scotland, a collection of Scotland’s crown jewels including the crown and scepter, a sword and the Stone of Destiny, upon which all Scottish kings are crowned. No photos allowed there either. Then there is the small room where Mary, Queen of Scots gave birth to James VI/I, which is kept as a sort of shrine. You can’t go into it, but mirrors are positioned so you can see around the corner into it. 

The fireplace commemorates “James I, King of Britain, France and Scotland”


Heading towards the exit. Greg, for once, able to revel in not being told to get his orange shirt to the side of the frame. 

We caught the bus back towards Newhaven. The guy in front of us overheard us talking about going to the ship. Suddenly he said, you need to get off at the next stop! So we did, only to discover he was talking about the stop to see the Royal Yacht Britannia. Despite being footsore (we’d walked over 10 miles on cobblestones and pavement), I talked Greg into going to see the Yacht. Turns out it’s well under wraps and you have to pay to see it - much less tour it. We didn’t have time, so trudged back to the main road and to our own ship. But we did get to to see a Greggs - a popular carry out shop and snack chain. 



The next morning we took a bus from Rotterdam to the Amsterdam airport, flew to Dublin, then to Philadelphia where good friends Lydia (my travel buddy for my previous trip to Scotland) and her husband Neil picked us up. Long day, and good to be home.