Edinburgh Castle

WOW! So I thought that Stirling Castle was amazing and the views were spectacular....then I went to Edinburgh castle! In the words of the Scots- "Brilliant."  Slowly I am picking up on the Scottish accents as that is one of my goals before I come home!!  Anyways, yeah, Edinburgh Castle.  Anything from the Royal Crown Jewels (unfortunately you can't take any pictures of those...) to the Prisoners quarters, to the great Cathedral and War Memorial, King and Queens Quarters, Great Hall, amazing views, and SUCH as secure castle! No one that was not suppose to be in that castle could have made it into that castle.  From its location atop a dormant volcano, to its MANY MANY canons- it all just embodies the classic Castle we all think of as we grow up, but instead of being far away in some distant county it is in the very heart of Edinburgh! AMAZING!  I have gone through and tried to pick the best of the best photos to put up, but you need to understand that between the castle and the Tattoo that night I took 368 pictures.... Woops...  I don't know how else to put this into words, it was yet another amazing experience, I told someone at one of the industries parties we were at between the castle and the tattoo that we are being spoiled.  From one castle to the next in two days, its almost to the point where I turn another direction and there is another breath taking view but to me it was like oh yeah look at that view, its great too when in reality it is not even a glimpse of ANYTHING you would see back home.  WOW.

Also a funny story from the castle.  We are walking up to the cathedral within the castle and on one side there is a steep drop off with rocks.  There were children who's parents had let them climb on the rocks, and just at that moment as we walk by there were two workers from the castle walking the other way and one says (now think of this as two older women with Scottish accents) "Why do these bloody people want their kids to climb on those rocks over there?"  Answer from the other one (very matter of factly) "Because they enjoy seeing their kids fall and die on the cobblestone."  "AHAHAHAHAHAHAH"  Such dry senses of humor here!! :)

Mind you that everything you see in this picture on the walls and in front of you is a weapon...  Each wall was FILLED with hanging swords and armor and all the fanned out things are spears....  And up on the front wall to the right you can see a small wooden box.  The lady working there told us that that was called the King's ear...  He could sneak away and go up a secret flight of stairs and listen in to everyone in the Great Hall through that opening and listen for anyone talking bad about him or the country!!