All right, before I disappeared, I had left us on the way from Liverpool to Edinburgh, in a rented van. I have all of one picture from the transit day:
The next day (Day 14 of the trip), we walked over to Edinburgh Castle - about a 30 minute walk from our AirBnb.
Not all that impressive looking from the South side:
Bit of a hike up; this is a sign in the wall of the roadway:
The road leads to a plaza, and from there we see the castle entrance:
Being an ignorant North American, when I hear "castle" my imagination was sort of limited to a single large building. Or maybe a tight formation with a neat courtyard in the middle. Not the case at all here.
The Royal Palace - it seems I only got a shot from the side.
In addition to the former royal apartments, you'll also find the Crown Room here (the date on the building signifies when this was added), which houses the Honours of Scotland - the crown, the sceptre, the sword of state, and the Stone of Scone.
When we went, there was a line up out the building to see the Crown Room, which then snakes through some displays like this once you're inside.
Alas, they don't allow any photographs in the Crown Room, so I had to steal someone else's picture of what's inside:
The Great Hall (people, people everywhere):
Very nice views of Edinburgh and the Firth of Forth from up there:
After leaving the castle, my wife and I ditched the family to go see some of the city and celebrate our 24th anniversary.
The Royal Mile leads from Edinburgh Castle to the Palace of Holyrood House, and leads right through the Old Town. We walked a little bit of it this day, and came back to it later in our stay.
St. Giles' Cathedral
Lots of these cool passageways (courts or closes) between/through/under buildings on the Royal Mile.
"Old Town" is separated from "New Town" by a bit of a...I'm not sure if ravine is an apt description, but that's what I'll go with. Parks and gardens in the ravine/valley, as well as the Waverley train station.
Looks like the Scots were practicing their social distancing a couple of years early. (Walter) Scott Monument on the left.
Scott Momument close up:
Old Town as seen from Princes Street at the edge of New Town:
And some more of Old Town, with the Royal Scottish Academy and the Scottish National Gallery in the foreground on the right. Very pretty area.
Definitely Edinburgh Castle's better side.