Holyrood House

Our last tour of our stay in Edinburgh was a visit to Holyroodhouse, the Official Royal Residence for the British Monarch.  The Queen holds official events here when she is in residence in Scotland.  

 Each room seems to have one purpose.

Entry to the palace is by virtue of climbing the main staircase which is lined with art and tapestries.

The Royal Dining Room has 3000 pieces available for settings.  We were not invited for a dinner party.    

The Throne Room

Heads of State are welcomed in The Presence Room.  They must stay in bow-position until the ruler recognizes them.  In years past some have been left in this position for hours if they were in disfavor with the particular Monarch.

Other guests are met in the Privy Room.

Silk tapestries in twenty-four colors adorn the antechamber before the King’s Bedchamber.  No King has slept here.  Mary, Queen of Scots, used the room. Victoria and Elizabeth, among the longest reigning royalty, have used the room.

The walls of the Great Hall contain 96 portraits of real and not real rulers, all bearing the nose of Charles II proving he was the “rightful” ruler.

There was even a "secret" door for servants to bring food or refreshments in.

The extensive gardens have a section for health plants.

One garden party, in more recent times, had 8000 people in attendance.

Alnwick Castle and Holy Island

While Cheryl, Dave and Bennett stayed near Dundee, we returned to Edinburgh and took a day tour to Alnwick Castle and Holy Island. The castle has been featured in both the Downton Abbey series and Harry Potter movies.   

On entry to the castle guests are greeted by Sir Henry Percy, the warrior.  

 No photos are permitted of the interior of the castle but it is quite something to see.

Next to the castle are magnificent gardens where we started our tour.  The flowers and fountains pose for photographers. 

On this sunny Sunday, the grounds around the castle and gardens were filled with families enjoying the sun, playing games and buying ice cream.  We had to do the latter out of courtesy of course.

Our next stop was Holy Island.  Connected to the mainland by a bridge way, storms frequently cut the island off from the mainland.  Also there is a warning to check the tides before coming.   The reason became obvious.  

We wandered the town of Lindisfarne, which dates back to the 600s, visiting the church yard and the church.

We could have walked out to the castle but ran out of time.

The Priory in town is an interesting ruin. 

Dundee

                                 
Cheryl, Dave and Bennett took a couple of days trip north of Edinburgh.  We went as far as Dundee with them.  

The V&A Design Museum is a beautiful building touting the international artists who came from this area or who studied here.  Even their lunchroom is excellent.

 The rooms are filled with amazing items.  One of the most important exhibits is an original tea room.  Men were allowed into Pubs but no women.  Catherine Cranston wanted women to have a place to meet and enjoy each others company so she started the concept of the tea room.  If you were well off, you met in the upper floor of the room.

 Probably the first evidence of feminism.  
                                               
Jerry was absorbed in a video and exhibit about Valentine, Inc., the first designer and publisher of postcards and, subsequently, greeting cards.   

 For over 175 years it was the prime employer in the area until it was bought by Hallmark Cards.  The company decided to close the operation and, when union wanted to buy it back and keep it open, the Hall family refused.

                         
Dundee is also the location for construction of Captain Robert Scott’s ship, Endurance and is its current resting place.  

The ship is open for tours with label copy detailing the readying the ship for its trip to Antarctica as well as information along its fateful journey, 1901-1904. After its initial voyage, it twice returned for additional research.

The ship was designed to be heavily cross-braced to withstand the pressure of the ice.  

Of course, the officers had to dine with fine china and an extensive menu was provided for each meal. 

Jerry was dreaming of another voyage after meeting a new friend.

Bennett takes us to the zoo.

Cheryl and Dave had a child-free day and we got to go to the Edinburgh Zoo. The zoo is built on a hillside and it was a steep climb to the top of the zoo but seeing penguins along the way pepped us up. This is the supposed to be the largest penguin display in the world. We would not disagree.

Proof Jerry even came on the trip.

Giraffes are all over the town.  Their purpose, other than being attractive, is to draw attention to animal preservation.

The zoo is dedicated to helping the survival of endangered animals, albeit in a human facility. This is a banteng from Southeast Asia. 

 There were also a number of birds (other than penguins) on display.

We did take the recommendation of one penguin and tried some ice cream for a treat.

 

 

 

The Tattoo

We went to the Tattoo.  No, not the body art, though we have seen MANY of those on the trip.
The Scottish Tattoo is a Massive Musical March (caps ours).  This years theme was Voices.

Back in the days of the motorhome, we went to a Tattoo in Nova Scotia.  That one was great and we were excited to see the real thing here.  Expectations met and surpassed.  The venue is a huge outdoor facility abutting Edinburgh Castle.  

 Thousands of people are in the audience.  

Before the show, we chose to have a special dinner at the Whiskey Experience Restaurant.  We enjoyed talking to the couple from Belgium.  Jerry and Jeff enjoyed the steak while Anna Lee relished the vegetarian. 

The triple dessert was yummy.

Two Tattoo performers from New Zealand played on Maori instruments for us.  They also sang Happy Birthday to Jerry.

Out in the amphitheater, military bands from several countries performed.  

 

 

Dancers strutted their stuff.

 

Pipes filled the air.

The whole experience was exhilarating.
 

Here is what it sounded like.