As a huge fan of the TV show "Outlander", Scotland was number one on my bucket list of places to visit. I was so excited to go ashore and explore Edinburgh. Instead of paying for a cruise excursion, we decided to explore the city on our own. Before our vacation, I spent a lot of time searching on the internet for what I wanted to see in all of our ports, learning about the local transportation system and mapping out where we wanted to go. By doing all this planning, I knew that right across from the Newhaven Port there was a bus stop where we could get an all-day pass for less than 5 pounds.
We took the local city bus to a park near the Royal Mile and our first place we wanted to explore was St. Giles Cathedral. St Giles’ Cathedral, founded in 1124 by King David I, has been a working church for almost 900 years. A backdrop to Scotland’s turbulent religious history, it has seen the seeds of civil war sown and been John Knox’s parish church during the Reformation. It is still an important centre for civic services such as the Kirking of the Parliament and services for Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle.
After the cathedral, we headed up the hill towards Edinburgh Castle. On the outskirts of the castle grounds is the Tartan Weaving Mill and Exhibition, where you can purchase local kilts, scarves, and so much more. My husband was a good sport and tried on a kilt for me, but there are no pictures of him because I lost my camera on the way home from this vacation. In my memories, he did look like this.
Edinburgh Castle was our next stop. Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age. As one of the most important strongholds in the Kingdom of Scotland, Edinburgh Castle was involved in many historical conflicts from the Wars of Scottish Independence in the 14th century to the Jacobite rising of 1745. The castle houses the Scottish regalia, known as the Honours of Scotland, and is the site of the Scottish National War Memorial and the National War Museum of Scotland. The British Army is still responsible for some parts of the castle, although its presence is now largely ceremonial and administrative.
As we waited in line for the castle to open, we were able to watch a marching band, and everyone had on kilts! Inside the castle, we saw The Royal Palace, The Great Hall, St Margaret's Chapel, some of the Crown Jewels, and Mary Queen of Scots residence and where she gave birth to King James VI. When we were done exploring, we headed to the Red Coat Cafe on the castle grounds to pick up my mom. When we got close to the cafe, we saw there was a huge crowd, and we were not able to get near the cafe. We found out they were preparing to celebrate King Charles' coronation. We finally waved down a castle attendant and he went to get my mom in the Cafe, but no one was in the cafe, and we did not know where my mom was!!
As the crowd was getting bigger, we decided to wait to look for her until after the celebration. The Military personal had a lot of issues getting ready for the parade as the cobblestone road was slippery from the rain and they had dress shoes all. They were sliding all over the place and additional people had to help them down the hill. When the celebration started, we saw the marching band, the military personal marching, and the 21-cannon salute. After the cannons were done, the crowd sang "God Save the King". We were lucky to experience this at Edinburgh Castle.
Once we finally were able to locate my mom, we walked on the Royal Mile. We went into souvenir shops, saw an old church that was turned into a store, saw statues, we had lunch and we saw where the filmed Jamie's printshop in Outlander!! I was so excited to take a picture at Bakehouse Close!
At the end of the Royal Mile, we saw Holyrood Palace, the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland. Right next to the Palace was Queen Mary's Bath House, where Queen Mary of Scotland was said to have bathed in white wine.
When we got back to Newhaven Port, we had to wait in line for a tender boat to take us back to the NCL Dawn. We were able to get on a local boat but had to sit outside and it was cold. I am glad I had my scarf and hat with me. The water was rough, and it was nerve wracking to get back on the cruise ship. The captain of the local boat was a strong Scottish man and I think my mom liked having his arms around her when he was helping her from his boat to the cruise ship!
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