Day 12 – Britannia, Holyrood and Arthur’s Seat

Formal Dining Room (Britannia)

Our original itinerary had 4 events for today, but logistics and timing dictated that we skip the Hibernian F.C. football match with St. Mirren.  It would have been fun and the streets were packed with people wearing green and white supporting the Hibs, but it was just not doable. However,  the three activities we did squeeze in were really good. We started with a visit to the Royal Yacht Britannia which is the former royal yacht of Queen Elizabeth II from 1954 until 1997 when it was decommissioned as part of a cost cutting measure by Tony Blair, ending a tradition of centuries of royal yachts. It is now a major tourist attraction docked on the north side of Edinburgh and all three of us really enjoyed the tour and stayed longer than expected. We even stopped for a spot of tea in the ship’s upscale tea room.

Holyrood Palace

The next stop was Holyrood Palace which was the residence of the Kings and Queens of Scotland since the 16th century and even today Queen Elizabeth spends one week in residence at Holyrood Palace at the beginning of each summer on official business. It is one of the four official Crown Residences reserved for the Queen’s usage (Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, Holyrood Palace in Scotland and Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland). It’s most famous resident, even though briefly, was Mary Queen of Scots.

Arthur's Seat (Halfway up)

The final activity was an ascent to the peak at Arthur’s Seat. First photo is about halfway up. Arthur's Seat is the peak in the middle with yellow Gorse at the lower levels.

Arthur's Seat (Three quarters of the way up)

It is an imposing peak overlooking Edinburgh. View is from about three quarters and Edinburgh Castle is just to the left of the lower rim in the foreground.

View from Arthur's Seat

In my opinion, the steepness of that climb makes it pretty much a young person’s game but that said, Jeanne made it halfway, I went about three quarters and Steve got to the summit and gets photo credit for the attached photo. In his photo you can see Easter Road Stadium (football match in progress) and where the Royal Yacht Britannia is docked (extreme left on the Firth of Forth)