Edinburgh Castle

"so strongly grounded, bounded and founded
that by force of man it can never be confounded"
- John Taylor's Travels Around Scotland, 1618

"There are armed men and cannon in the citadel overhead;
you may see the troops marshalled on the high parade;
and at night after the early winter evenfall,
and in the morning before the laggard winter dawn,
the wind carries abroad over Edinburgh
the sound of drums and bugles."
-Robert Louis Stevenson, Edinburgh, Picturesque Notes, 1878

His drinking horn is handsome in the hall of Eidyn,
His kingliness was spectacular, his mead intoxicating."
-Aneirin, Y Gododdin, circa 600. Aneirin was the bard of king Mynyddog Mwynfawr who held Eidyn until it was taken by the Angles in 638 and renamed Edinburgh..
   

So far this term, I have only made it to Edinburgh once. I went with my Mom and aunt while they were getting me settled. We took an early train over on a Sunday and after a half-hour ride, arrived in the centre of town.
The castle was first on our tourist list and I really enjoyed looking around again (I visited Edinburgh in 1999 on my way back from Uganda). The castle is believed to have been started around the early 9th century with much of the stone work completed in the 11th century. It has changed hands between the British and Scottish many times since then.
Running from the Castle, down the cliff, and through the city is the Royal Mile. It is so named because the road runs between the Castle and Holyrood House. Located on the Royal Mile is the house of John Knox, St Giles Cathedral (the only church of medieval Edinburgh and the church where John Knox launched the Scottish Reformation), and the new Scottish Parliament building. One note of interest, when the parliament was started several years ago the price was to be 4 million pounds. Now it is running to 40 million and is prompting a special enquiry by the Scottish parliament.
At the end of the Royal Mile lies Holyrood House, the palace where the queen stays during her visits to Scotland. Originally on this site was Holyrood Abbey (built in 1128) which is now only a ruin.
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