Castles do not have the appeal to us that the gardens and highlands do. We stormed the castles slowly. Because they were castles, it was was an uphill trek. The Edinburgh Castle provides a lovely the view of Edinburgh and the Firth of Forth. It is a barracks for Scottish troops including the commander of the brigade. We walked through some military museums, a large hall filled with all types of armor, and the great hall. An imposing feature of the castle was a 1449 cannon, named Mons Meg. Its 800-pound ball of rock could destroy an enemy position 2 miles away.

        In contrast to this hulking cannon on this site, there is the beautiful Saint Margaret’s chapel, the oldest building in Edinburgh.. But the most impressive feature of the castle was this tiny and rough chapel. The altar and the small stained glass windows made the chapel so inviting.

        The street descending from the castle to the city is called the Royal Mile with lots of interesting shops and restaurants. We stopped at the impressive St. Giles cathedral at the bottom of the hill before heading home.

      On our last day in Edinburgh, after a lovely morning with breakfast and lunch at home. About 1 PM we headed for the bus stop to get the train station to get a train to Stirling Castle. We took a one-hour guided tour to get an overview of the site, and then we were on our own to enter buildings and explore more.

       We visited the church/chapel, which was fairly simple and then the Royal apartments. The king’s was bare (he really never lived there). But the queen’s lived there in luxurious surroundings. Her Chambers included a unicorn tapestry. In one of  the King’s room, there is a Ceiling of Heads, depicting faces of historical and mythological figures. Its an impressive display, but it requires you to crane your next a good amount of time to view them..

        Stirling castle played an important part in the English/Scottish rule of Great Britain. It was a royal residence and played a role in the Jacobite rebellion. (Based on our visits to these two castles, we think American tourists should be given a card displaying the line of Jacobite line succession!)

        After a pizza dinner across the street from Hectors, we went back to the flat to pack for our flights the next day, tired but happy from out two weeks in Edinburgh.