A Walk for Royals

Edinburgh Castle up ahead and to the right!

The route that links a castle and a palace is what makes up The Royal Mile in the beautiful, historic city of Edinburgh, Scotland (pronounced ed-in-burrow, not edin-burg). Beginning at the very top of Edinburgh Castle, I made my way down the road and walked the mile to the Palace of Holyrood House!

Edinburgh Castle is incredible. As the former home of many Royals including Queen Margaret and Mary Queen of Scots, it is a great icon of Scotland and holds some of the nation's most prized possessions. The Crown Room is the home of precious royal jewels and the famous Stone of Destiny, which was only just returned to Scotland in 1996 after being "stolen by the Brits" as I was so sternly informed by a tour guide!

Cheering to friendship and the flavor of life!

Walking the Royal Mile down from the castle was a chilly experience! Getting off of the bus in Edinburgh, we was greeted by frigid temperatures and quite a bit of snow. Thank goodness it didn't last the whole trip, but this was a cold walk none the less. Because of that, and my curiosity, a friend and I stepped into a building with a sign out front that read "Scottish Whiskey Experience" as our first stop along the Royal Mile.





Not only did the whiskey tasting experience warm our bones, but it also taught us so much! The woman at the bar didn't seem surprised to see what looked like two American college students walk in and sit down eagerly on her stools. She was wonderfully bubbly and was happy to fulfill our request of tasting only whiskeys that are specific to Scotland, those which would be difficult to find anywhere else.

Listening intently to our "whiskey professor"!

She taught us everything you could think of when it comes to whiskey; color, legs, consistency, etc. and we were absolutely intrigued. The best thing about travel, in my opinion, is being able to dive into another culture and try all there is to try, especially if they are famous for it as Scotland is with its whisky!

After finishing our taste testing, we continued our walk down the Royal Mile, passing small shops and alley-ways called "closes" which, if traveled down, lead to gardens, shops, or homes! The ultimate cherry on top of this entire day was that we were walking in downtown Scotland as a gentleman played the bagpipes for us, making it seem more real than ever, almost like we were part of a story book or movie!

 

 

 

By the time we were about half way down the mile (which takes a surprisingly large amount of time if you really take every chance to enjoy it), we began to get hungry. As we walked by local pubs and smelled the aroma of Scottish cuisine coming out, we knew we had to stop soon!

 

 



 

 

We met up with some friends and decided to eat at the Almanac Bar, which turned out to be an excellent decision! We all ended up eating the same thing: haggis! We were feeling quite adventurous that day... and it really was delicious by the way!

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a lovely (and very inexpensive) meal, we was back on our mission to make it all the way down the Royal Mile.

 

 

After stopping and venturing down a few "closes" or alleys, and poking our heads into cute shops, we finally made it down the mile!

 

The Palace of Holyrood House is the Queen's Scottish residence and she stays here when on business or for leisure. We weren't able to tour inside and only saw it through the gate, but it was also beautiful.

 

 

 

Because I couldn't get a shot of my own, I've pulled the one below from the internet just to give you a sense of what it looked like. Queen Elizabeth II is lucky to have such a luxurious place to stay while here!

http://merrypursuits.blogspot.com/2010/05/palace-of-holyroodhouse.html

 

 

Downtown Edinburgh was amazing and has become one of my all time favorite spots in the UK. Be sure to take in each little piece of the mile, as every step has significance and beauty.

 

 

 

Until next time!