Visit to Edinburgh Castle

On Saturday my friend from the exchange program, Nicolette, and I went to Edinburgh Castle to explore some of the local history.

The castle is actually made up of several buildings inside an outer wall of defense and gatehouse, rather than one massive building (like disney).  I sort of knew this was how medieval castles worked, but what I thought was especially interesting about Edinburgh Castle is that it has been in use since the 12th century, and the buildings inside all date from different periods, much like the city itself.  Nicolette and I decided to take the free half-hour tour around the grounds to get a better understanding on the history we were surrounded by.  Our guide was Ewan, and he was very informative.  I tend to be very critical of tour guides, since I work as one, and I thought it was funny to hear Ewan consciously adjusting his speech for Americans.  Thanks, Ewan!  I'm sure all 30 of us really benefited from that.  He also had tartan pants on, which seems to be a big tourist thing.  Nicolette and I both thought they were pretty awesome.

The oldest building left inside the walls is Saint Margaret's Chapel.  According to Ewan, Queen Margaret was known as a just ruler known for religious reforms, and this chapel was built in her honor by her son, King David, in 1124.  Ewan also informed us you can still be married there, which is a great relief to father's of the bride because it can only hold 20 guests!  

As you might imagine, many of the buildings held museums or other attractions related to military history, as castles and wars tend to go together.  This building, which I thought was one of the most beautiful, is the National War Memorial, completed in 1929 to honor the Scottish men who died in World War I.  Since then, every Scottish person to give their life in conflict is written into the large volumes within the memorial.  The building was lovely and peaceful, and very moving.

We spent about three hours at the castle, and saw all sorts of interesting things.  One of my favorite exhibits was about the "Honors of Scotland," essentially the crown jewels.  They are kept within the castle, but no photos are allowed in that room.  They were really shiny, though!  Another favorite area of the castle were the Royal Apartments, where Queen Mary (better known as Mary, Queen of Scots) gave birth to her son (later James VI of Scotland and I of England) in 1566.  The birth took place in a small wood-paneled "birthing room," which is attached to one of the larger bedrooms.  This is the decoration around the fireplace and ceiling in one of those large rooms.

Another part of the Stewart apartments was a large Great Hall.  While the original metal-free ceiling of the Great Hall remains, the rest of it was redone during the mid 19th century.  I happen to be a huge fan of Victorians attempting history-it's almost always off and super adorable.  The Great Hall was no exception!  The walls were decorated with large pikes and swords and pistols arranged into artful shapes, rendering all the weapons useless.  I found the overlapping histories of the room really funny and entertaining, and the room was still really pretty.  I also got a huge kick out of this sign, advertising living history events throughout the week.  We didn't get to see any, but sometime this year I'll definitely have to go back!

In many of the buildings were war or military centred museums, including an undergound recreation of cells used for prisoners of war during the 18th century-including the American Revolution (which the Scots call "the American war of independence")!  I was surprised by how open they were-they looked more like barracks on a ship than actual prison cells, complete with hammocks.  However, they were still dark and smelly and underground, so I'm sure they still weren't great places to be.  I was surprised that soldiers from the American Revolution were kept here-it just seems like a lot of extra effort to move them this far north!  It just shows how important the castle was as a military facility during its time of use.  Even today, a soldier still fires off the one o'clock gun every day at 1pm to keep time for the city.  Pretty cool.

From the outside, the cells did look a lot more like what I expect from an old prison.

In general, I had a great time poking around the museum exhibits, especially the one about women working on farms on the home front in the National War Museum.  I don't have a ton to say about a lot of it, so here are some pictures instead.

This is Emperor Napoleon's eagle from his glory days with the French Army.  Apparently it was captured during his defeat at Waterloo by a Scottish regiment, and now resides at the castle.  I really liked this case, which also had a couple of other Waterloo artifacts.  I blame this on my middle school phase where I was obsessed with theories about Napoleon's death.

The view from the tower featuring the Red Coat Cafe where we had lunch.  I know I've said it before, but I can't get over how beautiful the city is.

More of the castle.  This part went down to the National War Museum.  I have a bunch of pictures of things like WWII nurse uniforms and propaganda posters, but as those really don't share anything about the city, I'll save them for facebook.