Palace of Holyroodhouse and Edinburgh Castle

Holyrood Abby

Last week Jess, Andrew, Mikal and I went to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, which is located next to Holyrood Park. The palace is the Queen's residence when in Scotland and was the residence of many King's and Queen's from the past. It is also used by the Queen for ceremonies and engagements. When we toured the palace we  were able to see the rooms that were used by the Royalty of Scotland, from the dinning rooms, bed rooms, and entertainment rooms. The room of Mary the Queen of Scot's, who had a very interesting and depressing life, was located in the back corner on the third floor. She stayed only a couple of years at the palace, but witnessed her husband (Lord Darnley)  kill her secretary in front her by stabbing him 53 times. However, my favorite part about the palace was the Holyrood Abbey located by its side. The abbey was mostly ruins but you could see its skeleton structure of what it use to be. With most building in Edinburgh it feels like you are taking a trip back in time, and the abbey was no exception. The stone pillars and arches showed what the abbey could have been if was fully constructed. I also thought it was cool that Sean Connery was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II at the Holyroodhouse.

Prince's Street from castle

Mons Meg

For one of our field trips in our Scottish culture class we went to the Edinburgh Castle, which the city was built around. This is probably one of Edinburgh's most popular attraction and is visible almost anywhere in the city.  The castle was built on a volcanic rock which juts out in the center of Edinburgh. However, it was raining on the day we went which made the visit a little dreary. From the castle you can see the whole city. Right in front of the castle is Prince Street, Rose Street, and then George's Street with the port in the background. With in the castle tour we were able to see the castle cannon called Mons Meg, the Scottish National War Memorial, the jail cells for prisoners, and the Royalties residence when there. I enjoyed seeing the Scottish National War Memorial because it showed me how involved the Scots were with WWI and WWII which we are learning about in my Contemporary British History class. I also liked seeing the cells and living arrangements for prisoners who the Scots captured. The cells were extremely small and many of the prisoners slept in a room of hammocks as if on a colonial ship. When Royalty stayed at the castle if was because they were thought to be in danger, not for relaxing. Overall I thought the whole trip to the castle was very informative and gave us great look into Edinburgh's past. Also had great views of the city.