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A more modern weapon |
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New life between the centuries old rocks |
After a while, we saw a cafe and decided to have a light meal. Ariel and I each got a cup of coffee and shared a slice of apple-walnut cake. We took a table by the window which gave us a breathtaking view of Edinburgh City below.
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Inside the cafe, enjoying out breakfast (photo by Ariel) |
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Enjoying the lovely view |
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Still early in the day and already having a blast! (photo by Ariel) |
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Inside a guard post |
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No idea who that guy is, but he was important
enough to get a statue so might as well pose
beside him |
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By the castle wall |
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Another shot of this beautiful city – it was a beautiful sunny day but
very cold for Southeast Asians like us. |
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With a statue of a Scotsman in a traditional outfit |
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Papogi lang |
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Papogi ulit.  |
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Can you believe it? |
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No idea what building this is but it’s beautiful
in a very scary way – think horror movies.  |
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This is a very small chapel inside the castle grounds. |
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Inside the chapel – only a few people can fit inside |
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Stained glass window of Saint Margaret’s Chapel |
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At the Falconry area |
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Hedwig, is that you? |
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The falconer (if that’s a word) |
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This bird of prey is huge! About 3 meters with its wings wide open. |
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This is the 2nd smallest owl in the world (don’t ask me
what kind this is – I forgot!), only as big as it’s female handler’s hand
and is 6 years old already – I thought it was still a baby. |
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Just showing off my red jacket – haha! (photo by Ariel) |
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Another solo (photo by Ariel) |
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Inside a dungeon (photo by Ariel) |
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One of my favorite photos in the trip – taken inside a
dungeon with a small window behind him in this photo.
There was a hole on the roof and I asked Ariel to stand
directly below that hole and look at it. I took the photo
from an elevated platform.  |
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One of the many statues inside the castle – not sure whose coronation this is. |
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Lunch break (photo by Ariel) |
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Enjoying our Coke while waiting for our lunch (photo by Ariel) |
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Very yummy mushroom soup – looks like dinuguan! |
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I opted for fish with mashed potato and what looks like giant capers |
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Ariel got the pasta with mushrooms and chicken wrapped in bacon – very tasty! |
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When we got out of the courtyard, we saw this –
four ladies in medieval gowns dancing |
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This is an Easter performance |
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The gowns looked heavy |
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They look very regal |
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Ang lalake sa bintana |
We spent five hours exploring the castle. It was a tiring, but leisurely tour. We were happy not to be rushed by a tour guide. We took our sweet time going around, taking photos when allowed to do so, and just taking the scene in. By 2pm, we were ready to relax a bit in our hotel. Apex International is just a few blocks away from the Castle. We got the promo rate and paid only £81 for a room that normally costs over £200. The room was spacious, and had two double beds. We got the usual amenities plus free wifi and calls within UK.
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The beds were very comfy |
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The modern bathroom was also spacious and clean.
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What came as a surprise was this beautiful view of the Edinburgh Castle. |
We rested for a bit and then by 4pm, we headed out to explore the rest of the city on foot. First, we checked out Princes Street to do a bit of shopping. Actually, I just wanted to check if I can find a good pair of boots. In our frustration, stores were already closing when we got there. Only a few were open and by 5:30pm, almost all of them were closed already. So, we decided to walk uphill to the Royal Mile. The Royal Mile is actually a road that is about a mile long which starts from the Edinburgh Castle and ends in the Holyrood Palace also known as Palace of the Holyroodhouse (see Wikipedia entry here), the Queen’s official residence in Scotland. We did not go to the Holyroodhouse Palace and was not able to take photos but you can check out images here.
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The train station |
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Walking to the Royal Mile |
I booked a tour as a surprise for Ariel. It’s called Ghost Tour (£13 each) and it’s a night walking tour around Edinburgh. We got it from
Mercat Tours and it promised to be entertaining, informative, and creepy. The meeting place was at the
Mercat Cross along
Parliament Square. At 6:30, the tour participants started arriving. We were met by a caped guide. By this time, the cold got worse and I had to put the camera in the bag, wear gloves and wrap my arms tighter against my body.
By 7pm, we started walking. Our guide filled us with stories (real stories!) about the olden days, how justice was served by cutting people’s hands or nailing their ears on wooden planks. Of course with death comes rumors of roaming spirits. The highlight was a tour down the
Underground Vaults. It was very dark, lighted only by a few candles. I had to walk ever so slowly, lest I fall again and break my ankle like I did in Cambodia.

Our guide filled us with the history of the underground vaults, how they were used in the past, how they were discovered and are now being used again. Of course, he also shared rumors of spirits roaming the depths of the tunnel system. After a while, half of the participants who only paid for the walking tour left us, while those of us who paid for the full tour continued to the Mercat Tours chambers where we were served drinks (I opted for orange juice while Ariel got some red wine). More stories were shared as well as relics found in the vaults and some kind of blueprint showing the extent of the underground network.
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The Mercat Cross |
Our tour ended at 9pm and we got back at the hotel shortly after where I met my online classmate (from Karen Russell’s Snapshots of a Good Life), Clare Telford, at the hotel restaurant. We talked photography for a bit over coffee and I got to try out her 24-70mm lens and her Expodisc. Cool!
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(photo by Ariel) |
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So cool to meet an online friend halfway across the world! (photo by Ariel) |
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The Edinburgh Castle at night, viewed from our hotel room (photo by Ariel) |
Thanks for looking!
Up next: Our 3-Day Isle of Skye tour! Click here for Day 6.
