Edinburgh Take 2, Day 3 - Duddingston Loch, Arthur's Seat, and Porobello Beach

Our destination on day 3 was Duddingston Loch, "where you can spend hours in the winter hoping for a glimpse of a bittern or just take the kids to feed the ducks and swans" (RSPB).

We neglected bread and didn't stay for the bittern, but the scenery was nice.

On what a local signboard called "Hangman's Rock":

Duddingston Loch is at the base of Arthur's Seat, and we found the pull of the hill irresistible:

Pausing for breath... 

 Seated...

Instead of returning home, we decided to continue on to the ocean. We enjoyed a quick lunch at June's Cake & Candy Tearoom...

Before sampling the beach:

Edinburgh Take 2, Day 2 - Blackford Hill and Craigmillar Castle

On day 2 after t. left for the national archives, s. and I took a bus to Blackford Pond...

...and hiked up Blackford Hill in the Hermitage of Braid and Blackford Hill Local Nature Reserve:

 

From there we walked "home" for lunch, and then set out again in the opposite direction to Craigmillar Castle, a late medieval castle beloved by Mary Queen of Scots, who enjoyed hunting, and by modern children, who enjoy being able to wander from room to room without let or hindrance:

  

The view back to Blackford Hill:

And the next day's destination...

Edinburgh Take 2, Day 1 - Holyrood Palace

We arrived in Edinburgh late yesterday morning, after a mostly uneventful trip from Cambridge. (Next time we will try not to leave a bag behind on the opposite side of the Ely train station or attempt a last-minute rescue just as the train is pulling into the station. But all's well that ends well: both passenger and bag made it in time.)

The National Library wasn't open on 2 January--Hogmanay recovery day in Scotland--so we walked from the Waverley station down the Royal Mile for an afternoon visit at Holyrood Palace, the Queen's Edinburgh residence.

On our way we paused for a picture with Robert Ferguson, "Scots Poet, Born in Edinburgh 1750, Died in Bedlam 1774":

We began our tour with the Queen's Gallery, which is running an exhibit on the "resurgence of the arts in England" under Charles II:

 I was delighted to chance upon one of my favourite paintings from one of my favourite stories in the Apocrypha:

The very unsaintly Charles II also collected this fine painting of one of my favourite saints by George de la Tour:

As usual, no photographs were permitted within the palace:

 But the ruins of Holyrood Abbey were fair game:

Edinburgh Day 4: Adrift

We had six hours to kill in Edinburgh after checking out of our hotel on Sunday morning. We began with a bus ride to the National Library, and walked from there to Edinburgh Castle so that t. could get a closer look. From there we took the path down and around the bottom of the castle rock, accompanied by our extra roller bag, whom we christened "Bob the bag."

I regret to say I didn't take any pictures of Bob, but here is one of s. contemplating an assault on the castle:

It was too cold to spend the whole morning outside, so we migrated to the nearby Scottish National Gallery, where Bob took a nap in a locker, and the rest of us, respectively, sat and read, sat and knitted, and looked at paintings.

From there we walked to the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, which was more to our taste. t. and I found the 16th-18th century exhibits fascinating, though Bob, weary from the journey, took another locker nap, and s. was content to read:

When I read this quote by E.J. Hobsbawn about the early 20th century, I wondered if it will also be asked of the 21st:

We stopped in the Waverley Station mall for lunch, and then caught a very crowded train back to Cambridge. Note for next time: Don't book a train for the last day of half-term break.

Edinburgh Day 3: Dunfermline

Day 3 was a public transit extravaganza. We took a city bus to the Edinburgh train station and then a train from Edinburgh across the Firth of Forth to Inverkeithing where rail repairs necessitated a transfer to a coach to Dunfermline, the medieval capital of Scotland. A suspension bridge spanning the Firth of Forth is visible in the background of this picture:

Our initial destination was Dunfermline Abbey, though not the 19th-century shrine to Robert the Bruce visible in this picture, ...

Next door to the church yard is Abbott House, where "Lady Anne", as she is affectionately known to the locals, lived from 1671-1699 after her husband, Sir James Halkett, died:

Unfortunately, Abbott House is now closed to the public, so we weren't able to see the "Anne Halkett" room, but I took several pictures of the outside:

An index to the church cemetery informed us that the Halkett family burial plot was relocated in 1818 either in or near the "oldest part of [the] church":

Perhaps because we happened to arrive on the 100th anniversary of the discovery of Robert the Bruce's tomb, the door of the medieval church was ajar ...

 ... and we located the Halkett family memorial:

Our next stop was the Dunfermline Golf Club, a couple miles down the road in Crossford. Anne Halkett lived in the clubhouse--then the Halkett family manor--from 1656-1671: 

 

More information about Pitfirrane Castle can be found here and here.

One of the staff invited us up to see the old private dining room, whose wood paneling was apparently taken from Dunfermline Abbey--presumably, if the story is true, around the time the Abbey and Palace were abandoned in the mid-to-late 17th century:

Before retracing our steps all the way back to Edinburgh, we stopped at the Dunfermline Tesco cafe for what was easily the best food we had on the entire trip: