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Today we visited the castle - it was awesome. We rocked up about midday after a bit of breakfast at Starbucks and were immediately struck by view back across the town. We had a wander through the Royal Scots Greys museum charting the history of the cavalry regiment with a good deal of information and antiquities from the battle of Waterloo. It was appraching 1 o'clock when we came out of the museum and people were beginning to gather for the firing of the 1 o'clock gun. I got a few photo's including a pretty blurry one from when it actually fired - it was so LOUD!

We had a look at the old prison cells including looking at some of the amazing creations that some of the skilled prisoners created and sold whilst locked up. We also caught a talk with a guy dressed as an executioner in the great hall. He talked all about the quite gruesome punishments that were handed out to criminals of the time. The castle offers fantastic views of the surrounding area and the weather stayed nice throughout the day.

The castle is good value with a lot to do and we were there until late afternoon. We stopped for a bit of tea and cake in the castle cafe before heading off back to the hotel. Headed out again after dinner to get a few photos of the lit up buildings. Enjoy the new photos. 

We just got in from our nice dinner out at Monteiths in Edinburgh for Valentine's day. We used open table this year to book it online which was a first having not used the service before. It added a reminder to Google calendar for me and has been reminding me all day, and the restaurant were expecting us too so happy days. Dinner was lovely, Dani had monkfish whilst I settled for some lamb with some roast potatoes on the side. Very nice indeed. Today has been a much nicer day in Edinburgh. The sun has shone all day with blue skies and mild temperatures. We've had a great time so far, visiting Holyrood Palace on Monday and the underground attraction Mary King's Close today.

It was a fairly grey day on Monday when we visited Holyrood. Sadly there aren't many photos as you aren't allowed to take them inside. We had a tour of the state apartments including those of Mary, Queen of Scots, accompanied by an audio guide to tell us what everything was. The palace was really quiet with very few people about. We finished the tour outside the palace in the ruin of Holyrood Abbey which despite its ruined state, maintains some of the structure that gives you an idea of how grand it once was. We were probably only there for a couple of hours including a visit to the cafe so still had time in the afternoon to explore a little further. We headed over the bridge to the new town and walked up Carlton Hill to see the Wellington and Nelson monuments. Reaching the top you are rewarded with a nice view back over Edinburgh and even down over Holyrood Palace. We had a bit more of a wander around before heading back to the hotel. We ate at Byron burger later in the evening as it's really close to the hotel and picked up some desserts from a bakery on the way back.

Today with the sun shining outside, we headed underground. Not the best timing, but nevermind. The Mary King's Close experience takes you underground to the site of one of the original close's of Edinburgh, some of the original buildings still exist now with valuted ceilings to support the Royal Exchange now built above. The tour takes about an hour with a guide taking you though the history of the area and walking you through a number of rooms and buildings including the narrow street that originally ran all the way down to the loch - now filled in and home of the Waverley train station. We spent the afternoon exploring Edinburgh a bit more including a walk around the Grassmarket and a walk up to the Scott monument - which had sadly closed just before we got there.

Edinburgh Castle tomorrow - hope the weather stays nice! 

February half term has arrived at last! We finally settled on a mini break in Edinburgh so headed up here yesterday on the train. We had looked at flights but they were quite a bit more expensive and were either really early or quite late in the day. Either way the difference in travelling time wasn't huge by the time you factor in transfers to and from the airport. We bought the two travel together railcard as it saved quite a lot on the journey and four and a half hours later we're here! We're stopping in the Hilton close to the station and just a hop skip and jump away from the royal mile. It was a bit rainy when we arrived yesterday so we had a little sloth in the room before getting some dinner at Pizza Express. After dinner we had a little wander to get our bearings before calling it a night. Hopefully the weather will pick up a bit of the next few days. We haven't got anything special planned for today, but are visiting Hollyrood house tomorrow and Edinburgh castle on Wednesday. Here's hoping for some sunshine!