We woke well ready to explore Edinburgh again in more depth, undeterred by heavy overcast and occasional drizzle. That tower on the hill was taunting us again, but first we set out on foot.
7491 Taunting Tower
Some of the narrow back alleys and walkways appropriately append “Close” to their names.
7494 Call Close
Walking up the Royal Mile we noticed motorcycle police passing down the hill clearing the street and we wondered why as we stepped to the sidewalk.
7498 Parting the Crowd
Turning to look back up the street this stoic, fervent and loud parade marched into view. Despite the drums and noise of it, both they and the awed audience seemed to maintain silence.
7501 Loud Silence
After the rather long and slow procession passed, the mood was powerfully enigmatic as we joined those resuming toward the castle.
7510 Mixed Crowd
Soon the street was packed, so we decided to pause for lunch and found a dining balcony with this view.
7519 View Table
It seemed there was some other big event coming up, with bleachers set up outside the inner gate making for a happier mood than during the parade.
7522 Royal Smile
Rather than pay to go inside the next gate, we decided to take the bus tours and found they provide many different perspectives on the castle.
7585 Bus Top to Castle
We took several tours, and added to castle views they introduced us to many more things of course. Like this monument to Prince Albert depicting the people’s mourning of his passing.
7619 Mourning Albert
More castle views from the bus open upper deck provided context with the city skyline.
7673 Castle Context
One tour took us out toward that tower on Calton Hill, where we hopped off for the brief walk up and paused for yet another city view.
7711 More City View
Looking past a cemetery and beyond an array of architectures was Salisbury Crags, the other main hill gracing the city core from this side.
7715 Ramp Cliff
My camera’s longest zoom revealed some of the hikers enjoying the cliff edge view there.
7734 Selfies & Scenery
We didn’t go up in the tower, but the surrounding views gave us a tiny taste of what flying low and slow here would be like. As with the city below, there’s also an interesting mix of buildings.
7720 Tower Companions
Eventually we walked back down the hill and caught another tour bus that provides glimpses of the Holyrood Palace complex.
7765 Holyrood Palace
We have about 400 pix from this glorious day, but I’m merciful. 😉
John & Anne Wiley 
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