Visit to Edinburgh

My mother put a bus tour of Edinburgh at the top of her birthday wish list but on her actual birthday the weather was simply too bad to contemplate this. However this morning proved to be sunny and dry although quite windy but just the right conditions to see Edinburgh at it's best. Above a picture that most tourists in Edinburgh take: St. Giles Cathedral (also my blip for today). It might be a photographic cliche but it is a gorgeous sight.

 I loved seeing the ancient lights in Charlotte Square which are still in use!

After the bus trip we paid a visit to the cathedral and after some lunch made our way to Gladstone's Land, a National Trust property in the Royal Mile, where you can see how life was lived in these old buildings in the past. The entrance is located in between those arches seen above.

And this is a detailed picture of the windows, the bottom of which are in wood as glass was a very expensive commodity in the past. At the top of the building is a Scottish thistle as well as a French fleur-de-lis, as France was a firm ally of Scotland (Mary, Queen of Scots was first married to the French dauphin).

Watch those blue skies too, such a treat after all that rain.