The Forslund Fulbright Adventure: Edinburgh Castle

View from the Camera Obscura tower

Strangely enough, for all our visits to Edinburgh, we hadn't visited the castle yet. So, we took advantage of a chilly but sunny afternoon to head back to our favorite city and check off a few more items from our "must see" list.

Portcullis Gate (entrance to the castle)

Edinburgh Castle is a collection of buildings from the 1100's through the 20th century. The fortress is home to the crown jewels of Scotland, the Palace of Mary, Queen of Scots, St. Margaret's Chapel, heavy cannon Mons Meg, and The Scottish National War Memorial. Seeing as the castle sits high upon the core of an extinct volcano, it also offers great views of Edinburgh and the North Sea.

View looking back towards Princes Street

St. Margaret's Chapel, the oldest building in the castle, was built in the 1100's. It was built by King David (once again, I bet he was more of a supervisor) in honor of his mother. Margaret was made a Saint in 1254. Ainsley studied Queen Margaret of Scotland in school, and had this to say about her:

"When she first landed in the boat, it was in Rosyth. She came from Hungary. She married King Malcolm III. North and South Queensferry are named after her. She rebuilt the Dunfermline Abbey".

This is Mons Meg, a siege gun made in Belgium and given to James II of Scotland around 1450. It's been at Edinburgh Castle since 1829 and could fire the cannon ball approximately two miles!

Below is the "One o'clock gun". The gun has been fired at this time since 1861, when it was a time signal for the ships in the Firth of Forth and the Port of Leith. The tradition continues every day except Sunday by Master Gunner Shannon, or "Shannon the Cannon".

As always, all you need are some rocks to climb and the kids are as happy as can be.

This is the Scottish National War Memorial. The memorial commemorates all the Scottish war casualties since 1914. Inside the building are books containing the names of of those who have given their lives, organized by groups they fought with (for example, Mercantile Marines, Royal Artillery, Nursing Services, etc).

The Great Hall was the meeting place of the Scottish Parliament until 1639. It has had many uses over the years, even a barracks after the invasion of Oliver Cromwell during the English Civil War. Ainsley took a turn with the camera and wanted to post a few of her favorites.

After our visit to the castle, the kids and I visited the Camera Obscura and World of Illusions. The Obscura is a large pinhole camera that offers a live, panoramic view of the city. Turns out the camera show was sold out for the day, so we focused instead on the World of Illusions. The bottom four stories of the building are dedicated to optical illusions, games, and hands-on activities for the kids.