We arrived in Edinburgh after a long, Kafkaesque day of traveling. We survived our journey by consuming energy bars and by tapping into herculean amounts of emotional regulation. We were warmly welcomed by our new landlady, Sue, and her adorable dog, Pip. Such a good name for a proper Scottish dog. Pip has her own wee bed.

We have spent some time walking the “Royal Mile” here; this short road probably contains 80% of the tourist sights. At the end of it is the Edinburgh Castle, which is basically the archetype of “Impregnable Fortress.” It was built on ancient volcanic rock overlooking the city and the sea, has a portcullis, batteries, barracks for dragoons, etc. Dragoons is a delightful word; it does come from the word “dragon” if you were wondering–something about fire-breathing guns.

The castle from the bottom of the hill.

Some of the volcanic rock.

A view from the top of the upper ward.

Overlooking the “new town”

Inside one of the buildings there is a comprehensive war memorial.

There’s a lot about ancestry here, so there were books and books lying around containing the name of the Scottish dead from the world wars. It would be kind of exciting to find your great-grandfather’s name in one of the memorial books and there were many people crowding around to look up their ancestors. Even Garett and I couldn’t resist looking up our last names.  Along with this, they offered to find your family crest for free. Garett was a bit disappointed when his crest contained three sweet bunnies. Mine had griffins (eagle-lions!), which is about right.

There was a prison of course in the keep. It contained prisoners from all over at one time or another, including prisoners from America. Check out this graffiti from one of the doors of the prison. Can you see the Stars and Stripes? A highlighted version is at the bottom of the page.