Europe

After a good night’s sleep on our first night on the ship, we were up early this morning for a walking tour of Edinburgh, primarily along the Royal Mile.

We set out at 8:00 am with our guide, a very jolly chap named John. The city was very quiet at this time of the morning. If the quantity of empty beer kegs outside the pubs was any indication, most people were probably still nursing hangovers!

Our first stop of interest was at The Elephant House, on Victoria Street,, the cafe known as the “birthplace of Harry Potter”, where J.K. Rowling wrote parts of the first two Harry Potter books while gazing out at Edinburgh Castle for inspiration.

We walked further down Victoria Street, which turns in W Bow as it bends down the hill. Looking back up the street provided a nice view of the brightly-coloured shops.

We continued down to Grassmarket Square and ascended a set of steps to get a nice view of Edinburgh Castle.

We then strolled along the lovely Royal Mile, as our guide, John, updated us along the way on the many points of interest. Around 10:00 am, we deviated slightly off the Royal Mile through Parliament Square, where we stopped for a hot drink and a little break from the cold morning Edinburgh air.

Adjacent to Parliament Square is the beautiful St. Giles’ Cathedral, considered to be the “Mother Church” of Presbyterianism in Scotland. Founded in the 12th century, St Giles’ began as a Romanesque parish church dedicated to Saint Giles, the patron saint of lepers and Edinburgh itself. It was rebuilt in Gothic style after being destroyed fire in the late 1300s. Over the centuries, it served many roles: a church, a prison, and even a meeting place for the Scottish Parliament. In September 2022, Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin lay in state at St Giles’ Cathedral for 24 hours after her death.

From the cathedral, we continued down the Royal Mile.

Along the way, we passed plenty of interesting buildings, including John Knox House, which dates back to the late 15th century and is associated with the Protestant Reformer, John Knox.

At the bottom of the Royal Mile, we decided to visit the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the British monarch’s official residence in Scotland. We opted to take the audio tour, which proved to be very interesting.

After our tour of Holyroodhouse, we caught a cab back to the ship to have some lunch.

Not long after lunch, we got off the ship again, and walked about ten minutes to Her Majesty’s Yacht Brittania, now permanently berthed at Leith’s Ocean Terminal, and open to the public. Her Majesty’s Yacht Britannia was the royal family’s official yacht from 1954 to 1997, serving as a floating residence, diplomatic venue, and holiday retreat for Queen Elizabeth II and the royal family. Launched in 1953 at the John Brown shipyard in Scotland, the yacht travelled over a million nautical miles to 135 countries during its 44 years of service. About halfway through the tour of the yacht, we stopped for nice afternoon tea on board.

After a very enjoyable tour of HMY Brittania, we walked back to the ship. Before we knew it, it was time for dinner, which we had booked at the ship’s Prime 7 restaurant.

We decided that rather than sitting in the restaurant and relaxing after a very nice dinner, that it would be worth going out on deck to watch the departure of the ship from the port of Leith. The Port of Leith uses a lock system, designed to provide ships with access to docks regardless of the tide and help manage water levels for docking. The departure process took over an hour, with a tug at the front and a tug at the rear, working together to steer the ship into the lock before the rear gate was closed and the front one was opened. We were very under-dressed for the cold and windy Edinburgh evening, but it was worth braving the elements to watch the whole process.

It was about 9:30 pm when we went back inside, ready for bed after a very enjoyable day. Overnight, we’re sailing 194 nautical miles to Invergordon. We’re due to dock there at midday and, in the afternoon, we’re heading to Urquhart Castle on Loch Ness.