This movie about Edinburgh, Scotland will bring you into the Edinburgh Castle and the
Royal yacht Britannia, to the main historic sites in this great Scottish city.
Edinburgh Castle sits high up on Castle Rock overlooking the city, surrounded by sheer
cliffs that reach up to 260 feet above the surroundings.
This naturally fortified site was built up as a castle starting from the twelfth century.
It's the symbol of the city.
There's just one entrance to this fortress and that's from the west end of the Royal
Mile, an area called Lawnmarket, and that brings you into the Esplanade, a large open
area also used as a parade ground.
It leads right to the ticket window and your admission does include a free guide service
inside, who provides a historic description, with the local accent.
That large rectangular area is called the castle Esplanade, and that was built in the
mid-1700s as a parade ground for the soldiers.
And the name, Edinburgh, derives Edwin's borough.
King Edwin of Northumberland, in the north of England, built a settlement in the Castle
Rock in the 7th century.
So it went from Edwin's borough to Edinburgh.
I would like to mention views okay.
That is Edinburgh's new town.
That was built between 1760 and the first stage was completed in 1820
The idea of the new town was to house Edinburgh's expanding population.
And you can also view the officers of Edinburgh castle’s dog cemetery.
An unusual sight to see, dog graves inside a castle honored for their years of military
service.
Located high up on Castle Rock, you get a great view looking down from the castle into
the city.
Crown Square, also known as Palace Yard is the principal courtyard of the castle.
It was laid out in the fifteenth century, and it's surrounded by four of the main buildings
of the castle, including the Royal Palace and the Great Hall.
We will take you inside both of them now.
Surely the most spectacular single room is the Great Hall that measures about 100' x
40' and it was the chief place of state assembly in the castle, a scene of great banquets and
huge meetings.
It is thought to been completed in the early years of the sixteenth century.
The ceiling is quite dramatic with its carved stone corbels supporting the roof.
It's one of only two medieval halls in Scotland with the original hammer beam roof, with the
Renaissance detailing, indicating the arts of Scotland were quite advanced at this time.
The Royal Palace will delight you with the wide variety of exhibits on offer.
It's like stepping back into various historic periods.
You'll see a lineup of the Royals.
You'll see the full-on costumes of the aristocracy, as well as some other exhibits of the ordinary
working people will surprise you.
This high quality of museum display, combined with the spectacular castle itself have made
this place the most popular paid visitor attraction in all of Edinburgh and Scotland, with 1.7
million annual visitors.
The site was a royal residence for five hundred years, starting from the 12th-century, so
you can imagine the tremendous amount of important historical events that took place in here.
The most exciting exhibit is the crown jewels, which are older than the crown jewels of England.
Queen Mary Stewart gave birth to her son James in this small room, and he grew up to become
King James VI of Scotland and James I of England, a very important figure, who, in turn, was
the father of Charles I. Our visit was in the month of May and it was
delightful.
The castle was not crowded.
We could freely walk about in the rooms.
If you're here in the busy season in the summer you want to come maybe in the afternoon when
it's a little bit less crowded.
You might have a long line to get in in the morning.
You'll return out to the palace yard and then back over to the Terrace for more of that
commanding sweeping view out over the city with the Princes Street Gardens in the foreground.
This Canon is so huge and famous, it has its own name.
It's the Mons Meg made in the fifteenth century.
You see those stone cannonballs.
Each weighs over 300 pounds and they could be fired over 2 Miles.
This castle has seen a lot of military action in its long history during which it was attacked
26 times, making it the most-besieged palace in Great Britain and one of the most attacked
in the world.
The last battle took place in 1745 and since then it became an army barracks, and in the
last hundred years it's been open to the public as a museum.
Tiny St. Margaret's Chapel is the oldest building up on Castle Rock.
The nave is so small it's only 10 feet wide and 16 feet long, but still in use occasionally
as a chapel performing weddings and other services.
Although it's small, the impressive barrel vaulting in that Norman, or Romanesque style,
gives it an appearance of grandeur.
It had been used as a little storage warehouse until they realized in the mid-nineteenth
century what they had here, then restored by Queen Victoria.
As you go from one building to the next, you'll be outdoors on the terrace again enjoying
more of those sweeping views, which for many people are the real highlight.
You can see right down to the Waverley Train Station.
Underneath the castle yard there are dungeons that were used to hold prisoners of war during
several conflicts over about a hundred year period, including the Seven Years War of 1756,
and the American War of Independence, and the Napoleonic wars from 1803-1815.
The exhibit has been designed in such a way that you almost feel like you're back in there
with the prisoners themselves.
It's very realistic.
The quality of display is certainly on par with the Smithsonian or any of the world's
great museums.
And quite disturbing to see these incredibly cramped conditions that people had to suffer
in, and these prisoners were not even criminals.
They just happened to be in the wrong army that lost the battle.
As you walk through this terrible jail you might gain a renewed appreciation for your
own freedom and situation, and not worry about the little problems you might face.
While visiting the castle with all of its splendid attractions and royal rooms and crown
jewels and wonderful views, you might think, oh well, I don't feel like going down to look
at a prison, but it's certainly worth your time.
It's all part of your admission fee, so you might as well take advantage and have a stroll
through, especially considering the dramatic way that they reconstructed the site, and
with the extra special lighting and effects they have used to enhance the value of this
experience.
There are several other buildings with major exhibits including the National War Museum
of Scotland that covers the more recent past 400 years and includes a wide variety of artifacts
and video displays, uniforms, medals and weapons.
You'll get some views out the windows in other directions, including a look down at the National
Museum of Scotland, that large building with the dome, and we will be taking you in there
later in our visit to Edinburgh.
It's a fantastic museum.
You don't want to miss that.
As we wind down our castle visit, have a look at a couple of the impressive gates.
There is the main entry gate with its portcullis ready to drop and seal off the castle.
A quick look at the overall plan of the castle complex, and you might want to pause the video
if you want to read all the details on the places there.
Taking a final look from the ramparts of the castle down into Princes Street Gardens and
notice in the circle, this statue and the street beyond.
We're going to take you down there now and look at that same statue from Princes Street
looking back up at the castle.
The monument is a tribute to the Royal Scots Greys, a battalion who fought in the Second
Boer War in South Africa in 1899.
The other very popular historical museum is a short bus ride out into the suburbs to Leith,
and you can easily get there on the public double-decker bus.
It's inexpensive and it's only about a twenty-minute bus ride, so it's very easy to get out to
Leith – you don't have to sign up for a guided tour.
Along the way you'll pass the modernistic Scottish Parliament building, and some other
local neighborhoods.
The district of Leith is a beautiful waterfront community.
You will enjoy those reflections and a stroll.
There are several pubs and restaurants along the waterfront, so you might want to stop
here for a meal, either before the museum or afterwards.
We’ll show you more of Leith in a little while.
So what is it that we've come out here to see in this suburb of Edinburgh?
Well, it's a museum that floats – arriving at the Britannia, the Royal Yacht of Queen
Elizabeth.
Her Majesty's yacht Britannia was in service from 1954 until 1997, and during those 43
years she cruised 1 million miles, all over the world, now open as a museum.
You are of course welcome to come aboard.
You pay your admission fee.
And it's like the queen just stepped out for a moment.
The furnishings are just the way she left them.
It's especially poignant to see the bedrooms.
There is Philip's small bed and the queen's modest double bed, her vanity, her dressers,
the original furniture that she used during all those years.
It's surprising how modest the personal accommodations were, and yet it's a spectacular extravagance
to have your own private ship manned by the Royal Navy to take you anyplace you want,
anywhere in the world, in a grand old style of cruising in comfort rather than getting
on a jet plane.
While you might think the ship was just for the royal couple, as you look around at the
large living room and the big banquet room, you realize that this was an official ship
of state in which there were many guests being entertained by the royal couple.
It was a business trip, usually, any time they were going on a journey, working hard
for their country and yet enjoying this luxurious royal comfort.
Notice the electric fireplace in this more casual sitting room.
You can have a snack or a light meal at the tea room while you're on board.
They had other dining rooms that were a bit less formal.
As an added bonus you get to go downstairs below deck, upstairs and downstairs, to see
how the crew lived, sleeping in bunk beds, three levels high in relatively cramped quarters.
But there were some special perks attached to being a crew on the Britannia.
You had your own private pub, in typical English style, with several kinds of ale and bitter
available on tap and comfortable barstools and sofas arranged for socializing.
So, these crewmembers were working, they had a big responsibility taking care of the royal
monarch, but at the same time they were well-taken care of too.
There was a hospital on board with the doctor always available on call, and notice there
is a large number of bunks that are ready for anything.
It was designed to be a hospital ship in case of war, although that never happened.
This is a floating hotel and so you got the mundane support services, including a major
laundry facility, and you get a look into the massive engine room.
American presidents have been guests on board including Eisenhower, Ford, Reagan and Clinton.
Charles and Diana took their honeymoon cruise on board in 1981.
Maintenance is an ongoing challenge for this floating palace, surrounded by salt water
and extreme winter weather conditions, and they manage to keep it in perfect condition.
This deluxe tender was used to ferry the royals and guests back and forth when no dock was
available.
And naturally you exit through the gift shop with a wide variety of Britannia-related items
as well as general souvenirs.
It's docked at a modern shopping mall so you can browse around, maybe get a bite, spend
some money, and then get back on the public bus for the fifteen-minute return ride to
town.
The Britannia yacht has been named the number one attraction in Scotland by the national
tourist office, Visit Scotland, and so you know that it's a worthwhile visit, especially
with this shopping mall, it's the Ocean Terminal and it's multilevel and quite modern, as you
see, loaded with shops.
The public bus will take you back to Edinburgh in about fifteen minutes, or, you could stop
off at the nearby community of Leith, which is the port center of Edinburgh and it's a
very picturesque place.
You'll see along the waterfront here, you can get different views on either side of
the port, looking at these old buildings, sometimes reflected beautifully in the water.
So if you have a little extra time, it's certainly worthwhile to take a stroll around Leith.
And you'll see they do have some outdoor pubs and restaurants along the waterfront, which
is a wonderful place to stop off for a brief refreshment.
Aside from this lovely waterfront strip there's not much else to see in Leith.
Alternatively, you could walk back into Edinburgh town along what's called the Waters of Leith.
It's a stream with a nature walk about 4 Miles long that's far removed from the hustle of
the city, with some opportunities to spot wildlife and view some quiet historic neighborhoods
along the way.
Much more likely, you're going to take that city bus.
It's one of those classic double-decker buses, and bus route number 22 is a very good one.
It comes frequently, just costs a couple pounds, and it'll bring you right back into the center
of Edinburgh, and you get to see some of the suburbs along the way.
So that's a nice routing that kind of gives you a cheap city tour on the public transportation.
On the city's edge you'll see the modern architecture of the old town is quite different than the
surroundings.
We've got more movies about Edinburgh and the British Isles.
Look for them in our collection.