Another beautiful day in Edinburgh. We have been so lucky to have experienced so much sunshine and we made the most of it. We bought tickets on the hop on hop off bus which meant exactly that Hop on find a place we want to visit, hop of and then climb to the top for the best sight seeing. Most the day was spent at the bottom of the Royal Mile visiting Holyrood Palace. Being old has its perks. A kind guide put us on the lift to avoid on long flight of stairs and we visited the more modern staterooms and saw miles and miles of portraits of royals from Scotland. This is where Queen Elizabeth lay in state before her body was flown back to England and where Mary Queen of Scots spent part of her life. Mary’s chambers were small and dark. I can’t imagine living in such a tiny space with the number of people crowded in with her. Here her husband killed her Secretary in her presence, her baby was born and taken from her and from here she fled to England hoping her cousin Queen Elizabeth would protect her. She lived a prisoner for 19 years before she was finally beheaded. Eventually her son King James ruled Scotland and England. Buildings full of character, beautiful flowers, a monument on every corner and warm gracious people. King Charles will be visiting the Scottish Parliament tomorrow. The Parliament building sits across from the Palace. Wildly modern in its architecture it is a sharp contrast to the Palace. It will be interesting to see how he is received. Well I hope. He is after all the Second King Charles of Scotland.