Female: Looking for a place to get your kilt on? How about some good old castle crawling? Then Edinburgh, Scotland has a vacation for you.
Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, mixes the ancient and the modern into an interesting brew. One way to experience both is to stay at the historic Balmoral hotel in the heart of the city’s old town.
The Balmoral looks pretty much like a castle with its turrets and port hole windows. But inside, it’s no drafty dungeon. The Balmoral is tastefully contemporary with incredible views out of every window. For instance, it’s hard to miss the famous Edinburgh castle overlooking the city from atop of an extinct volcano. This castle of castles is over 1000 years old.
Duncan: The original hollow beam roof is dated from 1503. Built completely of wood, no metal, no nails. It’s held together by wooden pins.
Female: Medieval technology replaced big swords with big cannons. And on the castle walls sits one of the largest. The 7 ton Monsmeg, built in 1449.
Duncan: Crew would travel 3 miles in a day and it took about 100 men to transport it. So the element of surprise was slightly lost if you only travel 3 miles in a day. It was also fired here on the castle in royal salute for Mary Queen of Scots 16th birthday. On that occasion, stone cannon ball was recovered just over 2 miles away.
Female: After a day of reliving battles, it’s perfectly understandable to repair back to the Balmoral for high tea, the height of civilization.