Inchcolm Abbey and the Royal Gallery

A lonely island next to the city centre- Inchcolm

 

This Saturday we took the ferry and went to Inchcolm Abbey. It's a beautfiul island in the Firth of Forth in Scotland. From Edinburgh we drove only 15 minutes to get the ferry and it cost 16 pounds to get to the island and back. Your first thought is that "Wow. This is quit expensive", but it was really worth going on the island!
The tour was guided so the speaker told us a lot about the history of the 2 finished bridges and the one which is still in progress at the moment.

It was really interesting to hear all about the bridges the railway bridge is for example now Scotland's sixth world heritage site. Then we arrived at the island which is cared for by Historic Scotland. On the island there is an abbey from the 12th century which was built by King David the First. The abbey and it's grounds are fully open to the public and it was so nice to wander around. There are a lot of birds on the island. It's like a different world when you are on the island like the pace of normal life slowed down a lot. I would really recommend it, especially on a sunny day like we had! It was just amazing to explore the abbey on your own and to climb up the abbey stairs. From above we had an amazing view.

The whole island was interesting and there was also a tunnel and dogs are allowed to go there which was very good for us because we took Patch. The shop on the island was rubbish but we had a lovely day!

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The Royal Gallery

 

Today we went into the Royal Gallery in the Royal Street and when you buy a selected ticket you have access to the Royal House and the Gardens.

Every one who pays the entrance fee gets an audio guide. It is very good because you can go in your own pace through the rooms and when you want to hear more about a special subject like for example the furniture in the rooms you can press a number and get to hear more about it. You could really see where Queen Elizabeth and the royal family stay when they are in Edinburgh.

Every year she celebrates a Royal Tea Party where important Scottish people were invited to. The Tea Party is celebrated in July and then the whole garden is full of people. Queen Elizabeth sometimes invites guests for meals in the dining room or she presents people medals like for example Sean Connery or Gordon Ramsay. You could also see what kind of meals they serve when she has got guests for dinner. It was an extraordinary, posh menue and I would like to try it.
I liked the dining room a lot, it was painted in a light green and it was decorated with a lot of white flowers. The curtains matched to the whole style and it was just gorgeous!
What I really liked was that you could also see where Mary Queen of Scots lived in the palast. She had a dramatic and dreadful life and she lived in small, narrow rooms. You got to her rooms when you went upstairs small steps. The audio guide told you a lot about her life and you saw a lot of portraits and belongings of her.
The furniture in the whole building was so expensive and looked really nice. You could imagine that the royal family likes to come to Edinburgh. Another good thing was that they showed films of the royal family's childhood. You got to know that the Royal family is still very important for the Scotish population today.

And even the coffee was royal;)