who the heck knows anything, anyway

Friday, October 14, 2011

Edinburgh: Days 3 and 4!

Hello dear readers! This is Daniel, guest blogging from the UK.

Yesterday, Catherine took us to see the Palace of Holyrood. We got lots of insider info from her, including why being painted wearing black was so posh (answer: black dye was the most expensive) and why the Stewarts commissioned big noses on all of their portraits (answer: to symbolize their lineage in Scottish royalty!).

Holyrood is a "working palace", meaning that it's still in use by the Queen for state functions. It was more than a little surreal to be in a Royal Residence, with thrones and everything; I usually think of kings and queens as fictional, and as one of Catherine's British friends said, "you territorials don't really do these things". There was some pretty serious history in there (Mary, Queen of Scots' bedroom!), really neat stuff. Here's Killian and Catherine in the courtyard (no photography inside, sadly):



We also took a look at the ruins of Holyrood Abbey:


Today, Killian and I visited the Royal Botanic Garden. It was a great place to practice some photography, and Killian was an excellent model.



I was slightly less well-behaved.



Bonus points: can you find Killian in these pictures?


Till next time!