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Our second day in Edinburgh, we took a short walk to Palace of Holyroodhouse, which sits across from the Scottish Parliament and next to Holyrood Park.

The Palace of Holyroodhouse, also known as Holyrood Palace, is the official residence of the British Monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, in Scotland. It is located along the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, at the opposite end to Edinburgh Castle. It has served monarchs since the 16th century. The Queen spends one week here at the beginning of the summer to carry out her engagements. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take photos inside of the palace, but I was able to get some pictures of the entrance, the gardens and Abbey. The Palace is probably most known for the murder of David Rizzio, Mary, Queen of Scots', secretary in 1566. The murder was organized by Henry, Lord Darnley, the Queen's second husband. He was extremely jealous of Rizzio's influence over Mary. Mary was at the time pregnant with Lord Darnley and her only child, the future James VI and I. There is a blood stained spot in the Queen's Outer Chamber that is marked as the spot where Rizzio was murdered. It was quite creepy to still see the spot there, honestly. After her secretary's murder, Mary fled Holyroodhouse for Edinburgh Castle.

The tour was fantastic, I just wished we could have taken pictures. It definitely felt more cozy than other palaces and had a more masculine decor, but still tasteful in my opinion. During the tour we were able to see: the Forecourt, the Quadrangle, the Great Stair, the Royal dining room (this room had a beautiful pastel green color theme), the Throne Room (two upholstered throne chairs for King George V and Queen Mary were in here), the Evening Drawing Room (this room had fantastic tapestries on the walls), the Morning Drawing Room, because you can't draw into the evening drawing room in the morning, (this room had a beautiful mahogany settee covered with silk and wool embroidery, and I believe this room is where the Queen gives private audiences to dignitaries), the King's Bedchamber, the King's Closet, the Great Gallery (there were dozens of wonderful paintings lining the walls of this room), the Queen's Lobby, the Queen's Ante-Chamber, the Queen's Bedchamber, and the Mary, Queen of Scots' Chambers (which are located in James V's tower). Mary's Bedchamber had a view of the forecourt. The Outer Chamber had a nice display of relics including the Darnley Jewel and some of Mary's embroidery work from when she was exiled by Elizabeth I.

Palace of Holyroodhouse: https://www.rct.uk/visit/palace-of-holyroodhouse

Forecourt of Palace of Holyroodhouse

Gardens to the left of the entrance

View of the Holyrood Park to the right of the entrance

The Quadrangle

Remains of Holyrood Abbey. Holyrood Abbey is a ruined abbey of the Canons Regular in Edinburgh, Scotland. The abbey was founded in 1128 by King David I.

View from Holyrood Abbey into the Gardens

Gardens

Despite not being able to take pictures, I really enjoyed the palace tour and would most definitely return. I would recommend going when they open to avoid crowds. We did go when they opened and there was a line.

Onto Edinburgh Castle...

Greetings! We just took a visit to Anglesey Abbey and Lode Mill. This is another National Trust property. I really enjoyed this property, maybe even more than Wimpole Estate, another National Trust property, which we visited a few weeks ago.

When we first entered, we walked on a wonderful trail through various gardens. I have several pictures below, but I'm not quite sure they do the gardens justice. The variety and types of plants were just beautiful and the weather certainly couldn't have been better. I would imagine in another few weeks more things may be in bloom and the trail would be stunning. After about a 20 minute trail walk we came to Lode Mill.

Views from the trail:

Lode Mill dates back to the Domesday Book. The Domesday Book was a land survey of England and Wales, known as the "Great Survey," and was ordered to be completed by William the Conqueror. The survey was completed in 1086. No other land survey of the scale of the Domesday Book was attempted again until 1873 with the Return of Owners of Land, also known as the "Modern Domesday." (There's the history lesson for the day!). The mill remains an active water- mill today for grinding flour and you can buy the famous wholemeal flour from the mill or the shop near the entrance of the property. We were able to tour the mill and go about the different floors. There were many small steps, more like ladders, to get to the different floors and as one who falls up and down stairs, I was nervous, but I had no issues. The view from the mill was quite fantastic.

Inside of Lode Mill:

After the mill, we continued on the trail walk and came to the house, Anglesey Abbey. Anglesey Abbey is believed to date back to 1135 and was established as the hospital of St. Mary's by Henry I. It was converted to a priory of Augustinian canons in the thirteenth century. When Henry VIII began to dissolve monasteries in 1536, monastic life came to an end at the Abbey. The Abbey passed through a few more hands before being purchased by Huttleston Broughton, later known as the 1st Lord Fairhaven, and his brother Henry in 1926. Over the next 40 years, Lord Fairhaven added onto the Abbey and accumulated an impressive collection of art work. Lord Fairhaven's mother was the American oil heiress, Cara Leyland Rogers, who may have influenced his artistic tastes, and his father was very successful as well, having amassed a fortune in American railroads. Lord Fairhaven had a fantastic collection of art work of Windsor which showed the changing landscape over the years. The paintings were located in a two-story gallery in the Abbey. I believe I recall one of the volunteers mentioning that the house has one of the largest (if not the largest) collection of art work of any National Trust property. There was also a very interesting wooden piano on the first floor of the gallery. Lord Fairhaven was apparently a very precise person; he had dozens of clocks and several grandfather clocks throughout the house. One of the volunteers told us a funny story about Lord Fairhaven...the butler of the house would come down and announce the cocktail hour at 7:50pm. Everyone would have a salty dog cocktail, which is a cocktail of gin, or vodka, and grapefruit juice, served in a highball glass with a salted rim. At 8:00pm the butler would then announce dinner and guests had exactly three minutes to make it to the dining room or forfeit dinner. If you arrived at 8:04pm in the dining room, you were out of luck. So, the entry time to the house is a nod to the precise-ness of Lord Fairhaven. The rooms in the Abbey are definitely smaller and cozy and there are many more hallways and pathways compared to Wimpole. I enjoyed the vaulting throughout the house, especially in the dining room. I also appreciated the Jacobean architectural style of the Abbey. The gardens were beautiful here, pretty much what I think of when I think of English gardens. It would be great to picnic here or to just come for a stroll. After we finished the house tour we, walked through the Rose Garden and the Formal Gardens before joining the trail again and exiting. I would definitely visit Anglesey again!

Anglesey Abbey:

Lord Fairhaven:

A nod to Lord Fairhaven's timeliness:

His mother, Cara:

Inside of the Abbey:

Rose garden:

Formal garden:

Onto the next adventure!