We walked up High Street — which in Edinburgh is a mile of kebab/pizza/fish & chips restaurants, historical markers, and tourist tchotchke shops — to Edinburgh Castle. We spent four hours there, and could have easily spent more. If you go, plan on making it your only event of the day. Besides the fortifications, there is the Scottish War Memorial, the Scottish Crown Jewels (temporarily not in use), a chapel, and the Scottish War Museum — which was, for me, the Main Event. While three days earlier we had been down in Carluke to visit the grave of William Angus, it is this museum which holds his Victoria Cross. The admission clerk was not sure where it was, and it was near the end of our walk through the museum — on the left, just before you leave section 5 for section 6 — but still it was time well spent in the museum’s other sections. I actually was familiar with several of the names mentioned, particularly pipers who’d been awarded the Victoria Cross themselves, for piping their regiment into battle despite grievous injury. Which prompted me to tell my wife the story of Lord Lovat, who had his personal piper, Bill Millin, pipe his regiment ashore at Normandy. (When Millin demured, Lord Lovat replied “Ach, but that’s the English War Office. You and I are both Scottish, and that doesn’t apply.”) 
As we were visiting the Great Hall, I maxed out the 8 gig chip in my camera, so used my iPhone for the next hour or so. (Until I bought a 16 gig chip at the Boots pharmacy on our way back to our hotel; which was in turn nicked, along with the camera, three days later. 
)
The Story of William Angus, “The bravest deed done in the history of the British Army”.
Distance: 2.00 mi.
AEG: 200 ft.
Time: 4h 00m
