edinburgh.

disaster strikes on a new day in scotland.

my camera was drowned in water.

hence pictures here were taken with the Nokia N95 8GB camera,

5mp with a carl zeiss lens.

edinburgh is a beautiful city.

it's old, so rich in history and culture and music and traditions. stories and legends.

its people are friendly, laid-back and the city has a relaxing vibe to it.

they celebrate their history and embrace their traditions.

the love the tartans, bagpipes and legends. and the whisky.

do NOT spell whisky as whiskey in scotland, for you will get frowns and disdain from the scots. they hate american whiskEy. (:

scott momument; edinburgh city center, along princes street.

princes street gardens. good day to chill in the sun and read a book.

along royal mile, the scotch whisky experience.

a museum showcasing all about the scotch whisky (no E!)

the mills of the tartan factory. the exhibition also shows the different tartan patterns of the different scottish clans, including the macDougals (ie. SATC fans, charlotte's ex-husband) and many other scots we know in hollywood.

edinburgh castle guard. protectors of the castle, in klits.

a canon fires at 1pm everyday. it used to inform the army and navy of the time, back in the days without watches and clocks. and firing at 1pm, instead of 12pm, will save them a lot of money. how smart.

a young canadian guy asked my guide,

"so what time is the 1pm gun salute?"

"oh, it's 30minutes after 1230pm"

"oh ok." guy replies, very satisfied with my guide's answer.

the royal mile, runs from the castle for a scottish mile (1.8km)

overlooking the train station from a street near the royal mile.

the scottish parliament building, with its cutting-edge,

hard-to-understand avant-garde architecture.

outside the parliament building. the plateau/hills, called Arthur's seat, was part of an ancient volcano that edinburgh is sitting on.

and people can climb up and admire the views of the city.

a sweeping view of princes street gardens.

calton hill. i love this photo a lot. (:

partial view of the city on calton hill. part of Arthur's seat.

edinburgh city.

flowers bloom in spring.

a peek at Nelson's monument on calton hill.

nelson's momument.

for admiral horatio nelson, commander of british fleets during the napolean wars, the battle of trafalgar.

part of the inscription writes,

"...not to express their unavailing sorrow for his death; nor yet
to celebrate this matchless glories of his life; but, by his noble example, to
teach their sons to emulate what they admire, and, like him, when duty requires
it, to die for their country."

a peek at the (unfinished) national monument.

the national momument, looks suspiciously like the parthenon in athens.

built for the people who died in the napoleanoic wars.