Scotland2

Linlithgow
I got up at 6 oc'lock and took a morning walk alone. Linlighgow Palace, which we couldn't enter because the gate was closed yesterday,　was also closed probably because it was too early. However, I found a side road at the right, so I entered. At that time, I saw something moving. I ran after it, but it ran away through the grass. I didn't know what it was. "Is it a cat?", I wondered. I continued to walk on the grass, then I found out I was in a large field. There were three hares in the field.Wow!! I exchanged a regular lens for a telephoto lens. I approached them slowly and quietly so that I could take their pictures because in Pitlochry I had failed.However, they quickly moved away when I approached them. I got absorbed in taking pictures. Suddenly, I knew that I was behind the palace. I couldn't enter the palace, but I could see entire building clearly. "I'm lucky! I didn't know I could come here by taking that road" I really enjoyed the walking. You know, "The early bird catches the worm."
When I went back to the B&B, Atsuko, my cousin, had already got up and was ready to leave. I said, "I saw some hares near the palace." Atsuko wanted to go there soon, but I said, "I have just come back, so let's go after eating breakfast." However, when we went to the palace after we had breakfast and checked out the B&B, all the hares had disappeared. Probably, we can see them only early in the morning.

Linlithgow-(A706)-Bo'ness
The 5th day
Because we couldn't find a B&B to stay at easily the day before, we decided we should book a place to stay that morning. At around 9:30, we left Linlithgow. As we had been advised, we drove to Bo'ness and went to the tourist information center. However, it was too early ; the center wasn't open.
My cousin said, "We passed a hotel on the way here. Why don't we ask if a room is available?
Contrary to our expectation, they said that there was a twin room available and it would cost us only ￡30! Of course, we took it. The building of the hotel was like a motel and modern. The room had a well equipped bathroom. I had thought that I wanted to stay at B&Bs when I traveled the countryside in England and Scotland, however, I liked the hotel. It was very cosy.
I realized that I like well equipped modern accomodation.

Bo'ness-(A904、M9、A8)-Edinburgh
On the way to Edinburgh, we could find some B&Bs which displayed the sign, "Vacancies". Even during the festival, it may be easier to find a B&B in Edinburgh than the neighboring towns because there are a lot of B&Bs.

At first, we went to see Edinburgh Castle. After that, we visited Gladstone's Land, the Writer's Museum and Royal Miles. The upper left : Edinburgh Castle ; the upper middle & right : the scenery from the castle ; the lower left : a guard in Edinburgh Castle ; the lower middle : The pig sculpture in front of Gladstone's Land ; the lower right : Royal Miles

The weather had been fine although we had had a few sun showers. However, it rained for half a day when we visited Edinburgh Castle. They say that when Queen Mary gave birth to James I in Edinburgh Castle, she already hated her husband ; also James didn't like the castle so much. Therefore, my impressions of Edinburgh Castle was also gloomy. Moreover, because of the rain, it became increasingly depressing!
In the afternoon, after the rain stopped, we visited the Palace of Holyroodhouse. It is a palace which Queen Elizabeth Ⅱoften visits. I really enjoyed seeing the inside of the palace and the grounds. One reason was probably because I hadn't expected to visit the palace. In fact, Holyroodhouse is my No.1 recommended place to visit in Edinburgh.

The annual summer festival had just started in Edinburgh. Naturally, we had wanted to get festival tickets. However, as you know, we had problems getting the return part of our tickets from Heathlow to Narita because of the "Obon". Therefore, the festival tickets were already sold out. When we came to Edinburgh, we regreted that we had not bought the tickets before the flight tickets had been confirmed.
Anyway, from all over the world, many artists seem to visit Edinburgh during the festival. We could see some street performers showing his or her talents every where in the city.