Saturday May 24th

Today was set aside in the itinerary as a free day so I decided to catch a train into Edinburgh.  I was told that the trip would be about 20 mins or half an hour (can't remember which) and I expected there there would be many stops between Linlithgow and Edinburgh Waverley but there were only 2 (just before my stop which was Central Edinburgh). most of the trip was through farming country.  The exit from the station brought me into Princes St Mall so I checked out the shops there first before heading out on to the street.  Because the group is going to Edinburgh in Monday to see the Castle and the Old City, I decided to just see part of the New City today.  The Walter Scott Memorial was just up the road from the exit from the station 

And there was a good view of Edinburgh Castle.  

I couldn't leave without checking out Jenners because it was such a lovely building 

and there was a Jazz band busking outside. 

Next I headed to Calton Park at the other end of Princes St where I had been told there were great views.   I spent a bit of time up there, especially in the Collective Gallery which is in the old City Observatory 

 had one art work – a multimedia presentation by Camille Henrot in which she “analyses systems of visual information and typologies of cultural production from a wide array of historical moments. Grosse Fatigue is an ambitious video that attempts to tell the story of the universe’s creation from a computer desktop and using the collection of the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC”.  Pretty interesting really.

There was also a monument to Nelson 

 And the National Monipument which was built as a monument to the soldiers of Scotland in 1826 and never finished 

as well as views over the Firth of Forth in one direction and Arthur's Seat In the other direction.

I headed back to Linlithgow mid afternoon and spent some time wandering around the village.  There is a church with an unusual spire added In the 1960s I think (the original was removed in the 1800s when it was discovers to be too heavy for the tower), 

a palace, 

a loch with a kayaking competition happening today 

and the Union Canal was also close by. 

This is the same canal that I saw about 4 weeks ago when I visited the Falkirk Wheel.