How happy Daria and Marina can be, exchanging 30 degrees for 15, the Mediterranean for the North Sea, is not entirely clear – but I definitely sensed some enthusiasm when they arrived at Edinburgh Airport this afternoon. EasyJet outdid themselves as the girls arrived on time. I waited with bated breath for a pair of teenage girls and copious luggage, but only a suitcase between them!

Edinburgh suburbs aren’t much to look at, but as the bus approached the city centre the girls became very excited – despite the ominous grey clouds that loomed above. We parked the suitcase and walked at speed in the direction of Holyrood Palace. As always, I had planned a lot for a very short amount of time. So, time was of the essence – ooo look there, ooo quick glance… that’s…

Upon leaving Waverly Station – having mentioned Sir Walter Scott in passing, we headed up one of the many alleyways in search of the Royal Mile (in truth I got halfway and thought that I’d made a dreadful mistake, as I thought I’d collapse, running up steps with a full backpack isn’t as easy as it used to be!) Then, having reached the Royal Mile right in the middle, we sped along towards the Palace of Holyrood House – to give it its proper name.

I had briefed Daria and Marina on Queen Elizabeth II’s final journey from Holyrood to St. Giles’ Cathedral, and the relatively recent coronation of King Charles III there too. So, the context and build up having been sorted, we entered the magnificent Palace. I hadn’t been there myself, walked past many times, so it was a real treat for me too.

My mum used to complain that French palaces were empty, and of course Holyrood, a functioning Royal Palace, was resplendent with tapestries, paintings, a gorgeous dining room set for a sumptuous meal, throne room, bed chambers etc. Interestingly the bedchamber of Lord Darnley was directly under Mary’s – his wife, how did that work – usually spouses are either end of a building, it was strange to walk up a small staircase to her room. However, for me, that 3^rd floor was the best – her ante-chamber had a marvellous collection of jewellery and a 15^th Century book of Common Prayer.

The gallery was a bit of a giggle – for me – as all of the paintings of Scottish nobility were written in a Latin fashion – Duncanus, Kennethus, Angusus, Jacobus etc. There was also a cluster of medals representing all of the possible awards that can be given from OBE and up (I dare say there is something lower than OBE, but as I am unlikely ever to get within sniffing distance of a gong, I haven’t studied the options too carefully.)

Outside were the splendid Royal gardens, they were beautifully maintained, so colourful and varied, and with Arthur’s Seat as the perfect backdrop – as the Royal Park extends into the distant hills – we could see so many brave souls who had walked up there, it looked like a veritable picket fence.

Finally, there was the ruins of the Abbey from which Holyrood got it’s name, which basically means Holy cross or pole, as a king had had a vision of some such cross in the 12^th Century.

It was James IV who began the building of Holyrood as a home for his bride, Margaret Tudor – Henry VIII’s sister, in 1501 – and it was his great grandson James VI who became James I of England. There was a quick briefing on Mary, Queen of Scots – more on that another time.

Having whipped around the palace, trying to avoid the annoying child who kept asking his dad why he had to keep his voice down – at full volume, we were back at the beginning of the Royal Mile – looking across the road at the Scottish Parliament – what a contrast! 16^th Century meets 21^st Century head on! Both look marvellous – but opposite each other seems a little weird.

We sauntered back up the Mile, as we now have plenty of time to get to our 4.30 slot at the Camera Obscura. We take note of the interesting buildings, the alleyways, the Christmas Shops, Tartans, Tweeds, Whiskey – the lot. I point out Adam Smith – if the girls do business, then I can’t imagine that they won’t hear about him – David Hume dressed as a Greek philosopher, and a poster for The Dungeons inspired me to tell the girls about Burke and Hare – Edinburgh really has it all.

We get to the top of the Royal Mile, but the scaffolding for the Edinburgh Tattoo seating is already in place, so we couldn’t see the castle properly – thankfully the girls had seen Edinburgh Castle from Princes Street. It started to drizzle – what great timing – we arrived at the Camera Obscura.

Having been here with children before, I knew that I was onto a winner – the girls at times squealed with delight, it was very entertaining. Well named the World of Illusions, we traversed the five floors with so many optical illusions, it certainly made our heads spin – especially the tunnel where you’re walking in a straight line, but the tunnel is rotating around you – so you feel that you’re going to fall over – always a winner.

At the top we had beautiful vistas, despite the mist on the Firth of Forth and the slate grey sky. I read a notice about the chimneys and when it was forbidden to use them, I can imagine that the smoke must have surrounded the whole area – some of the buildings had 10 chimneys or more. Once I pointed out the poop emoji – which is meant to be a bronze coiled ribbon trailing off into the sky! I looked it up, and as I couldn’t remember the name of the building – I just wrote Edinburgh poop emoji – and there it was straight away, an upscale hotel mocked as looking like said emoji.

Naturally, there are more photos from the latter museum than the palace, as it was a lot more fun – but if I don’t write the history down, I’ll forget it – so thank you for baring with me.

Right at the top we were treated to a tour of the city from the Camera Obscura itself, by May, a lovely guide getting everyone laughing at the various people that we were spying on from the 6^th floor. She pointed out all of the key sites, including St. Margaret’s Chapel which is the oldest building in Edinburgh, within the castle walls. Anyone that is called Margaret, can get married there for free – and apparently it doesn’t cost much to change your name in Scotland if you’re not called Margaret. It was a fascinating talk and was fun seeing her splatting pedestrians with a card – hard to explain, but fun was had by all.

As we came out, it began to tip it down, so armed with an umbrella each, we made our way back to Waverley Station. We took several alleyways in an attempt to take a short cut, which worked, except that they became narrower and narrower – and our umbrellas couldn’t fit! So, we had to walk slanting them sideways a little – another giggle.

I introduced the girls to M & S food at the station and we climbed aboard our train to Newcastle. There’s a wonderful photo montage of the before/after variety – dinner time and introduction to ‘work’ – I gave the girls their ‘summer diaries’ to begin, smiles turned to deep concentration as they tried to remember how words were spelt.

Newcastle is not quite as pretty! (Understatement) We made our way home, and the girls were introduced to Pip. Daria yawned most of the way on the Metro, I hope that they sleep well.