Sir Walter Scott Monument
This is a large impressive gothic monument made of pink sandstone (black now from coal exhaust over the last 100+ years). It was created for Scottish national treasure Sir Walter Scott who invented the genre of historical fiction. Because of his high station in life, he wrote under a pen name, as this form of literature was "beneath his position". His stories became so popular and widely accepted that he could come clean, claiming his works, and was accepted outright.He rehabilitated the misconstrued reputation of the Scots and the Highlanders from drunken brutal louts to people with deep history and souls attached. Hence the endless love for him in Edinburgh and the rest of Scotland.
The Arrival - Walking down Prince Street
It was about 1/2 mile from my hotel, and while I could have taken trams for about 1/4 of a mile of it, I just walked because I needed good shots and I was killing time until the Hard Rock opened to buy some pins. I didn't even know it was a climbable monument at first, but when I found out I was exceptionally intrigued and got tickets for the very first group for the day.The Monument and First Floor Museum
After climbing three stories of catwalks that are vertigo inducing difficulties, you are rewarded with some quite excellent views, unimpeded by window glass, and stunning up close views of the architecture and many statues of other famous writers. The first floor is the biggest, with a museum about Sir Walter Scott in the center with quite navigable walkways and teasers of the view you'll get higher up.Upper Areas and The View
As you progress up the levels, they get smaller and smaller. The 4th floor is so small that it's been abandoned to the pigeons (I doubt I could have made it anyways as it took every ounce of the limited self-control I have to function at these exposed heights).
The beginning of the climb from the ground
Looking up the remainder of the tower from the first floor
The full tower, with The Man in the middle
Ornate stained glass
Various displays and artifacts about Sir Scott
Entrance to the museum, a vertigo safe spot
The walkways around the level
Looking up from 2nd to the tiny spot on 3rd
Great shot of the castle
The Firth of Forth, an inlet of the North Sea that extends halfway across Scotland
Old town it is, and the crazy changes in elevation one must navigate