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We went to the Edinburgh Zoo in November, 2000. Our favourite part of the visit was the Penguin Pool. Pictured is a cute little Rock Hopper Penguin.

King Penguin at the Edinburgh Zoo. The penguins were so cool. I loved these big King Penguins the most. They were quite large, much larger than I ever thought penguins were.

We went to a 70's party in November, 2000. The party was at Brannigans, a nightclub/tavern sort of place in Edinburgh. It's a really great place to go for a night out, and it's just down the road from our place.

Louise and her boyfriend Oscar went with us to the party. I met Louise while working for 4 months as a temp at the Royal College of Nursing in 2000 and we get together every now and then.

We decided it was about time to visit the Edinburgh Castle in February 2001, after living in Edinburgh almost a year. (Yes we are aware of how slack we are for taking so long.) Anyway, this is taken outside the castle from the carpark. This is the very spot where the annual Edinburgh International Festival holds it's famous Military Tattoo.

This shot shows just behind the drawbridge, inside the first wall of the castle.

The purpose of the Tattoo is for bagpipers from all over the world to perform at the castle and for military marches etc. We haven't actually been to the Tattoo (you have to book very early, because it's quite popular) but we did see the street march, which was in August 2000. They had 10,000 pipers and drummers (quite a noise, but something not to be missed! It's fantastic!)

Further into the castle, after passing a very scary gate, we entered the grounds of the castle. We took a tour with the guides provided for free at the castle, so we were told all about the different buildings and dates of wars etc. Apparently there is evidence that the Romans did a fair bit of trading in the castle grounds around 500 AD.

This picture shows the Princes St Gardens. This is a wonderful place to be in Spring and Summer when the flowers are in full bloom and the sunshine is out. The gardens are directly at the bottom of the Edinburgh Castle and across the other side of the road is Princes St, which is lined with nice (expensive) shops such as Debenhams, Marks and Spencer and Jenners.

Inside the inner section of the castle grounds, this building which houses the Scottish Crown of Jewels was built in 1615 (you can see the plaque on the wall.) We went inside to have a look at the Jewels, but no photos are allowed. Inside is the whole story of their history and how they were buried under a church floor when the English invaded Scotland.

This building is a memorial inside the castle grounds, built to remember the soldiers and enlisted men who fought for Scotland and the UK. We went inside, but it's rather weird going into a large tomb, so we only stayed in there for about 2 seconds.

Here is a silhouette of the Scot Monument near the top of Princes St. The big black monument was originally white, but the type of stone it is, causes it to naturally oxidise and go black, so it looks dirty but it's not really. Inside the monument is a very white statue of Sir Walter Scot. In the background you can see Arthurs Seat and the Craggs, overlooking Holyrood Park.

View from the castle in the evening, shortly before it closed and we had to leave.

View of the sunset from the castle.

City of Edinburgh