Of Palaces and Parliaments........

....what to do with some coveted time off and a pal on a dull and dreary Autumnal day? Should we fill the day with domestic trivia, wallpaper stripping or mind-numbingly awful daytime telly?....why no..... off to town and make like a tourist, of course, that's what we do, so let's go......
first stop......

....The Queen's Gallery which is attached to The Palace of Holyroodhouse (The Queen's Official Residence in Scotland - one of them, anyway!)but more about that later...in the meantime let's have a look around the Gallery...

... which is exhibiting some work by none other than Leonardo (Da Vinci, not DiCaprio and certainly not one of those Teenage Mutant Hero Turtle thingies) oh no, this is the real deal. Some of his anatomical drawings have turned up and are now being exhibited here, courtesy of The Royal Collection and I tell you, that man was an absolute GENIUS! Do you know that he discovered how the heart and its valves worked long before proper scientists did?!, mostly from studying how oxen hearts worked because of their closeness in form to the human heart.... and a lot more fascinating stuff like that but maybe you wouldn't find it as fascinating as I did so I'll just show you one of the dozens of prints that were featured.......

....isn't it amazing? You could call it the first ante-natal scan.....you've got to hand it to that Leonardo, the man had vision, 500 years before anyone else! It was mind-boggling to look at those prints and his handwriting on them (which he always did in mirror-image because he was left-handed)and not be moved by them. A most cultural way to spend a rainy day!

Then it was on to the Palace itself.........

....not bad for a bijoux-type pad, is it?

....through the front door (well, not really but that is one mighty fine door nevertheless!)....

....under the very regal-looking archway.....

.....and into the front hallway....where, I'm afraid I had to put my camera away - absolutely no pics allowed in a Royal Residence by order of a very big and burly military-type person bedecked in tartan from head to toe (keeps the REAL tourists happy!)so I wasn't about to argue with him and dutifully did as I was told.......but take my word for it......inside was stunning, especially the garret!  Once you visit the parts of the Palace which are opened up to the public, including the Throne Room - real thrones, not the 'wc' variety, you climb up 25 very steep stone steps to the top of the building and there you are in Mary Queen of Scots bedchamber! It's very dark and eery up there because they keep the shutters on the windows closed to protect the bedding (the bed is actually enclosed inside a glass case)which includes the most beautifully embroidered crewel-work bedspread - not an Ikea duvet cover to be found up here! Some of her jewellery and other artefacts were on display - I especially liked the tiny crocheted drawstring pouches with their minutae stitches, probably all done by candlelight too! ......then after a lovely coffee and ever-so-expensive scone in the Palace Cafe, off we went across the road......

.....but I'll leave that for another day. 

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Thank You for Visiting. Really,really hope it was worth it for you because I love it that you pop-in. 

See You Soon.

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