1,000 troops, 27 cannon, 3,000 cannonballs ... that's what it takes.

March 19, 2013 8:03 AM

"A Scottish version of Storm’s End, impregnable, unbreakable." Freelance travel blogger Mike Sowden is waxing quite eloquent about Scotland in a series of on-going posts. His most recent entry takes on not only Edinburgh Castle (even comparing it to a certain magically-defended castle in Westeros), but the long-long-ago violent geology that birthed its base, as well as that of Arthur's Seat nearby.
posted by grabbingsand (4 comments total)

Cool post. I actually did what is suggested and wandered randomly towards Arthur's Seat on one very nice summer day back in 2000. Among other things, I randomly stumbled upon the grave of David Hume.

Edinburgh Castle is indeed very impressive on the skyline, but I though my Stirling Castle visit was a bit more interesting. The former Castle seemed like it had been consumed a bit by tourism.

I did end up making it to Arthur's Seat and it is indeed lovely.
posted by selfnoise at 9:02 AM on March 19, 2013 [1 favorite]

Edinburgh Castle is massively touristy: Stirling Castle is much more dramatic, in my opinion, though I'm from there so I may be biased. Doune Castle just up the road is small but good and was used in MONTY PYTHON'S QUEST FOR THE HOLY GRAIL, and if you're up to Doune you could head on to the Trossachs and the most beautiful scenery anywhere except for the West Coast in that one week in June when it isn't raining.
posted by alasdair at 1:34 PM on March 19, 2013 [2 favorites]

I happened to visit Doune while they were throwing a wedding. It was quite charming.
posted by Chrysostom at 8:06 PM on March 19, 2013

Love explanations like this. Something 340 million years old creates a strategic map that enfolds hundreds of years of human history. There's an interesting way in which that makes the Westeros allusions appropriate, since it almost seems like fantasy-world determinism.
posted by dhartung at 1:11 AM on March 20, 2013