For our final day in Edinburgh, we booked a free tour of the Scottish Parliament Building, so we could see more of its unique architecture. 

Back in 1997, when Tony Blair became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, he promised constitutional reform within the UK.  A Scottish referendum was held on two questions: to decide whether or not there should be a Scottish Parliament and whether that Parliament should have the power to vary taxation.  The majority of Scots voted Yes to both proposals.  In July of 1999, a Scottish Parliament met in Edinburgh for the first time since the Union of the Parliaments in 1707.

From 1999 to 2004, the Scottish Parliament Building was constructed adjacent to the Palace of Holyroodhouse.  Enric Miralles, the Spanish architect who designed the building, died before its completion.  How sad that he never got to see his creation and the awards it had won, including the 2005 Stirling Prize.

(For all pictures, click on the image to see full screen view.)

I thought the architecture was fabulous; very unique and interesting!  My favorite area was the debating chamber, a shallow elliptical horseshoe of seating, with the governing party or parties sitting in the middle of the semicircle and opposition parties on either side.  This layout is intended to blur political divisions and encourage consensus.  I liked the design of the desks, chairs in the gallery, the light fixtures, and the way the glass panels let in a lot of natural, diffused light.  Notice the designs in those glass panels. as well as in the light fixtures.  They look a lot like whiskey bottles, don’t they?  I can imagine how after a long session of debating, the politicians take a look at those bottles and wish they were real bottles full of whiskey!

Following our tour, we returned to the National Museum of Scotland to see a few more exhibits and check out the views from the rooftop.  It was a perfect vantage point to see the Edinburgh Castle from another perspective.

We enjoyed our final day in Edinburgh very much!  Having walked to the Scottish Parliament Building from our hotel through Holyrood Park and past Arthur’s Seat, and then adding more miles walking all over town, we made the most of our day!  It was a wonderful way to wrap up our stay in the city before returning home.

The following are photos I shot throughout our six days in Edinburgh that didn’t appear in my previous posts.

Thank you for reading! Craft show season is just around the corner, so Bruce and I won’t be traveling internationally again until 2024. Stay tuned then for posts on Patagonia and many more!