Fit for a Queen

My meeting finished a little early today, but not early enough to warrant going back to the office, so I went for a wee walk instead.

I decided to explore the Carlton Graveyard and ended up at the Palace of Holyroodhouse; the official residence of The Queen, when in Scotland.

Now here's the strange part. I've lived a couple of streets away for almost 8 years now, but I've never directly looked at the palace. I've never even peeked at it through the gates. I've been to Queen's Gallery and I've seen the ruins of Holyrood Abbey often from the park side - so I've seen it in passing, but I've never stopped to intentionally look.

I decided today was the day to peer through the gates. I met a delightful elderly gentleman from San Francisco doing exactly the same thing. He'd only ever been to London before and wanted to see the rest of the UK - he called it part of his bucket list.

It made me a little ashamed, but I guess it's always the same - we never really appreciate or take the time to see the things on our doorstep do we?

Anyway I particularly liked this shot with Arthur's Seat peeking up in the background!