Edinburgh

Hi, I'm Rick Steves, back with more of the best of Europe. This time, we're exploring a city with a ____________culture and a flair for fashion, Edinburgh.

Edinburgh is the cultural heart of Scotland. Once a medieval powerhouse stretching below its mighty castle, today it's one of Europe's most ________and entertaining cities.

Edinburgh has two distinct halves, its medieval ______ Town and its 18th-century New Town.

It's all split by a grand park. Its Royal Mile, which leads from the ________ through the Old Town down to the Palace, is one of Europe's great walks.

We start our visit where the city did, at the Edinburgh Castle, the fortified birthplace of the city over a _________ years ago.

This imposing _________ of Edinburgh sits boldly on a rock high above the city.

While the castle has been both a fort and a __________ since the 11th century,

most of the buildings today are from its more recent use as a ________ garrison.

Crowds gather as, traditionally, each day at 1 o'clock, the big ______ is fired, giving the ships in the port something to set their clocks by.

The castle has never been taken by _______,

it has only been taken under _______.

This is ________.

And the reason why he gave us it is because we were _______English, and he was fighting English, so it was a common bond.

But the cannon itself weighs _______tons. It took 150 pounds of gunpowder to fire a 300 pound stone cannonball less than a mile and three quarters.