Linlithgow Palace

Out of all the cool ancient places I have been to in the general Edinburgh area Linlithgow Palace is perhaps the most structurely interesting. It was built with a thatched roof making thick walls unneeded and maked it possible for large open spaces. Along with its large open spaces the palace also has very well preserved stone works and a truly awesome net work of connecting rooms, passages and dungans.
The palace had been used by Scottish royalty and Scottish parliment for several hundred years up untill less then ninty years ago when parliment held a most or less symbalic open air meeting in the now roofless old great hall. But when the Great hall was being more heavly used back in the day there was three kichtens that supported it for meals. One of the kitchens had a walk in oven with a stair case inside of it leading to a room with a passage to one of the other kitchens.
The palace has a jail beneath the front enterance which is a stairless, ladderless pit complete with no light source and whos enterance is inside the guards gateroom. Also a wine cellar with 18 foot vaulted roof with 10 to 6 foot thick solid stone walls and back in the day it had a vault door with the newest locks of the time. So the wine cellar ended up being more protected then the jail.
This is the same castle/ palace that was on the banks of the pond I sailed on with the University club. Linlithgow is also the home of one of the only supermarket where I could find fresh cranberries, its a nice thing to know.

I suggest going to this palace, its wicked cool, less expensive the many other sites and the town of Linithgow is a very nice little place with many little shops and bars.