I tried to find different things to do/see my second time in Edinburgh. I climbed Carlton Hill located at the East End of Princes Street. The hill has a collection of some of Edinburgh's most important monuments and offered a panoramic view of the city below. It was an easier walk than Arthur's Seat would have been, at the other end of town.
The sign has seen better days.
The National Monument of Scotland is Scotland's national memorial to the soldiers and sailors who fought in the Napoleonic Wars. It is is modeled after the Parthenon in Athens. Due to lack of funds it was never finished.
National Monument of Scotland, c. 1826-1829
Observatory and Playfair monument
Portuguese cannon, c. ~1642
The Parliament or Democracy (or Freedom) Cairn was built to commemorate the 1890-day vigil (protest) to establish a Scottish Parliament. The cairn incorporates stones sent from various historic and symbolic locations including Robert Burn's cottage, Robert the Bruce's castle, Ben Nevis, Paris, and the Auschwitz Concentration camp.
Parliament Cairn, c. 1998
Stone in honor of those who died in Auschwitz
Emii Alrai’s Guardian (artwork)
Holyrood Castle from Carlton Hill
The Old Carlton Burial Ground is a cemetery located at the bottom of Carlton Hill. It was opened in 1718 and is the burial place of several prominent Scots, including philosopher/historian David Hume, who has a statue on the Royal Mile. The cemetery was unkept and deteriorating, not too respectful to the dead Scots.
The most noteworthy thing in the cemetery was the American Civil War monument. It was dedicated in 1893 to the Scots who fought in the Civil War. It is the only Civil War monument outside the US, the only statue of Lincoln in Scotland., and the first statue of an American president outside the US.
American Civil War monument, c. 1893