The Palace of Holyroodhouse where Her Majesty the Queen stays when she comes to Edinburgh, and where she accepts (and immediately returns) the keys of the city from The Lord Provost.
A free exhibition at the Scottish Parliament in 2016 included a collection of Harry Benson’s photographs taken in America over the last 50 years. He told us he was hopeful that his photo of Hillary Clinton and her husband would become a real bestseller when she was elected President. He had just finished photographing Donald Trump for a 10-page spread in Time magazine. As we all know now, Trump went on to become President-Elect, something which Benson who lives in New York said we should be very worried about.
The City of Edinburgh Council fitted new lighting on the Scott Monument this year, completed in time for the anniversary of Scott’s death in September 2016, and which illuminates the Gothic spire every night.
Edinburgh is blessed with many great restaurants, but James Thomson has made an indelible mark on the city with his fine dining here at The Witchery, at The Tower on Chambers Street and at Prestonfield House.
The Indy camp took up many column inches this year particularly on the BBC website where Philip Sim live tweeted proceedings from the Court of Session. The campers were eventually evicted in November, but the court process was if nothing else hugely entertaining. At one point police took a man dressed in robes who referred to himself as Jesus Christ out of the court after a disturbance there. The case cost The Scottish Parliament £105,889.65 although the order against the campers will not be enforced until their application for a Supreme Court appeal is dealt with on 10 January 2017. One of the campers said that he was 'skint' and that in any case Christ had come back to Earth thus relieving the campers of any obligation to pay the costs.
The Colony of Artists show off their work from their own homes, which allows visitors to experience the pieces in a very personal setting. The event has grown year by year and now attracts people from all over Edinburgh and beyond.
The garden in Charlotte Square is always home to the Edinburgh International Book Festival each August, and in December there was a CEO sleep out to raise funds for the Social Bite Charity who plan a homeless village in Granton.