scottish are full of mixed feelings about their best building in edinburgh. it was meant to be done for 40m but ended up costing 10 ten times more to the wary scottish.
the outcome, a beatiful modern piece of excellent architecture that shocks the tourist who may well not expect it there.
there are guided tours but i didn't do them. they are cheap though, i just didn't know.
however i did come into the debating chamber, while the politics were going through educational issues. that was cool. the room is huge and impressively constructed.
the building keeps a wonderful coherence and style, not only in colours, but also in daring shapes. surely one of the must-do spots.

It may be the most disputed building in Edinburgh but if you visit the Scottish Parliament you will enter an functioning artwork. You can't explore alone but it is worth taking part in a guided tour because they give you ideas to fuel your own interpretation on how art and politics can be so entwined and what the architect, Enric Miralles, wanted to express.

Do parts of the building represent a fish, a ship or leaves? Why did Miralles create such strange looking windows? Nobody can give you the correct answer and that's the reason which makes the building design so interesting.

Go there and solve the puzzle for yourself!

Three years ago, the Scottish Parliament building opened to a mixed reception. Having cost around £390 million pounds over budget, many people were angry at the vast expenditure entailed in the building's construction.

Nevertheless, in 2007, the Scottish parliament provides a stylish, modern platform for the 129 elected MSP's to work and determine a program for the people of Scotland.

The main debating chamber is designed to provide the parliamentarians ample opportunity to engage in, what is, at times, often confrontational debate. Members of the public are invited to come along and watch First Ministers question time or, other, parliamentry business. Additionally, one can pay to go on the tour of the building and see for themselves the delightful architecture within our wonderfully contemporary parliament.

The newly finished Holyrood Parliament is home to 129 MSP’s and is where the politics in Scotland are debated week after week. This is an excellent place to visit as you can taste and see where debates influencing the daily lives of Scottish people are held. It is free to get in although there is a small cost for guided tours. On weekdays you can arrange to watch the live debating and on weekends you can arrange a tour of the Parliament (worth it I assure you!). Guides explain the history of Scottish politics and nationalism, and show you all of the major aspects of the Parliament such as the committee rooms and debating chamber. The building ,may due to recent election results, become even more powerful with nationalism of the SNP in Scotland and Tories in England making Holyrood the powerbase for a country of Scotland.

The building of course post 9/11 and July bomb attacks has been equipped with modern security devices but once you pass these you can relax and marvel at what cost the British tax payer several million pounds. There is a gift shop and great café where you can relax after a hard day looking over the building. Furthermore, the wonderful Holyrood Park and Arthurs’ Seat are just a 3 minute walk away for those who are not tired easily!

Once you've braved the security scanners at the entrance, you can watch a debate in the chamber and also catch some fantastic photography exhibitions in the foyer. Then there's the riotously expensive building itself. The cost undoubtedly paddled into obscene waters, and the architecture is nothing if not controversial: visit it and make up your own mind. Personally I think it’s rather beautiful by night, with its scattered lights glowing across the granite ponds like fairy bog lanterns on a strangely submissive concrete dragon under the looming silhouette of the city’s dark hills. Also those outdoor water features are a very nice place to eat your sandwiches on a sunny afternoon, just opposite Holyrood Palace.