DRIVING AROUND SCOTLAND

Edinburgh

Well, our real first day in Edinburgh, the one where we were rested and awake, started out a little bit on the iffy side of life. Breakfast was meager in the Ibis, and it was raining. We would discover before the trip was over just how handy those new hooded rain jackets were, and we certainly used them that day.

We boarded a city tour bus in the rain mid-morning and rode almost the full route. We rode past Holyrood Palace, where the queen was in residence until the day we arrived and past the church she attends in Edinburgh.

At 11:00 we got off the bus at the top of the Royal Mile and toured the castle. Our reaction to that was mixed. We found some of the exhibits inside the palace itself a little commercial. My notes actually say they were “tacky,” but who am I to judge? We did enjoy the “Royal Honours,” though. The crown jewels of Scotland, Scepter, Crown, and Jewels. Perhaps of everything inside the castle, the Stone of Destiny made the biggest impression. Not only does the Stone have a fabulous history, it may be the largest piece of stone I know that has moved around so much. There are even some imitator stones scattered around England and Scotland today, and in 1985 we had taken photos of Tori and K.C. on one of them.

The castle tour included parts of the grounds, and we both found that to be the best part. We made it to the right place to watch–and hear the 1:00 firing of the cannon. That’s supposed to have been the local signal for ships to set a standard time for their voyages from the Firth of Forth. Nowadays it’s a daily photo opportunity for tourists. And we were right there in the middle of them, getting photos of the cannon firing and St. Margaret’s Chapel, and even asking a couple of other tourists to take our picture.

The cannon firing may be a tourist-oriented event in the twenty-first century, but walking into the twelfth-century Margaret Chapel was a different experience altogether. Even though there were tourists in there as well, it was quiet, quite a change from the gaiety outside.

After our Castle tour we shopped a little (Judy bought a scarf in the Shaw tartan) and had lunch at Deacon Brodie’s. While we were eating, the sun came out! We then boarded the tour bus again, this time sitting on top. Much better that way. We got off at the statue of Greyfriar’s Bobby, which must be the most photographed piece of dog-art in the world. Then we walked down to the Natural History Museum for a different kind of experience. It’s a fabulous steel and glass structure that reminded me of Victorian train stations in its architecture, and we must have spent several hours, just walking around separately and enjoying the exhibits. I must admit, I took childish delight in watching the mechanical clock do its thing when it struck the hour.

Then it was back up the hill, down the other side, to the National Gallery. Again, a different experience from the one we had just enjoyed. I was most surprised to find another Saenredam painting of the interior of the Haarlem Grote Kerk. This one shows the organ case from the side, and I was absolutely mesmerized by it. Photographs weren’t allowed, and I was too shy to try to get one on the sly. Besides, my SLR was a bit obvious when I used it. That ended our tourist day, so it was back to the hotel and then out to dinner.

It was back in the room after dinner that I made my biggest mistake of the day. We could see Arthur’s Seat from our window, and just after 8:00 PM I decided I wanted to walk to the top to get some photos of the city. Sure. Not a problem. So I struck off on my own. After a nice little stroll, I got to the base of the “tall” side of the hill and saw that the trail to the top started at the opposite end. That seemed a long way to go just to walk back on the incline, so I just started straight up the side of the hill. And I mean almost vertical pretty soon. I was grabbing onto tufts of grass, looking for toeholds, and scrabbling for all I was worth. I finally reached the trail, just under the even more vertical rock face, and realized that I really needed water! Why had I done that?! I never made it to the top, though I did get to the “front” along the trail. My photos would have been wonderful I’m sure, but I did get a few from my halfway perch.