Last Rain Dance in Edinburgh

Here are a few more pictures of Edinburgh.

    Sherlock Holmes statue

    The Conan Doyle Pub

    Inside the Conan Doyle

    View of the city from Calton Hill

    White Horse Close off the Royal Mile

   Inside Edinburgh Castle

    The Palace of Holyrood House from Calton Hill

    Grounds outside Holyrood, below Arthur's Seat

Halfway Home

After eleven days in Edinburgh, we're on the way home. We're currently holed up in the Bewley's Airport Hotel in Dublin, just like we were at the end of our last trip to Ireland. Except, like the hotel in Ballsbridge at the start of this journey, Bewley's is now Clayton's. Tomorrow morning we begin the long flights home, first to Dulles in Washington D. C., and from there to San Diego.

This has been an interesting trip. Maybe not the best time to go, what with the cold and (admittedly light) rain, especially in Edinburgh. But we came to add our presence and voices to the remembrance and celebration of the 1916 Easter Rising in Ireland. And Easter is when it is, and we wouldn't have missed it for anything.

  Perhaps what came through most clearly is that justice and social change require both courage and sacrifice. The gains made by our predecessors do not automatically continue but must be constantly defended. In America we have a deep history of men and women who have fought for similar gains--the right to organize unions, the right to a living wage, equal justice for all, the right of every citizen to vote without undue restriction.

    Liberty Hall, Dublin

  We both feel that making this trip has been an immense privilege. Thank you for being here to share it with us.

    Mike and Kate.

Elephant Polo??

"At what unusual sport did Scotland become world champs in 2016?"

Rugby? No.  Curling? Nope. Morris Dancing? No!  It was elephant polo, of course. 

"Who was the author of the book 'Chitty, Chitty, Bang! Bang!'?"

"Which band wrote this [mid-2000's] song?" (30 seconds of unfamiliar music).

And so the questions went for five rounds of pub quiz tonight at Jeremiah's. And then came this zinger which stumped all but ourselves: "What U.S. city has a team called the Chargers?" No Way!!! We let out a loud whoop and our 100+ evening companions stared. Still didn't do us much good as we finished last among the 19 teams. But we did have fun.

  But that's dinner before breakfast....

The National Museum of Scotland

  The National Museum of Scotland is a wonderful place. Located in the heart of the town, this museum is free (except for special exhibits). Regular exhibits include Scotland's Story, World Cultures, Animal World (photo below), and more. 

    Animal World gallery

We particularly wanted to see "Celts" - a display of artifacts and jewelry from ancient days and many parts of Europe. That was great! Well done!

Overall, the SNM is spacious. Light, and accessible. Two of the three floors held excellent coffee shops so parents could park themselves and leave the kiddies free to roam the plains. We could sure use something like this in San Diego.

Blackwell's Books

James Thin Bookseller was Edinburgh's oldest bookstore. Blackwell's Books, a family operated chain bookstore, bought James Thin's and preserved the original building. Blackwell's is multi-story with a fabulously helpful and friendly staff. They helped us find Irish cookery, Scottish poetry and Asterix comic books in English and Irish. The collection also includes music and DVDs. I was tempted to get season three of Death in Paradise that I have been patiently waiting to air at home.

 

Pilgrimage to Rosslyn

Our early plan was to stay in town, but learning that today might be the only foreseeable sunny spell, we decided to hit the road...to Rosslyn Chapel. And the cheapest and probably safest way to get there is to grab the southbound bus ("Service 37") from the High Street at the North/South Bridge. A four-pound "day ticket" each and a shortish 45-minute ride saw us in the village of Rosslyn. 

We were dropped off in the quaint village and headed down the track to the Chapel surrounded by the green rolling hills of Rossyln Glen. With sunny skies, birds calling, and utter tranquility the surroundings were magical.

For any of you who are fans of Dan Brown's book, The DaVinci Code the magical will not be terribly surprising. Rosslyn is a place of mystery, intrigue, and speculation.

The Chapel is a feast for the eyes. 

Armed with our guide book and handouts provided in the Chapel we commenced our search for some of the most intriguing decorative elements- the bagpipe-playing angel, the green men, and exotic plants such as aloe vera, ears of corn, and curly kale. Of course, there were many Bibical lessons to be found like the Seven Deadly Sins and Seven Works of Mercy.

No photography is permitted in the Chapel but outside photographs are permitted. Enjoy these details of the hundreds you can see.

Edinburgh Castle

The The most prominent feature of this Scottish city is the ancient castle that juts into the sky in the center of town. Reputed to be Britain's oldest continuously-occupied fortified place it dates to ~900 BC. This was the "hill fort" to beat all hill forts. 

  The castle is an impressive pile, seeming to grow up out of the native basalt peak. Vertical cliffs make it unassailable from the north, the side that faces the sea, the Firth of Forth. The other castle sides bristle with cannon, including a monster named Mons Meg, built to fire 20" diameter stone balls a distance of two miles. 

  Despite all of its  impressive defenses, it turns out that Edinburgh Castle has been attacked by force or by stealth some 26 times... and in most of these attacks the castle was taken by the attackers. As a result, much of the structure has been destroyed, rebuilt, and destroyed again until no one knows exactly what it looked like... until now when it's only besieged daily by tourists like ourselves.

  We had the good fortune to visit the Royal hill fort on a partially sunny day (we only had three rain showers) so we got some beautiful views of the city below and the Firth beyond. Here's some of what we saw.

Up and Down and All the Way Around

That is, around the huge volcanic rock that Edinburgh Castle sits atop. The so-called Royal Mile is the mile long "High Street" that slowly ascends that tilted volcanic slab.

  We set out from Holyrood Palace where the Mile starts and slowly made our way westward. Much of the central city is old old, similar to Dublin. Stone mason must have been *the job* back then, much as software coder and investment banker are now. We found tributes to Adam Smith and John Knox along the way.

    Adam Smith brick

    John Knox's home on High Street

  At South Bridge St. we turned off the straight path, looking for Cowgate Road and a particular fossil shop. Whoops! There it was, 50' below us. Backtrack and find a steep "close" (alley) to take us down. In the end our fossil hunt was a bust...but we did chance upon a picture and plaque to the memory of Irish trade unionist and revolutionary socialist James Connolly. You'll remember him from our Dublin posts about the Easter Rising. Connolly was born in 1883 in the Edinburgh working class slum of Cowgate! Funny how you can stumble on bits like this unexpectedly.

    James Connolly portrait and tribute

  Rather than climb back up to the Mile, we continued on the low road thru Grassmarket, King's Stables, and around to Princes Street. By now we were both pretty hungry. Kate remembered that the venerable Scottish department store, Jenners, was somewhere nearby. (Think of Selfridges in London.) However, when we discovered that Jenners' ancient elevator is just as venerable (tiny and cramped) we decided to roll on. 

Princes Street Gardens

  Finally we settled down to some lunch at the Omni, a collection of glitzy restaurants just across from the Sherlock Holmes statue (and some odd sculptures of giraffes.)

  Today's totals: just over 10,000 steps and just under 5 miles! 😀

  Back home at Adria House now, sipping a hot "cuppa" and writing this post.

Arrived Edinburgh

On Saturday we flew from Dublin to Edinburgh, Scotland. The flight on Ryan Air took about 45 minutes and was relatively cheap. But, oh, for the savings you do pay a price. From the check-in desk thru security was a short walk but from security to the boarding lounge was a good half mile hike. No place to sit but happily we had just a short 20-minute wait. Onboard, all rows behind row 1 were very tight-it really felt like we were in a sardine tin. Glad to arrive and reclaim our luggage. Airport to city was a 20-minute ride with the surliest cab driver I've ever met.

  On the other hand... Once we'd arrived at Adria House we were in clover. The proprietress Maria is friendly and helpful. She and her brother Eddie run this family business which occupies one small slice of a 200-year-old 3-story Georgian building a few blocks north of the city's "Royal Mile." Our suite is huge, with three rooms plus an en-suite bathroom. Tall windows that can be closed with wood shutters overlook a green park space and a brick/cobblestone street. 

  We're taking things pretty easy here in Edinburgh. So far we've taken the tours through Holyrood Palace and the associated Queen's Gallery. Holyrood has been a summer residence for British monarchs over the last several hundred years, and was temporary home to Mary, Queen of Scots, before she was beheaded by her cousin on a treason charge. As palaces go, I'm told this is a small one. The Gallery exhibit is of paintings by Dutch masters of Vermeer's time and the audio commentary includes samples of music from that time.

     Holyrood Palace (House)

  In 2000 a creative interactive science "experience" was built near Holyrood House. Called Our Dynamic Earth, this site is for kids and adults...but mostly for kids. It's sort of a Disneyland of Science that introduces geology, planetary science, and ecology. Very well done, although the creators apparently had to tear down an old Edinburgh brewery to make space. 😭 In the photo below you can just see a turret and wall that belonged to the brewery.

    Our Dynamic Earth