Sunday, August 12, 2018
Final Thoughts
Scotland and the Scots are thoroughly enjoyable. The history is rife with conflict, but they have emerged with a joie de vivre that is unmatched. I'm not entirely sure the conflict has ended, as there is a renewed Independence movement to break from England to remain part of the European Union. There still appears to be no love lost between the Scots and the English!
They countryside is beautiful. The geography is breathtaking, even in the foggy rainy weather we encountered in the north (and even south!). Ann was taken with the "Heeland Coos", also known as Highland Cows. They are cute with their long shaggy hair.
The other major theme running through the trip has been Outlander. Seeing the places and hills and cities we were reading about really made the trip come alive and the books come alive. Being in Inverness as they were passing through was really a interesting experience.
They countryside is beautiful. The geography is breathtaking, even in the foggy rainy weather we encountered in the north (and even south!). Ann was taken with the "Heeland Coos", also known as Highland Cows. They are cute with their long shaggy hair.
The other major theme running through the trip has been Outlander. Seeing the places and hills and cities we were reading about really made the trip come alive and the books come alive. Being in Inverness as they were passing through was really a interesting experience.
Aug 11: A long recap of 3 wild days in Edinburgh
There has been too much going on. We have been exhausted each day here in this wonderful town to write each day, so I will have to try to recap the highlights.
We arrived from the Highlands across one of the 3 bridges across the Firth of Forth: a railroad bridge of the 19th century, a road bridge of the 20th (now used only for buses), and a new 21st Century bridge for other car traffic. The new bridge was of the new design with only 1 set of cables, looking like the one in Charleston (Harry, you'll know what I mean). Because of the various festivals, the street in front of our hotel was blocked, and we had to walk in from 1 block away, passing a restaurant called "Slug and Lettuce". I'm not sure I ever wanted to eat there, although we were assured it referred to a slug of whiskey, not critters in the salad. But, still.... I'm not sure where the marketing people were on that one.
The boutique hotel were were staying in was the TigerLily. It was very cute and funky. We had a "mini suite", which I think just meant it was large enough for 2 extra chairs. We asked about shows to see at the Fringe Festival, and were told to see the "Bugle Boys", a show of the Andrews Sisters in drag. More later about that show and why we were sent there.
Since I have more time to write now (on the plane back through London and then on to Baltimore), I can expound on the meals (Paul, you're welcome). Dinner at the Contini, an Italian restaurant, was really very good. Ann had Sea bass, and I had Pasta with seafood. Really good.
Early morning to the castle. This is built on the highest point of the city, an volcanic outcropping go heavy stone. We walked in through the "Royal Mile", and up the steepish slope into the castle. Crossing the drawbridge and moat, there were statues of William Wallace and Robert the Bruce guarding the entrance. Inside were old buildings, some dating back to the 1100s. The oldest was a chapel dedicated to Ann.
Because we got there early (Thanks, Conor), there was no que for the Scottish Crown Jewels. We saw the jewels and the sword and crown that British rulers use. Remember, it's the Kingdom of England, Scotland, and Wales, which were united a few years ago. Some Scots would like independence from England, in order to remain in the EU after Brexit. There had been an independence referendum which failed a few years before the Brexit vote, but some say they were misled by promises to stay in the Union. Anyway, back to the jewels. We were told no pictures, but that never stopped me. Along with the crown was the Stone of Destiny. It was in one piece, after some students had somehow stolen it in 1950, and dropped it and broke it. This stone has been used since 1296 for the Kings to sit upon when crowned. It was used last in the 50s when Elizabeth became Queen.
The castle was last taken by force by the Jacobites in the last uprising before Culloden.
After the castle, we roamed. We went to the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, but weren't able to take a tour that day. The architecture inside reminded me of the Library of Congress, with multiple gothic arches. There were frescoes of famous scenes and battles in Scottish history, from the arrival of St. Columba in the 900s, the Battle of Banockburn by Robert the Bruce in the 1300s, through Culloden. There was an exhibition of portraits by Victoria Crowe, a famous artist. She painted mostly professors and other luminaries, but also some very sensitive ones of her son, who eventually passed away in his 20s. There was a room of Heroes of Scotland. I tried to find Joseph Lister, but they didn't have him. Pity, they should have.
Dinner was at the Dome. This was a 19th Century building, originally built for the Edinburgh Medical Society. Unfortunately, it went well over budget, and was turned over to the bank, but kept many of its medical motifs. The restaurant rebuilt it, but it is still nicely Victorian. Ann had her best meal there of haddock with chorizo and a tomato sauce; I had a prix fixe meal of Mac and cheese which was OK.
After dinner, we went to the Military Tattoo on the grounds of the old castle. This has nothing to do with skin inking, but the term relates to an acronym deriving from "Taps Off, Time to Return", when the innkeepers were required to turn off their beer taps and get the drunk or semi-drunk soldiers back to their barracks. The Tattoo itself was impressive, beginning with a jet flyover, and about 150 bagpipes marching in. One bagpipe had a strange sound, but 150 are actually beautiful. There were some hokey acts of dancing people in bright costumes from various countries that I could pass on, but there was also an American drum and fife corps, a Swiss drum band, and an American precision drill team. The grand finale included all the performers including all the bagpipes, and playing of Auld Lang Syne and Amazing Grace. There was a Lone Piper on the rampart of the Castle which was very moving, with the entire stadium dark and one spotlight on him.
Friday consisted of a trip to the actual royal castle, Holyrood. The Queen stays here for a few weeks every year. The insignias around the castle here in Scotland have ER (for Elizabeth Regina), not ER II. The first Elizabeth was never queen of Scotland, so they don't really recognize her. The castle is more Victorian, with sumptuous rooms and furnishings.
We wanted to go to the Scottish Museum after lunch, and the bus dropped us off on the Royal Mile and we were given directions on where to walk. Of course, we went the wrong way, and ended up at the art museum. We wandered through anyway. It had some interesting Impressionist paintings, including Monet, Manet, Pissaro, Gauguin, and van Gough. There was even a Rodin statue. Small, but interesting. We decided to reverse our steps to where we supposed to go (around the corner from where we were dropped off) to the actual Scottish museum. In the main hall, we encountered a free Fringe concert of a beautiful singer. After a few minutes of that, we found more Scottish history, dating back to the Picts and before. The Lewis Chessmen were also on display, being some of the earliest examples of the game. They had been found on the Island of Lewis, and were probably actually Norse. We went to the rooftop to shoot some pictures of the city, and wandered our way down through exhibits of famous Scots, including Sir Walter Scott, Alexander Graham Bell, Lord Kelvin, James Watt, and others. The rest of the museum that we briefly saw looked like an Arts and Industry exhibition, reminding me of the Franklin Institute.
On our way back through the PACKED Royal Mile, there were thousands of people as part of the Fringe Festival. There were street shows, singers, musicians, etc etc etc with people everywhere. There were groups touting their own shows. Literally hundreds of plays and performances to choose from. I had downloaded ONE day of performances from the website, and the PDF was 193 pages. We came upon some girls from Australia promoting their performance of "Songs from the Kop", referring to the Liverpool soccer (football) club.
Another nap, then our "Farewell Dinner" at a Whiskey Club. They purchase the whiskey in the cask and bottle it themselves. Of course, we had a tasting. At first, I thought it was bitter, but then it grew on me. The others at my table were not interested, so I partook of a few of them! The meal consisted of a lamb "slider", sea bass, and "cheesecake" for desert. Their idea of cheesecake is different than ours, as it was much more like a thickened pudding than a cake.
Hugs all around, as most people were leaving the next day. We toasted to Conor for his expert guiding and singing to us on the bus rides. We certainly had the potential for being an unruly group, as there were definite Red and Blue people on the trip. We kept a lid on, and tried very hard to disagree without being disagreeable. All in all, I think it worked.
We stayed on for an additional day at the Fringe. We already had our tickets for the Bugle Boys, and we decided to find the Songs from the Kop play after we met the father of one of the girls on the street (everybody is out hawking). After a bit of searching, we arrive at the church where it was playing. It was an hour long, consisting of the story of the Kop, which is the stands at Liverpool where the craziest fans watch the matches. It also recounted the disaster of 1989 at Hillborough when 96 people died and over 200 were injured in a crush of fans when they all poured into a "pen" with no way out. Most of the dead were crushed. The police blamed in on drunkenness and hooliganism, and even tested every fatality(including the children) for alcohol. The police were roundly criticized, but absolved of any wrongdoing by the inquest. 25 years later, after many other inquiries, the Parliament finally apologized and charged the chief constable with detection of duty.
After the play, we were speaking with the kids and their father, and the author, Neil Cole, joined the conversation. He is a talkative, engaging type and we were off for coffee with him. We got a lot of his life's story, including his time in the Australian Parliament, his Bipolar Disorder, and his transition to being a playwright. We probably spent about an hour or more with him. He was obviously wearing a Liverpool jersey(#8 Stephen Gerrard - whose cousin died at Hillsborough). A guy sitting next to us started berating him for being a Liverpool fan, calling all of their fans a POS. It was very weird, as Ann had never realized the extent of passion soccer fans have. We exchanged emails with Neil, and he'll send us copies of a play of his.
We went to find the venue for our 7:30 performance, and found it was next to the ticket place where we were standing. We had 1 1/2 hours to kill, so we bought tickets to whatever performance was about to start(as the rain was threatening again). This was Adapte Moi, a Canadian acrobatic troupe. Think a little Cique de Soleil. They were really very good and enjoyable. We stopped in a little cafe and then got in line for the Bugle Boys. On the line was a gay couple who we spoke to. They sat in the front row once we got in. Once the show started with the drag Andrews Sisters, they zoomed right in on the guys and sang a lot and flirted with them. The whole show show was funny and enjoyable. Sitting next to me was a young woman and her mother, laughing and also having a great time. As we were applauding at the end, the young woman leans over to me and says she works with one of the performers. "Where do you work?" I ask. "A hotel called the TigerLily" was the reply. OMG! That's where we're staying! "I thought I recognized you! Let me introduce you to the guys". So we were introduced, and took some selfies with them. And then we realized why the hotel had given us this recommendation!!! Very funny.
Walking home, we stopped for Indian food. Also good, and it became a Gastrodiplomatic experience since they used Scottish lamb in the saag. Sorta.
I note that each day in Edinburgh my FitBit clocked over 12000 steps. My fellow blogger, Rosie (RosiesMidnightSun.Wordpress.com) put the number of steps each day into her blog. Maybe next time.
We arrived from the Highlands across one of the 3 bridges across the Firth of Forth: a railroad bridge of the 19th century, a road bridge of the 20th (now used only for buses), and a new 21st Century bridge for other car traffic. The new bridge was of the new design with only 1 set of cables, looking like the one in Charleston (Harry, you'll know what I mean). Because of the various festivals, the street in front of our hotel was blocked, and we had to walk in from 1 block away, passing a restaurant called "Slug and Lettuce". I'm not sure I ever wanted to eat there, although we were assured it referred to a slug of whiskey, not critters in the salad. But, still.... I'm not sure where the marketing people were on that one.
The boutique hotel were were staying in was the TigerLily. It was very cute and funky. We had a "mini suite", which I think just meant it was large enough for 2 extra chairs. We asked about shows to see at the Fringe Festival, and were told to see the "Bugle Boys", a show of the Andrews Sisters in drag. More later about that show and why we were sent there.
Since I have more time to write now (on the plane back through London and then on to Baltimore), I can expound on the meals (Paul, you're welcome). Dinner at the Contini, an Italian restaurant, was really very good. Ann had Sea bass, and I had Pasta with seafood. Really good.
Early morning to the castle. This is built on the highest point of the city, an volcanic outcropping go heavy stone. We walked in through the "Royal Mile", and up the steepish slope into the castle. Crossing the drawbridge and moat, there were statues of William Wallace and Robert the Bruce guarding the entrance. Inside were old buildings, some dating back to the 1100s. The oldest was a chapel dedicated to Ann.
Because we got there early (Thanks, Conor), there was no que for the Scottish Crown Jewels. We saw the jewels and the sword and crown that British rulers use. Remember, it's the Kingdom of England, Scotland, and Wales, which were united a few years ago. Some Scots would like independence from England, in order to remain in the EU after Brexit. There had been an independence referendum which failed a few years before the Brexit vote, but some say they were misled by promises to stay in the Union. Anyway, back to the jewels. We were told no pictures, but that never stopped me. Along with the crown was the Stone of Destiny. It was in one piece, after some students had somehow stolen it in 1950, and dropped it and broke it. This stone has been used since 1296 for the Kings to sit upon when crowned. It was used last in the 50s when Elizabeth became Queen.
The castle was last taken by force by the Jacobites in the last uprising before Culloden.
After the castle, we roamed. We went to the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, but weren't able to take a tour that day. The architecture inside reminded me of the Library of Congress, with multiple gothic arches. There were frescoes of famous scenes and battles in Scottish history, from the arrival of St. Columba in the 900s, the Battle of Banockburn by Robert the Bruce in the 1300s, through Culloden. There was an exhibition of portraits by Victoria Crowe, a famous artist. She painted mostly professors and other luminaries, but also some very sensitive ones of her son, who eventually passed away in his 20s. There was a room of Heroes of Scotland. I tried to find Joseph Lister, but they didn't have him. Pity, they should have.
Dinner was at the Dome. This was a 19th Century building, originally built for the Edinburgh Medical Society. Unfortunately, it went well over budget, and was turned over to the bank, but kept many of its medical motifs. The restaurant rebuilt it, but it is still nicely Victorian. Ann had her best meal there of haddock with chorizo and a tomato sauce; I had a prix fixe meal of Mac and cheese which was OK.
After dinner, we went to the Military Tattoo on the grounds of the old castle. This has nothing to do with skin inking, but the term relates to an acronym deriving from "Taps Off, Time to Return", when the innkeepers were required to turn off their beer taps and get the drunk or semi-drunk soldiers back to their barracks. The Tattoo itself was impressive, beginning with a jet flyover, and about 150 bagpipes marching in. One bagpipe had a strange sound, but 150 are actually beautiful. There were some hokey acts of dancing people in bright costumes from various countries that I could pass on, but there was also an American drum and fife corps, a Swiss drum band, and an American precision drill team. The grand finale included all the performers including all the bagpipes, and playing of Auld Lang Syne and Amazing Grace. There was a Lone Piper on the rampart of the Castle which was very moving, with the entire stadium dark and one spotlight on him.
Friday consisted of a trip to the actual royal castle, Holyrood. The Queen stays here for a few weeks every year. The insignias around the castle here in Scotland have ER (for Elizabeth Regina), not ER II. The first Elizabeth was never queen of Scotland, so they don't really recognize her. The castle is more Victorian, with sumptuous rooms and furnishings.
We wanted to go to the Scottish Museum after lunch, and the bus dropped us off on the Royal Mile and we were given directions on where to walk. Of course, we went the wrong way, and ended up at the art museum. We wandered through anyway. It had some interesting Impressionist paintings, including Monet, Manet, Pissaro, Gauguin, and van Gough. There was even a Rodin statue. Small, but interesting. We decided to reverse our steps to where we supposed to go (around the corner from where we were dropped off) to the actual Scottish museum. In the main hall, we encountered a free Fringe concert of a beautiful singer. After a few minutes of that, we found more Scottish history, dating back to the Picts and before. The Lewis Chessmen were also on display, being some of the earliest examples of the game. They had been found on the Island of Lewis, and were probably actually Norse. We went to the rooftop to shoot some pictures of the city, and wandered our way down through exhibits of famous Scots, including Sir Walter Scott, Alexander Graham Bell, Lord Kelvin, James Watt, and others. The rest of the museum that we briefly saw looked like an Arts and Industry exhibition, reminding me of the Franklin Institute.
On our way back through the PACKED Royal Mile, there were thousands of people as part of the Fringe Festival. There were street shows, singers, musicians, etc etc etc with people everywhere. There were groups touting their own shows. Literally hundreds of plays and performances to choose from. I had downloaded ONE day of performances from the website, and the PDF was 193 pages. We came upon some girls from Australia promoting their performance of "Songs from the Kop", referring to the Liverpool soccer (football) club.
Another nap, then our "Farewell Dinner" at a Whiskey Club. They purchase the whiskey in the cask and bottle it themselves. Of course, we had a tasting. At first, I thought it was bitter, but then it grew on me. The others at my table were not interested, so I partook of a few of them! The meal consisted of a lamb "slider", sea bass, and "cheesecake" for desert. Their idea of cheesecake is different than ours, as it was much more like a thickened pudding than a cake.
Hugs all around, as most people were leaving the next day. We toasted to Conor for his expert guiding and singing to us on the bus rides. We certainly had the potential for being an unruly group, as there were definite Red and Blue people on the trip. We kept a lid on, and tried very hard to disagree without being disagreeable. All in all, I think it worked.
We stayed on for an additional day at the Fringe. We already had our tickets for the Bugle Boys, and we decided to find the Songs from the Kop play after we met the father of one of the girls on the street (everybody is out hawking). After a bit of searching, we arrive at the church where it was playing. It was an hour long, consisting of the story of the Kop, which is the stands at Liverpool where the craziest fans watch the matches. It also recounted the disaster of 1989 at Hillborough when 96 people died and over 200 were injured in a crush of fans when they all poured into a "pen" with no way out. Most of the dead were crushed. The police blamed in on drunkenness and hooliganism, and even tested every fatality(including the children) for alcohol. The police were roundly criticized, but absolved of any wrongdoing by the inquest. 25 years later, after many other inquiries, the Parliament finally apologized and charged the chief constable with detection of duty.
After the play, we were speaking with the kids and their father, and the author, Neil Cole, joined the conversation. He is a talkative, engaging type and we were off for coffee with him. We got a lot of his life's story, including his time in the Australian Parliament, his Bipolar Disorder, and his transition to being a playwright. We probably spent about an hour or more with him. He was obviously wearing a Liverpool jersey(#8 Stephen Gerrard - whose cousin died at Hillsborough). A guy sitting next to us started berating him for being a Liverpool fan, calling all of their fans a POS. It was very weird, as Ann had never realized the extent of passion soccer fans have. We exchanged emails with Neil, and he'll send us copies of a play of his.
We went to find the venue for our 7:30 performance, and found it was next to the ticket place where we were standing. We had 1 1/2 hours to kill, so we bought tickets to whatever performance was about to start(as the rain was threatening again). This was Adapte Moi, a Canadian acrobatic troupe. Think a little Cique de Soleil. They were really very good and enjoyable. We stopped in a little cafe and then got in line for the Bugle Boys. On the line was a gay couple who we spoke to. They sat in the front row once we got in. Once the show started with the drag Andrews Sisters, they zoomed right in on the guys and sang a lot and flirted with them. The whole show show was funny and enjoyable. Sitting next to me was a young woman and her mother, laughing and also having a great time. As we were applauding at the end, the young woman leans over to me and says she works with one of the performers. "Where do you work?" I ask. "A hotel called the TigerLily" was the reply. OMG! That's where we're staying! "I thought I recognized you! Let me introduce you to the guys". So we were introduced, and took some selfies with them. And then we realized why the hotel had given us this recommendation!!! Very funny.
Walking home, we stopped for Indian food. Also good, and it became a Gastrodiplomatic experience since they used Scottish lamb in the saag. Sorta.
I note that each day in Edinburgh my FitBit clocked over 12000 steps. My fellow blogger, Rosie (RosiesMidnightSun.Wordpress.com) put the number of steps each day into her blog. Maybe next time.
Tuesday, August 7, 2018
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)