Edinburgh (-pronounced Edinborough. Why they didn't just spell it that way is beyond me.) is a city in Scotland dominated by its architecture, the huge castle on the hill, and Scotch. Arriving into the city, you are immediatly impressed as you look at the huge buildings heading up the hill towards high street with their ornate features and imposing size. The only disappointing thing was the majority of the people you walked by were tourists, speaking French, American English, Italian, Spanish, etc. Since I love the Scottish accent, this was rather disappointing. Also, tourists are notoriously obnoxious and rude with their "the world revolves around me" attitude, and Kevin and I both had to restrain eachother from yelling at most of these people.
Saturday was dominated by two things - Castles and Scotch. We got up early and headed up the hill to Edinburgh Castle to beat the tourist rush. It was a good thing too, because the place was already crowded at 9:30, which is when it opened. One thing you don't get a sense of when you look at the Castle from outside is just how huge it is. Kevin and I had planned on touring the castle and still having most of the day for other things, but it took us about 4 hours to see the whole thing. The original castle was built in the 12th century, but over the years has evolved to the structure we see today. Every generation has added (or in some cases subtracted) to the structure. We went on a tour that highlighted the features of the castle when we first got there (highly recommended) and the tour guide explained that only one building was original to the castle, a chapel dedicated to Queen (later Saint) Margaret by her son King David I. The greatest damage to the castle was done during the War for Independance. King Edward I of England invaded Scotland and took control of the castle in 1296. In 1314, the famous Robert the Bruce recaptured the castle and managed to hold it for twenty years, until it was retaken in 1334 and held by the English for another 7 years until the Scots once again took control of their castle. Apparently, the Scottish were better at making Whiskey than they were at defending castles, so in 1341 they decided to destroy the whole thing so that they didn't have to worry about defending it against the English anymore. The only thing they left was the chapel.
The famous cannon Mons Meg arrived in 1457. One of the oldes cannons still in existence it could fire the cannon ball 2 miles!James IV built the great hall in the early 1500's. Most of the hall was later redone as it fell into disrepair, but the ceiling remains. The ceiling was made by shipmakers in the traditional hull building fashion and contains no nails only joists. In fact, it looks like the inside of the hull of a ship - Really impressive!Mons Meg
<center> Doesn't it look like a ship's hull? 
Most of the buildings present today were built in the 16th and 17th centuries to accomodate the 
large number of soldiers that were stationed there. One building, built in 1516, is of special historical significance as Mary, Queen of Scots, stayed there to give birth while avoiding capture by Elizabeth I of England (daughter of my favorite monarch Henry VIII and his beheaded Queen Anne Boleyn). There, James VI of Scotland was born, who later became James I of England after he killed the woman responsible for his mother's death, Elizabeth I, only to find out that he was now on the throne as King of England as Elizabeth never married and had no heirs. So ended the Reign of the Tudors in England. Also housed in the building today are the Crown Jewels of Scotland.
large number of soldiers that were stationed there. One building, built in 1516, is of special historical significance as Mary, Queen of Scots, stayed there to give birth while avoiding capture by Elizabeth I of England (daughter of my favorite monarch Henry VIII and his beheaded Queen Anne Boleyn). There, James VI of Scotland was born, who later became James I of England after he killed the woman responsible for his mother's death, Elizabeth I, only to find out that he was now on the throne as King of England as Elizabeth never married and had no heirs. So ended the Reign of the Tudors in England. Also housed in the building today are the Crown Jewels of Scotland.
The next stop of our tour of Edinburg was the Whiskey museum. It started out as a cheesy barrel ride that taught the viewer about how Scotch Whiskey was made, but then led into a room where the tour guide told us about the different regions of Scotland that produce Whiskey and how to tell each region apart. They had us smell jars that represented the different regions of Scotland and pick which one we like the best. They then let us taste a typical Scotch from that region and taught us how to taste whiskey. Since it was similar to tasting wine, I enjoyed that part of it. I have now learned, however that I will never be a Scotch drinker as one sip was enough for me. The best part of the tour was the Whiskey collection, (the world's largest)donated by Claive Vidiz. Kevin and I managed to find a bottle of Pinch for John Felty, and of course Kevin had to be a ham and get his picture taken. Interestingly enough, the tour guide told us that one of the bottles of Pinch, an ornate bottle with silver foil on the outside costing 300,000 pounds, was the collector's favorite. Because Kevin and I got the "Gold" experience, we each got to try 4 more Whiskeys, which Kevin enjoyed and I really did not.
Sunday, we headed down to Holyrood Palace - the official residence of the Queen in Scotland. I am amazed at the opulence of the palace, since it is only used for a few months total a year, but that's the British Monarchy for you. Outside the palace was the remains of the Holyrood Abbey, and in the distance was Arthur's Seat. Kevin and I decided to climb to the top of the hill and see the view. Once again, we were not properly prepared as we had no water and Kevin was wearing Pumas. (When will we learn). However, the climb didn't take that long and was not that hard.
The remainder of our afternoon was spend wandering around New Town. This portion of the city was built in the 18th century. Since a city planner designed it, it is drastically different from the narrow closes and winding streets of Old Town. Its now home to an impressive array of designer labels that I admired from the windows but could not afford.
Tired and wanting to get home, we arrived at the train station, only to find our train had been inexplicably canceled. The station manager told us to get on a Virgin train that was supposed to be arriving any minute (after being delayed an hour). Once we were on and all settled, Virgin decided to announce that our tickets (and anyone else from our train) were NOT valid and made us all get off, causing Kevin to accidentally leave our new Jeremy Clarkson book on the train (boo) and his head to almost explode. They made us wait for the NEXT Virgin train, even thoug that one was empty (something about it having to leave later than our canceled train was supposed to). This train was also late so instead of arriving home at 8:30, we arrived home at 9:50. NEVER travel by train on Sunday!
hahaha - Kevin's head explode. Sounds like fun! :) Sorry you had train trouble. I want to live La Vida Lester! :(:( Instead I get to study for comps. Soo not fair!
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I wish you had more time in Scotland! Maybe you and Kevin can go back, because the rest of the country is just as beautiful. Dad and I really liked Rosslyn Chapel, since both my father and grandfather are Freemasons. The history throughout the country is amazing. How did you like "New Town," in Edinburgh being of the late 1800's to early 1900's?? Dad thought that was funny, since it too is pretty old. I wish you could have seen where JK Rowling lived and wrote parts of Harry Potter too! Please try to go back, you won't be disappointed! Love- Davilee
ReplyDeleteHooray for Pinch! You guys are the best!
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