Scotland the Green and Wet!

I have to say that Scotland has been one of my most favorite places that I have visited. Perhaps it was the timing. I was truly getting tired of brown sand, white villas, and sandstorms. Scotland was a welcome breather full of blooming trees, early spring flowers, and light refreshing showers of rain. Much needed, I assure you. I was also dying to see familiar faces, and was darn near bursting at the seams to see my brother and my friend Troy. I have to say, those two are easy to pick out in a crowd. I mean, c'mon, Matt was wearing his brightest blue scrub pants and Troy is over 6 feet tall with hair longer than most women. They don't blend very well :) I met them in Heathrow, where we had to hang out for a few hours before we blasted off to Scotland.

I have to say, Edinburgh Airport is much easier to navigate. I think it's because it's so much smaller than most other airports I have been to. You blink and you're at the baggage claim. You wink and you're out the door. The car rental place was easy, just gave them my reservation and off we went. They gave us an Audi A4 because we had requested a GPS. Um, wow. I have NEVER driven anything as nice as that Audi. Sleek, black, lovely interior, and so many buttons I figured if I pressed the wrong one we would find ourselves speeding towards Mars. Disconcerting enough that the steering wheel is on the right with the subsequent shifty/ geary stuff on the left...it also took us a couple of minutes to figure out how to start it. It came with what looked like a fob, but no key. After Troy consulted the manual, we found the place to insert the "key" followed by depressing the break and pushing the key in to start the car. Weird! But kinda neat ;) It took us another five minutes to figure out how to program the GPS, which I dubbed "Rosie". So I would have someone to curse out in my frustration if we got lost. As we drove off the rental lot I could see others leaving, driving with much the same overly defensive OMG-this-is-unnatural demeanor. It was a bit nerve wracking at first. Still, as we wended our way into Edinburgh city, it got easier. The roads are the tiniest bit wider than in Ireland. And I had been proactive and gotten the full insurance on the car. No worries.

The first B&B was located out in the neighborhood of Merchiston. I highly recommend the Granville Guest House if you are ever in Edinburgh. The owner, Latif, is a doll and takes extreme pride and care in providing for his guests. We didn't do much the first day because we had all three been awake for over 30 hours. We found a nice little place down the street called the Piece Box to have afternoon tea. It was an early night for us.

The next day we awoke bright and early and after a lovely breakfast of sausage, eggs, ham (lovely porky goodness!) and toast we hopped the bus up to the Royal Mile. Thank goodness we got to Edinburgh Castle quite early. There was already a line 30 people long. This much I have learned from travelling: Get to the biggest attractions first thing when they open, or you will be waiting quite a bit to get in. The castle was amazing. I believe it sits on the highest hill in the city. You can see all the way out into the Firth of Forth from its walls. There are rows of cannon lining the old stone walls, though they are not original. There are lots of places to see inside the castle, including the Crown Jewels. I found the Stone of Scone (or the Stone of Destiny) to be more interesting. Up until 1998, it had sat under the throne at Westminster Abbey in England where the royals sat to be crowned. It was returned to Scotland that year, and it will be brought to Westminster again when the next monarch of England is to be crowned. Think of how many royals have been crowned over that stone in the last couple of hundred years. Cause for reflection, I think. One of the things that really tickled me was the small graveyard below the chapel of Mons Meg for the dogs of the officers. Little headstones with names like "Tinker" and "Scamp". Such easily overlooked things that speak more to me about the people who lived there than do cannon or great halls. After Edinburgh Castle, we meandered down the St. Giles Cathedral. There is a chapel dedicated to the only chivalric order in Scotland in there, the Knights of the Thistle. They also have the largest pipe organ I have ever seen in my life, reaching straight to heaven or so it seemed. I wish I could have heard it play, I'm sure it was something very special and memorable to hear. What dazzled me more was the plethora of fresh daffodils all around the church for Easter services. Spring seemed to have sprung inside the church, and for all of the neo-Gothic loveliness, I was equally taken with the fresh yellow flowers in their simple pots strewn about the church. As if we hadn't seen enough, we went to see the National Museum just a few blocks over. Wow, we were tired by then. Eyes starting to glaze over a bit. There is such a thing as saturation, when your senses have taken in so much in a short time that your brain really can't take much more. Well, we'd almost reached our daily limit I feel. I have to say that the prehistoric, Pictish, and early Roman artifacts are extremely interesting. I had forgotten that the Romans had come into Scotland, and had built settlements on the southern half of the country. Pictish artifacts were found out on many of the islands such as Islay and the Orkneys. I couldn't help myself, had to take pics of the fertility amulets and votives lol There were torques, bracelets, brooches, a hood, dishes, even remnants of shoes. Old arrowheads, a stone arm guard for an archer, a horse's armor. The Bank of Scotland chest with fifteen locks in the lid just boggled my mind. That evening, we visited a few pubs in the Grassmarket area that played live music. Wow, that's one busy pub scene. Crowded, one has to push to the bar. I did find out that due to my dieting, I can really only handle two pints anymore. I got full! Darn those calories.

The next day, we bid adieu to Latif and headed out to Glencoe. We stopped on the way at Stirling, stronghold of Robert the Bruce. Site of the battle at Bannockburn where he defeated the English. Childhood home of the young Mary Queen of Scots. Clouds wash over the green hills. There was a strong breeze carrying the scent of fresh rain. Yeah, I liked it there. Robert Bruce is really seen as the hero of that time, and William Wallace seems to considered more of a secondary figure.

I could give you a play by play of the rest of the trip, but I'd actually prefer that you check out my Facebook photos. They kind of tell the story better than I could. It's got a special place in my heart. I would go back in a heartbeat if given the opportunity.