Europe Trip: Edinburgh and Those...Colorful...Scots

We arrived in Edinburgh just in time to sneak the car into return the car to the rental garage a l-ee-tle bit late, then we set out on foot to find cheap lodgings. We ended up at a guesthouse run by a completely Scottish great-grandma (I mean, I didn't ask her for DNA proof, but she was everything you would picture a Scottish great-grandma being. I could hardly understand her when she spoke).

For some reason, seeing Jeremy in a frilly pink room sipping tea from a tiny cup was amusing to me.

We relaxed in the pink room a bit, then headed out on the town to find some dinner.

We were struck with the gloomy, brooding beauty of Edinburgh. The medieval buildings were tall, in fact our guidebook said people came there to see the "skyscrapers" of the day. Edinburgh used to be called "Auld Reekie" because it was built in a lake bed that was filled with raw sewage (and people practiced "gardy loo"--throwing their human waste out the windows onto the sidewalk below, yelling "gardy loo" which means "watch out for the toilet contents I will now throw out the window.") One museum we went to, called Gladstone's Land (land means apartment) had an attachement for women's shoes that raised them up above the *stuff* on the sidewalk so their shoes and hems wouldn't get *dirty*.

We ended up at a pub called Ensign Ewart's that was right by the castle. If we had realized (in the dark) that it was right by the castle, I don't think we would have gone because that would have been a big tourist trap warning, but we didn't so we went. It was kind of in a basement and dark and crowded and had people in it that looked like the ones behind Jeremy in this picture:
which is what I expected Edinburgh-ans to look like (mohawks and tatoos and all gothic-y). That's actually the only reason I took the picture of Jeremy--to get them in the background...aren't I sneaky? The food was pretty bad. After dinner, we got to see the wild side of Edinburgh, since it was Saturday night. It was pretty wild--lots of beer and whisky (which everyone seemed to take pride in--the Scots seem known for their drinking, it was refered to all the time on tours). We also saw more memorials to reformers and information about what sort of torture or punishment happened at different spots. There were lots of dungeon tours being advertised. The Scots seem to embrace that part of their history as well, or maybe they are smart business people who embrace the money that is to be made by tourists. It was an interesting place to people-watch, that's for sure.

The next morning, after full Scottish breakfast (I know the Scots probably don't think so, but to us, the only thing different than full English breakfast was the name. Sorry.) we headed off to Edinburgh Castle.

The castle was built on top of an extinct volcano. It overlooks the city and is really cool. We got a very interesting and fiesty tour guide and Jeremy actually wanted to stay for the end of the tour when I was ready to bail, which proves that she was interesting.

Jeremy and William Wallace (a.k.a. Braveheart). The Scots have a long history of trying to retain their identity as a people...it made a lot of the history very interesting.

Evidence of the castle being built on a volcano

Along with being beer-drinkers, the Scots are known for being tight with their money, so even though other castles in Great Britain would shoot 12 cannon blasts at noon every day, the soldiers at Edinburgh castle cleverly decided to shoot 1 blast at 1.

The water in the distance is the Firth of Forth. Or maybe the Forth of Firth. I get confused. But it is by the Kingdom of Fife.

Cemetery for soldiers' dogs

Cool room decorated with weapons. The picture doesn't really do it justice.

Heading down to the dungeons and jail cells. We learned about how prisoners were treated, and how punishments were usually physical and public--jail was just the holding place until punishment was given.

American prisoners during the revolution were treated worse than other prisoners of war--they were treated the same as pirates or traitors. On this old door there is an etching of an early American flag done by a revolutionary war soldier.

Another enterprising Scot. Take a picture with Braveheart, the money goes to "a charity for children." Hmm.

We explored some more, walking down the Royal Mile, eating doner/falafel, and reading from the guide book (well, I was...Jeremy was done with it at that point, I think).

Those people walked into my pretty picture. Hmph.

We went to the Palace of Holyroodhouse at the bottom of the Royal Mile (pretty much only because we had our British Heritage Passes to use and I liked the name of it). It was pretty standard palace stuff, but there were some interesting stories about Mary Queen of Scots that happened there that made me want to learn more about her.

The original "talk to the hand."

The tour was on audio guides so it was funny to see everyone standing around like they were on the phone everywhere.

I took this picture to give my boys more ideas for funny faces.

After the palace, we walked by the Bowling Club (lawn bowling). I went in to see if we could play or watch and an old man explained to me that the season had ended Oct. 2nd so if we had come yesterday he would have shown me but since it was Oct. 3rd, no one could play. Did I mention that people in the U.K. are really into tradition?

That night, we had plans to meet some MOPS leaders for church and curry afterward. When I asked our Scottish hostess how to get to the community where the church was located, she acted shocked and offended and in her thick Scottish brogue she said, "Why would you be wanting to go to Westerhailes? No one goes to Westerhailes. Except the drug addicts and prostitutes. You'll have to hold your bags while you are there, aye. No, you shouldn't be going to Westerhailes. Why are you going? To church, oh, I'll find you a church here" and refused to tell us what bus to take. We figured out the buses, and while we were waiting, Jeremy found me a bagpipe player. I simply wanted a picture with him, but I got more than I bargained for.

"Can I take my picture with you?" "Oh, you want me to play it?" "Okay, you'll wipe the mouthpiece off with a dingy wet-wipe?" "Oh, I see, you're blind."

"Okay, this is where I put my fingers"

The first attempt

The result: the sound of a goat being strangled

There goes my bus...too bad, I was really catching on.

We found the church and met our new friends. It was nice to go to a church that was alive, not just an empty historic building. The church was nice and no one tried to grab my bag, but later we learned that the area was known for it's drugs and illegal activity, and that the church was doing a lot to reach out in the community. We went out with the MOPS gang afterward and really enjoyed their company. The conversation was lively and challenging, bouncing from MOPS, to marriage, to life, to history, interspersed with lots of laughing. I left being reminded what a great outreach MOPS is and that I shouldn't forget to enjoy being a mom...or I should say, mum.

It was good to have spent some time with real people, and it gave Jeremy and I new things to talk about...it had kind of seemed like we had run out of topics (Thanks for providing some entertainment (and much much more), Penni and Stuart and Kirsty and Allie).

The next day, we explored some more...the weather was great, which everyone assured us was highly unusual. We went to an art museum and a lame Georgian House. We found Edinburgh's version of the soup Nazi...a cool sandwich shop called "Snax" that was filled with locals and caused me some stress while ordering (I was thrown off by the baked potato toppings...I mean the sign said "Cold toppings: Chicken curry, sandwich ingredients/Hot toppings: macaroni and cheese, chili (and I didn't trust the British version of chili for some reason, and mac n cheese or cold curry didn't sound good on a potato)).

The proper Scottish guesthouse; the husband who didn't get out of the picture in time.

The charming dining room--I loved the decor!

We ended our day at the airport, sampling Scottish whisky (and being glad we never ordered any in a restaurant "for the Scottish experience"), spending our last pounds in preparation for Euros, and learning of travel warnings in the countries we were visiting. I felt uneasy, and maybe should have taken it as a foreshadowing of our impending travel nightmare...

Next Stop: MUNICH.