A Spiritual Day and A Day to Say Good-Bye

08-05-09 Friday





Alas, it is our final full day in Scotland! We again have our Scottish breakfast in the member’s only dining room and then check out of the remarkable Royal Scots Club (it is my favorite but CG says he prefers the Marmalade). We are off to Rosslyn Chapel, the historical site where mystery surrounds the Knights Templar carvings and is featured in “The Da Vinci Code.”

Renovation at Rosslyn Chapel

Stepping inside the small chapel (compared to the others we have visited), I actually gasp at the exquisite site before me. It appears that nearly every single inch of the two-story Scottish sandstone room is carved into intricate designs. I am mesmerized as we walk around and I think CG is just as taken with the splendor of the chapel. We marvel at the elaborate craftsmanship of the “Apprentice” or “Prentice” column and I am duly intrigued by the mysterious “maize” arch over one of the stained glass windows (maize is a new world crop not known to Europe at the time the chapel was built). And, even though it is being renovated, we can still see how truly spectacular the Rosslyn Chapel was and still is.

  



(Inside pictures weren't allowed)



 At this point in our journey, we only have time to visit one last site before heading to Glasgow for our final evening. Should we take the two hour drive down to the English border and then back up to our hotel which would be almost another two hours to the city proper (and then across the capital city through traffic to the airport hotel) to see a portion of the Roman built Hadrian’s Wall? Or should we go off tour-note and head to Melrose Abbey, a site M and I had discovered but had not had the chance to go in to. It is only an hour away and then the drive would only be about two hours to the airport hotel. We decide to visit the abbey and head back towards the Eastern Coast and the North Sea.

The sunshine on this last day in Scotland bathes the abbey ruins in sunshine as we pull up and park the car. On my last trip here I seem to remember the gothic-style cathedral as being dark and almost foreboding in the gloom of the day but here, now, it is breathtaking. After picking up our now familiar audio-tour gear, we leisurely stroll about the lawns and crumbling foundations and try to picture the 14th century monks as they must have prayed, lived and carried out their daily duties in the expanse of buildings. My thoughts turn to my favorite medieval monk-sleuth, Brother Cadfael, and I can picture just how he might have fit into this magnificent abbey.

   

 

  

We find the memorial stone where the heart of Robert the Bruce is buried, and then turn back towards the gift shop where, after returning our handheld audio devices, I see CG admiring a heavy metal horse-mounted knight. CG says it is too expensive as he picks it up and puts it down (twice). But I see the desire in his eyes – it is one of the only things he has actually wanted to buy for himself on the trip – and I pick it up with a few other things I have in my hand and purchase it for him as a thank you. He is quite pleased as it reminds him greatly of his World of Warcraft paladin.

Once we hit the outskirts of Glasgow we soon realize that we have entered into the snarl of rush-hour traffic. With the stop and go of the traffic, it takes us more than twice as long as it normally would have to finally exit off of the motorway and find the Thomas Cook where we are to drop off our Volvo. CG mentions the low tire as the clerk checks the car out (the missing mirror reflector is not noted) and we tumble into a shuttle bus to the airport Ramada. As we are leaving the lot, we see a group of American tourists chortling and taking pictures of their (upgraded) rental car – a small SUV and CG and I smile at each other. They will learn!

I’ll have to say that the room at the Ramada is rather interesting. After plopping myself down on the bed, I notice that I have sunk into a slight depression and I slyly claim the other side as mine (CG actually doesn’t mind, it turns out and my cleverness is lost). Second, after trying to turn the lights on in the room and only being able to get a few to work, we visit the desk clerk again for instructions (we thought we had bad circuit). We return to the room and thankfully CG is able to place the card in the card reader on the wall to get the rest of the lights in the room to work. Lastly, and perhaps most noteworthy, instead of curtains over the window, CG is able to move the mirrored section over to cover the window to make a half-mirrored wall (talk about 70’s décor!).

After paying for a very slow internet connection (remember, CG has carted his laptop throughout the trip without being able to access the internet because of the power supply socket), we decide to head downstairs to the dining area for dinner. CG opts for the pizza and I choose the chicken (sadly, our favorite isn’t offered on this menu) and, after finishing, we offer a toast to each other - CG with a wee dram of Famous Grouse scotch (seen at all of the pubs we have tarried at) and me with a glass of delicious Malbec. We smile contentedly and agree that we have definitely had an amazing and incredible trip.

  

Lovely Edinburgh

07-05-09 Thursday

 After a wonderful night of sleep we are ready for our daily full Scottish breakfast. We have to enter the member’s only area of the club to eat (which is down the stairs, through the pub and then up the stairs next door) and are seated at a table with a white linen table-cloth and gold etched china. The dining room and food are certainly posh and I enjoy myself immensely (CG, on the other hand, thinks it is way too stuffy and is anxious to be on our way)!

We find the car park described in P’s tour notes (£16 per 24 hours) and leave the car to explore my favorite city on foot. The day is beautifully sunny, however, there is a reason that there isn’t a cloud in the sky – near gale force winds are whipping everything and everyone about! Since our destination is Edinburgh Castle, well away from where we are at, we hail a taxi at the Balmoral Hotel (a right sturdy tank of a car that reminds me of a 1940’s vehicle) and are soon ceremoniously dropped off in front of the castle gate (now that’s service!).

Using the last day of our three day Explorer Pass, CG and I enjoy our tour of Edinburgh Castle. We admire Mons Meg (one of the world’s oldest siege guns), are charmed by the Honours of Scotland (the Scottish Crown Jewels) and the actual Stone of Destiny where so many kings and queens were crowned, and are by and large quite impressed with the beautiful hilltop fortress. Too bad I am nearly blown away from the wind and CG has to grab me at the top of one cobbled walkway!

Exiting the castle, the Royal Mile entices us back onto the street and into pedestrian traffic towards the end at the bottom of the hill, Holyrood Abbey, where the British Royalty often stayed (and still does). We journey into the stunning St. Giles Cathedral, and after exiting, we are drawn to a street vendor who is handing out flyers to tour (among other sites) The Real Mary King’s Close, purported to be one of the most haunted places in Scotland.

The tour of the underground 16th and 17th century “city” is quite interesting and we learn that hundreds of people died when the plague swept through Edinburgh in 1645. The name is a misnomer as the tour actually includes two other closes (Allans Close and Stewart’s Close). I am amazed at the living conditions that many inhabitants faced while living in the bleak seven-storied tenement houses (the wealthier you were, the higher up you lived due to the practice of throwing the contents of your chamber pot out the window at two precise times of the day). Alas, no ghosts are spotted (or heard) and CG and I are soon top side again.

I am delighted when we stop in at The World’s End Tavern for lunch (I had just passed by it last time and was quite curious as to what it was like inside) where brass markings outside indicate where the old wall stood and signified the end or edge of Old Edinburgh. Both CG and I order the delicious steak and mushroom pie and I declare that this is my favorite pub of the trip!

 

We follow our feet down the hill and are captivated by the street side museum about the history of Edinburgh and best of all, it is free of charge.

We have popped in and out of gifts shops on our way down the cobbled hill and are somewhat souvenir-laden when we finally make it down to Holyrood Abbey. After almost getting squashed by a fire truck while crossing the street (look right, not left!), we enter the abbey gift shop, but decide to forego the tour (CG’s opinion is that the palace would be much the same as Scoon) so we head back up the hill towards a very old cemetery M and I had walked through when we had been here. However, CG and I completely miss it (and, well, I am sure my memory isn’t what it used to be either) and we end back up on Princes Street near the Walter Scott Memorial and Princes Street Gardens.

Our feet are complaining a bit so we steer towards the National Galleries of Scotland so we can rest them a little before climbing the rest of the hill (and then down a wee bit on the other side) to our hotel. We are pleasantly surprised to find out that Scotland supports their arts, and the admission is free to the extraordinary collection inside. Once indoors (and out of the wind) we both find ourselves marveling at the wall size paintings of Rembrandt, Titian, Da Vinci, Ruben, Botticelli, Poussin, Raphael, Degas, Gainsborough, Monet, Gaugin, and Singer Sargent, as well as the Greek and Roman busts and antique statuary exhibited in the spacious rooms. Thoroughly engrossed in the magnificence of these historical artists we are surprised (and a little disappointed) when it is announced that the museum is to close for the day.

It has been a beautiful day, all in all weather-wise. The near gale force wind has finally died down so we have been able to enjoy a wee window of splendid sunshine while we toured Old Edinburgh.

Not getting the rest we had planned on, and sorely wanting to catch all we didn’t see last night, we step back onto Rose Street, and we have a quick nip in the magnificent 1930’s inspired Dome Bar (once a bank like The Standing Order but much more opulent). After finishing our drinks at the neon-lit bar, CG chooses the next pub stop for the evening – Robertson’s 37, which feels more like a neighborhood pub instead of the counter-culture one I had chosen the night before (but oh the adventure!).

Still not quite ready to call it a day and ravenous from our travels, we head back towards the other end of Rose Street where we dine upstairs at the alternative restaurant from last night – The Auld Hundred. Again, steak and mushroom pie is our choice, and we tell ourselves that we are sampling them all to decide on the best but, truly, the dish in of itself is quite tasty!

Darkness is setting in now and a nap sounds delightful before we set out again – we are planning on taking the hour and a half haunted nighttime tour of Mary King’s Close which will start a little after 8:30 in the evening. We wobble back to the car park where we had parked the Volvo many hours ago (it seems to be on the other side of the city!), then back to the Royal Scots Club, and we pick up our key from the desk clerk.

Making my legs go up the four flights of stairs is somewhat of a challenge but I am successful, and I collapse onto the bed as CG heads into the bathroom and draws a nice, hot bath. Afterwards, he remarks to me that the water had seemed to have a greenish-brown tint. I had taken my very hot bath the night before and hadn’t noticed any discoloration, and we mark it up to the ancient plumbing or the dim lighting of the building. The hot baths had been fabulous and very well received!

A few hours later, groggy from our nap and the drone of the TV, CG and I decide to forego the haunted tour and climb into bed for the night. It has been a completely amazing day!

A Stirling View

The Ramada Javis (Perth)

06-05-09 Wednesday

After waking up every two hours to prop my arm up on the pillow, CG and I are both up early to await the phone call from the surgeon. The phone rings - the doctor tells me that the elbow isn’t fractured after all. He suggests I get it checked out again when I get home and tells me I could come into the clinic at noon to get some pain medication. I decline as I want to get back on the road again, relieved that I won’t be incapacitated in fiberglass for the rest of the trip, and willing to manage the ache with elevation and ibuphrophen.

We head down to where FI greets us one last time (“Good Morning, dearies!” How’s that arm?), and then are out the door to pack the car. CG notices that the rear left tire is going flat but it doesn’t damper our spirits and we agree to look for the next petrol station to air it up (we end up stopping more than a few times to air it up to full pressure but it never seems to get lower than half-way).

We can see Stirling Castle long before we arrive in the town of Stirling, and we use it as our directional point as CG expertly pilots the car through the round-abouts and stretches of busy streets.

Situated at the top of the highest hill we are able to forego the trudge up the hill by finding one of the last remaining parking spots in the castle car park. The castle looms above us as we enter the small courtyard of the gift shop where we rent audio-tour gear, and are then allowed in through the main gate of a castle for the second time today by virtue of our Historic Scotland Explorer Passes, which we had purchased a few days before.

 

A portion of a tapestry in the "Hunt for the Unicorn" Series



We tour the grounds and each distinct building as a fine gentle rain sets in (surprise!). CG is disappointed that the Palace is closed due to renovation but we do get to see the Great Hall (which had been closed for the same reason when I had last visited), as well as a small Highland Regiment military museum. I find it fascinating that Stirling Castle had been the site of several coronations, including that of Mary, Queen of Scots, and the fact the she spent much time there while she ruled Scotland, but I am soon ready to leave to explore some more.

After going back through the main arch to the car park, we are struck by the misty beauty of the Wallace Monument in the distance amid the pastoral countryside. That is to be our next destination and shouldn’t be too hard to find!



The Wallace Monument



Once we cross the infamous Stirling Bridge where William Wallace actually fought the famous battle at, CG points the car in the direction of the church steeple-like memorial. Sadly, however, the Scottish roads can be fairly confusing, even with a larger-than-life compass point. We do have a little trouble finding the road up to the monument but aren’t too concerned as we are hoping the rain has finally ended.

CG parks the car and we head into the gift shop to purchase our tickets and grab a quick bite to eat in the cafeteria. Hopping aboard the shuttle bus, we travel up the steep hill to the top where the slender stone spire is standing. We take the narrow spiral staircase to the first floor where, displayed in a glass case, is William Wallace’s broadsword.

We are astonished at the length of the sword - at 5’6” it towers over me and we are in awe at just how tall this infamous renegade was. After discovering that there are a total of 246 stone steps to the narrow spiral staircase, I tell CG to go ahead without me as I know I would find it difficult to traverse the climb up and then the descent in my hampered state. CG disappears up the steps with the camera and I head back down to the gift shop where I peruse the fine tourist wares.

Soon CG appears behind me, breathless from the descent, and we head back outside into the mist. He tries to show me the wonderful pictures that he took of the meandering river and green countryside from the stone veranda at the top, but the camera screen is much too small to see the gorgeous detail – I will have to wait to see what I missed!

We decide not to take the shuttle bus down to the car park and, instead, choose a path that curves towards some picnic tables overlooking Stirling. We are deep in conversation as we wander down the trail and through the bracken and meadows upon meadows of Scottish Bluebells.

Bluebells

At one point we come to a fork in the path. Our compass point, the stone spire, has long disappeared behind the trees so we opt to stay on the trail we have been travelling on since it, of the two, continues to head downhill. Finally, the trail levels out and it merges into a larger trail which seems to head towards the road. The rain is starting to fall (again) but we aren’t worried as we believe that we will come out just to the left of the car park.

"Singin' in the Rain..."

Emerging from the trees, we have to step over a gate to get to the road. There is no car park in sight and, more disappointingly, the monument cannot be spotted on the hill behind us. CG and I have a discussion on which way to head down the busy two-lane road to get back to the car. Since I seem to be a bit more confident (i.e. persuasive perhaps?), we start walking down the sidewalk to the right (my thinking here, of course, was the direction we had appeared to travel down the hill was that the sunlight behind the clouds had been to our right, and we needed to backtrack a ways. It is in no way indicative of my superior navigational skills…although I do pride myself on not getting lost often).

The rain has turned into a downpour by now and our pants are soaked from the splash back of the passing cars. Somewhat jovially, I tell CG how romantic and adventurous it is to be lost in the rain in Scotland but he does not seem to hold quite the same esteem for our location in the showers as I do (he isn’t upset – just wet). I talk him into stopping at a tile company across the street with the promise I will go in to ask for directions. I am told by the tile employee that, yes unfortunately the trail is poorly marked from the monument and we had actually hiked to the opposite side of the hill. It seems we could have chosen left or right from the bottom of the trail head to get back to the car as it was about an equal distance around to the front (so we were both right – lol).



That little blue dot is My Knight...



We finally trudge up the hill towards the car and, somewhat winded, wet and perhaps a wee bit whiny, I sit down on a stone wall while CG books it up the rest of the hill to the car. He soon appears and I get in – happy to be somewhere dry and on our way again!

The rain has not stopped as we finally travel across the Forth Road Bridge towards Edinburgh. The city looks alarmingly large on the map and I hope that the directions from P’s tour notes are sufficient to get us to our hotel for the evening. We do know that we should be heading somewhere near Old Edinburgh so we both watch for signs directing us off the wide motorway onto smaller ones until we reach the streets of the city. After stopping to refer to our maps again we finally find Queen Street where the stately two-storied Royal Scots Club sits. I had been looking forward to this hotel from the time I had received the tour notes as it had been noted as being “5-Star Lodging” and I was anxious to be pampered.

I am not disappointed. From the moment we walk in to the lobby and are handed the key by the desk clerk, to the time we climb the four spiral flights of marble stairs bordered by brass railings, to the time CG opens the door of the most opulent room I have ever stayed in, I am entranced. The blue carpet is plush, the king size bed is framed by heavy blue drapes at the wall, the antique furniture is polished and the bathroom is the size of a small office (complete with a bidet and deep tub). I feel like I am in a museum or one of the castle rooms we had just toured through. CG chuckles as I dance around goofily from bedroom to bathroom to alcove, poking in doors and drawers and touching the blue brocade of the drapes on the windows and the heavy coverlet on the bed.

Finally calm but still smiling widely, I watch from the window as CG heads outside to smoke a cigarette and I admire the view of the street and of the city over the tops of the trees opposite me. The room’s windows overlook the Queen’s Street Gardens open only by purchasing a key of some kind to unlock the locks at each gate. CG adds this as an afterthought when he returns - his initial message was that he had just received a parking ticket – it seems as though parking is free after 6:30 and the Edinburgh parking patrol had spotted the Volvo there a mere 7 minutes early. Ah well.

It is still somewhat early in the evening rush hour, and, after having to leave our “skeleton” key (each room only has one key – we will pick it up again upon arrival) with the desk clerk and not willing to brave the traffic via car, we head out on foot towards Georgian-era New Town Edinburgh. We stroll a ways up and down Hanover Street, dodging a myriad of buses and cars, and then duck onto a quiet pedestrian street called Rose Street. We discover that there are many shops, now closed for the day, as well as pubs that line this out of the way road and we enjoy the ambiance of it all. We decide to sample one of the pubs and head towards one that had caught my attention earlier called The Black Rose.

Picture from the Black Rose site

http://www.blackrosetavern.com/webcam.php  www.blackrosetavern.com

The first thing that tips us off that we are in a Goth bar are the dark walls peppered with what look like Halloween decorations. Undaunted, we gamely take a seat at the bar and realize we are probably the oldest clientele there. No matter – the Guinness and scotch taste the same in any pub and we don’t tarry long as we are on the lookout for a quieter place to eat anyway. Not too far away we find The Standing Order. We are trying to decide between that and another restaurant nearby when a very friendly woman comes down the steps and starts chatting with CG. As she puffs on her cigarette she tells us that The Standing Order has really great food for a great price, so our decision is made! (She also tells us we need to stop in at The Dome, at least for a cocktail, as it is well-known as the best fine dining in Edinburgh. It’s odd that a friendly chap who had been passing by while we were searching earlier for somewhere to eat had also recommended it. We must check it out!).

Formerly a branch of the Bank of Scotland and recently turned into an eating establishment, The Standing Order is full to the max with people. CG and I spot an open table by a window near the front and we take our seats. I order cottage pie (sounds a lot like Mom’s Shepard’s pie) and a Pimm’s with lemonade, and CG orders a burger and a beer. The food is good, the prices are great and we leave to go back to our expansive king-size bed, completely sated with adventure and food for the day.

Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhh