A Hop, Skip and a Jump...

Good Bye Heart Home...

09-05-09 Saturday


Ah, perhaps it is time to head home. I wake up at 2:45 a.m. and whether it is because of my possible sighing/moaning/name-it, or whether it is because of my restless log roll trying to get comfortable, or even if it is because I am feeling bittersweet about leaving Scotland, I cannot get back to sleep. I turn the TV on to while away the morning hours and groggily try to find something on in this wee hour of the morning. CG wakes, asks if I am ok, and then goes back to sleep when I tell him yes. Finally, to the pleasant drone of British accents on the BBC, I fall asleep at 3:30, only to be re-awakened at 5:00 by the wakeup call placed last night through the front desk (ugh).

We are ready by 5:45 in anticipation of the shuttle at 6:00 and take advantage of the luggage scale in the lobby (thank goodness they are both well under the 50 lb limit – even with the spirited stones!). We are not the only ones on the shuttle this morning (it picks up more passengers the closer we get to the airport), and CG and I sit apart from each in the now crowded cab.

We extricate ourselves, grab our luggage and head inside. After walking nearly the length of the terminal, we realize that our airline’s ticket counter hasn’t opened yet, and we sit down and wait. Finally, as the line grows ahead of us, the lights go on over the KLM counter and we take our place behind the crowd.

After getting our tickets we head towards the gate and, after locating it, we decide to do a little last souvenir shopping, and then grab some breakfast to pass the time before our flight leaves at 8:30. We are pleasantly surprised to find that the airport restaurant we have chosen has our favorite on the menu, and CG has one last full Scottish breakfast while I polish off a bacon/scrambled egg Panini. Then it’s back to Gate 33 where we mill around until our seats are called.

However, when the KLM employee comes out at 8:00, she has some bad news for all of us – due to technical difficulties, the flight from Amsterdam has been turned back and therefore our flight has been cancelled. We all have to be escorted by airport personnel back to reclaim our baggage and then stand in a queue for two hours before we are able to rebook our flight.

By the time we get back to our new gate, we don’t have much time to linger as the flight to Amsterdam leaves at 11:30 and, after landing in the Netherlands, we literally have to run to our next gate to catch our connecting flight to Detroit (instead of returning through Minneapolis). The flight seems doubly long this time and I take advantage of the in-flight movies to watch both Grand Torino (CG also watches that one from his seat) and Hairspray.

The flight home from Detroit seems shorter, but we are still anxious to get off of the airplane and back into the Saab waiting for us in the airport parking lot.

After paying a whopping $99 to leave the airport parking lot, we are home by 10:00 p.m. – some 15 hours and 7 time zones later. AM has left a somewhat frantic message for me to call back so I return her call. Seems as though she thought we were returning the day before, and she had been worried that she hadn’t heard from us. After putting her to ease, I am in bed by midnight and CG, still a bit keyed up and having missed his favorite home activity, plays World of Warcraft until 1:30 a.m.

We are home!

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!