Edinburgh ~ An Afternoon Stroll

This many review blogs and we have not put our heads on our pillows yet! As we set out to take a stroll through the town, it was around 2 pm. Sunset was to be around 5 pm, so we covered a lot of territory before that time! Enjoy a little bit of Edinburgh with us!

The kids had to be tired, but with only 10 minutes in their rooms, they somehow got their second wind! 

The Edinburgh "pink bus' is the city bus.

Clock Tower. It does not show here, but this is one of the main towers you can see along the skyline. It is atop the Blamoral Hotel, which dates way on back and was the location people got to first when they came in by train. 

Greyfriar's Bobby. You saw the Disney movie, right? It is the story of a dog who loved his master so much that when the master died, the dog laid on his grave for years and years. Photo one is the grave...shopkeepers fed the dog, as the legend goes. The statue of the dog sits atop the column in photo two. Greyfriars Kirk....that is a church....and it has  a really cool graveyard next to it. I have not run across very great photos just yet as the light was low when we arrived.

Saint Mary's Cathedral. This is right across the plaza from the Big Foot statue.

University of Edinburgh School of Divinity - the Gothic structure was designed by William Playfair, a central figure in Edinburgh's Enlightenment.  

It is not often that you see a multi story building with a light house on the windowsill. This is the main offices for the Northern Lighthouse Board and this is a model of the Bell Rock Lighthouse.

Don't know where this is but it surely is pretty!  I am continually amazed that it looked so much like Spring...but it was the first week of January. 

The chimney pots on top of the buildings were a fascination. It was an incredible scene when we ran across a block of townhomes. Each fireplace has its own chimney pot on the roof. Some of these homes have a fireplace in every room. That is a LOT of ashes!

Next up....we stopped by some famous pubs. Now keep in mind that pub means PUBlic place...like a place to meet and eat. It is like our Chili's or Mac Grill, Carabbas, etc. A lot of these places have been around for more than a century and were meeting places for lots of pretty famous people, so it was fun to take a look at where some of our writers recorded their inspirations.

The Royal Pub dates back to 1827 and is famous for its stunning interior. This one is mostly Victorian and Baroque. It has elegant stained glass, exquisite Victorian plasterwork and an irreplacable Doulton ceramic mural painted by John Eyre.  

Over the years, the Cafe Royale has changed hands many times but everyone saved the interior. Only one owner, the Grand Metropolitan Hotels was willing to sell...to Woolworth, who wanted to expand their store. The city planning officer voted it down and put the place on the historic register so we could enjoy this beauty for the future. Cafe Royal was also used as a set in many movies.


The Guildford Arms is another famous pub right off of Gabriel's Road and on the corner next to the Cafe Royale. Beautiful as well, it has lovely etching on the windows.

The Guildford Arms started its life in 1841 as a shop, then a hotel.  Over the years there were changes but most took place before the turn of the century (1900.) Before and after 1900 was the 'Golden Age of Scottish Pub Design" and the Guildford is a relatively rare survivor of the time period. In 1898 the Guildford was owned by the Stewart family, who invested well in turning this into an upscale environment, thus saving it from destruction...and the place is still owned and run by D.M. Stewart, Ltd.   (Savannah got some photos of the sign that stated that it was owned by the Stewarts!)

Silhouette....dusk is arriving. This is the ferris wheel....or miniature London Eye.....behind the Sir Walter Scott Monument. The monument is huge and there is a grand statue of Sir Walter Scott at the base of it. You can actually pay to go inside and take photos from the many decks you find on the way to the top. So much to shoot...so little the time.

Check out the profile and see if you recognize this guy. You are not in  DC but yes, this is Abraham Lincoln! This is the Scottish American Soldier's Memorial built for the Scottish soldiers who fought on the Union side in the American Civil War. This stands in the Old Calton Cemetery and is the first monument outside of the USA to an American President. The actual monument is quite large and interesting...we only saw the top as we walked by.

Good ole Duke of Wellington! You find his statue all over the UK! This is known as THE IRON DUKE (Wellington), was cast in Bronze, by the sculptor named Steele.  Recall that the Duke of Wellington led the victory over the French at Waterloo. His horse, Copenhagen, never flinched under gunfire and was retired to the Duke's estate where he died at 29...and buried with full military honors. That was some horse!

We did not see Nessy (the Loch Ness Monster) but meet BIG FOOT.  It is said that most people walk right by and don't even notice this foot....or look at it and chuckle, calling it an oddity. The official name is The Manuscript of Monte Cassino.  You can put the size into perspective with the next photo.

Scotland Tour 2012....atop the Big Foot in Edinburgh.

And now....for a little snack break....Terry introduced them to a SCOTTISH MALL! 

Most unusual store.....Appy Feet....a pedicure shop

But not just ANY plain old pedicure!

The Scottish version of Claire's......accessories galore!

Some kept their priorities in order and tried things like Nutella Crepes.

And others did like we all should have been doing.....POSTCARDS HOME! See the post office behind Deonna?

We also found "Everything's a Pound"......the UK version of Dollar Tree!

As soon as everyone gathered at the entrance, our walk to watch the sunset was underway. Next blog....some of the most beautiful scenery you can imagine!

Watching for Rainbows and Sunsets

On the road again! This blog will take you on the highway between Glasgow and Edinburgh and into our first of three hotels. There was a fair bit of sleeping going on during this two hour or so drive, but those who kept the cameras warm managed to get a few great shot through the bus windows. We may run, walk, stumble, drive or fly, but let us never lose sight of the reason for the journey, or miss a chance to see a rainbow on the way.         Gloria Gaither The rivers had exceeded their banks. The rains stopped the day before we arrived, and we hoped it would stay that way! A home on the river banks. It does not show in the photo, but the kids spotted a rainbow that stretched across the sky. We could see both ends of the bow! A marina with the boats in dry dock....saving them from the raging storms of the past few days. We did not expect to see snow capped mountains! We were optimistic that the roads would be open the day we had a trip scheduled for the countryside. We also did not expect to see green green grass! Almost everything is brown in Florida, but the grass here is soft and wavy. And green because they get a lot of rain all year long! Could it be? This is the Cairn Hotel, Edinburgh! How lovely! The hotel was actually on both sides of the little street. It was a quaint hotel, classified as economy. These are great little places to stay because you get the old world flavor of the city! The management was wonderful and they had a great lobby area for our gatherings. "Way Out" does not mean "groovy." It means Exit. We saw "way out" signs all over the place!  Tired travelers! After 15 minutes to drop our bags in our rooms, we were off for a late afternoon walk and a sunset surprise! No sleeping, even for the weary, until bed time. We always have a plan to beat the jet lag and students who follow our lead survive quite well! (The WORST thing you can to is to take an afternoon snooze!) A view of some of the rooms. The goal is always to snap a photo before dumping our belongings, but that rarely happens! Most European hotels work like this. A double is two twin beds. For a 'couple', they are pushed together. A triple is three twin beds, or two beds and a cot like thing. A quad is four twin bed/combos. If you are really really fortunate, your quad room is bigger than a double room, but there is no square foot requirement according to the number of people. Some of the students fared very nicely! Oh if we had only snapped a shot of the double...for the adults...Imagine a very large closet housing two beds a desk and an armoire (closet). But Mr. Corey won for the single. Imagine a generous bath room with high ceilings, housing a bed, a desk and a closet of sorts. But he had three doors!  All in all it was a great hotel, and even better once we figured out how to turn on the shower and the heat! The hotel staff found us puzzling but they were very helpful! Yea for the Cairn! For some reason everyone is curious about the bathrooms. European toilettes flush differently from ours and almost every one you meet has a different kind of flusher. Most sinks are pedestals, and the tubs are really deep and narrow. Showers are mostly for really short people. Generous space is not considered a necessity to most Europeans, they would call us extremely spoiled....or wasteful. Our bathroom had a towel warmer ...heavenly!  Oops, this photo is out of order and won't move....but look, FIVE beds! Lauren was very pleased that I made an adjustment. This has NEVER happened before! (Five beds...and adjustment) Every room must have a set up for late night or early morning snacks! Scottish Shortbread, Coffee, Tea, and HOT CHOCOLATE. Boy did that pot heat up quickly....and hotly as well! Notice the environmentally friendly glass cups and metal spoons! What good listeners! Ready for that afternoon walk we promised! Brr....evening will be coming on soon and it is going to get chilly when the sun goes down! Joys come from simple and natural things: mists over meadows, sunlight on leaves, the path of the moon over water. Sigrid F. Olsen and for us....a sunset over Edinburgh!

Glasgow Cathedral. REALLY old, rich history.

We are about to enter Glasgow Cathedral. The photos are interesting but certainly do not do it justice. Remember that this building dates back to 1117. That it is even still standing is remarkable in itself! The site dates back much further though. The site was consecrated way back in 397 AD. The original structure dates back t 597 AD when St. Mungo arrived on the scene. He baptized many new Christians and when he died in 603 AD, was buried near his church. Today that area is the basement crypt of this existing church.

An etching I saw on the wall. I couldn't resist snapping it! We entered through the door on the side, next to the steeple. This made us enter in the center of the Nave. 

The building has a dark charcoal look because it is sandstone. Since that is a soft stone, unlike marble, it can not withstand pressure washing. Thankfully things like acid rain are not a problem in Scotland or we would not even have the building here today! The windows are pretty amazing from the outside, but wait until you go inside!

Are you ready?

Entering the Nave from the center and looking toward the altar.  (this is essentially the cross bar of the floor plan, so you don't get the idea how very long this aisle is)

The ceiling height is 105 feet but you still can't get that scale here! Remember that is is only around 10 AM so the full sun is not coming through the windows. They are brilliant but are 'modern' stained glass. Windows throughout the building date from around 1947, they are part of a recent renovation. The windows called "The Creation" were installed in 1958. 

Are you starting to see the scale now? The open timber roof dates back to the 14th Century. Think of it as a ships hull. Glasgow was a center for shipbuilding so the shipbuilding team was called in, essentially created the upside down hull of a ship and used it for a roof. It was very effective, and it is stunning

Through the archway, you can see the pipes of the Cathedral Organ,

Moving through the Cathedral, these are called the Trades House windows, on the south side. During the Reformation, many of the owners of various trades in town saved the Cathedral from the mobs of people who wanted to destroy it. The windows were designed with the Coat of Arms of many different trades in order to thank them for their efforts in saving the Cathedral.

More windows. Each has a story to go with it. As the sun came streaming through, they became more brilliant!

St. Mungo was a pretty special person and brought Christianity to Scotland long before the Reformation. The Crypt was originally the burial ground outside the church (603 AD) but was turned into a basement crypt with the construction of the current building in 1117 AD. The tomb is covered with an elaborately embroidered cloth which has patches that tell a story. It can be viewed from all sides.

The well worn, centuries old steps, that lead down into the Crypt.
It was SO COLD in the building as well!

The wooden doors that lead into the Quire and altar area of the Cathedral. I guess this actually belonged with the photos from upstairs! 

St Mungo's Bell. The bell was made for Tron Kirk in 1637. It had the motto for  the city of Glasgow on it. The motto went like this and changed over time. It was edited down, which makes me think about how so many people want information in 'bullet points.' today. You can tell that I am not a 'bullet point' kind of gal. Read the motto and see if you think it lost something in the editing.

1637
"Lord, let Glasgow flourish through the preaching of Thy Word and praising of Thy Name."

1663                                                                                                                     "Lord, let Glasgow flourish through the preaching of Thy Word"

1699
"Let Glasgow Flourish"

One of many inscriptions found in the crypt.

Back upstairs, the Quire Screen hides the Quire from the Nave. It is the only screen of its kind that is left in a non-monastic church anywhere in Scotland.  It dates from the mid 13th Century. The windows represent the four Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The pews face EAST which was a Reformation worship tradition.

I shot this and do not remember exactly where or why. Perhaps one of the students remembers the location.

The pulpit.

Detail from the pews

Pipes from the Cathedral Organ

The floral arrangement was not this stark, but one of the cameras had a great black and white with a spot of color feature.

And now....enjoy some of the kids!

We did not really figure out what this was. It was downstairs, a well, perhaps?

The Bible does not look incredibly huge in this photo.

Putting it into perspective, it was pretty big!

Reading Scripture at Glasgow Cathedral

We made our own statues in color and black and white throughout the trip

I snagged this somewhere. Isn't she beautiful when lit at night?

Hopefully this visit challenged the kids to spend their lives doing something of eternal value. 

Now, if you want a real treat....check out this site for 360 degree views!
www.panocorner.com/flash/gc_tour/index.html