Okay, Brain, stop getting irritated about the fact that these posts aren't in chronological order.
It is what it is.
Breathe.
This post is made up of the rest of the pictures on my phone, which (for this individual post, at least) are actually in chronological order! Just because some of these stories were covered in my last post doesn't mean I need to go nuts over the disorder, right?
Right.
Breathe.
So, the flight over to Edinburgh from London was a little nerve-wracking. I already mentioned the middle-of-the-night dash through London to get to the train station, and although we got to the airport and onto the plane smoothly, the flight was pretty turbulent. It was so windy that after the pilot tried landing once (and jolted everyone pretty sharply), he pulled back up and circled around to try again.
Second time was successful, something that made me pretty relieved.
I don't know if it's part of getting older or having children, or what, but I feel like I have to fight far more fears on a regular basis than I used to. The turbulence wasn't really all that bad, but I was praying hard and wishing I had sent my kids a video of me telling them that I loved them, you know, just in case.
I'm a wimp.
Once we got into Edinburgh airport, I made Steve take a picture of me in front of the sign--
After which I took a picture of him.
I must have just been inspired that I would want all of the memories I could get of this beautiful city.
Another shot of our hotel room:
Steve in front of the Mercat (a place where Grand Proclamations are still made after royal births occur):
In our very first close!
Listening to William, our tour guide:
He had some awesome stories.
Including one about the parking spot 23 in the parking lot next to the government building.
No joke, this is a grave. Of a very well-known and influential Scotsman who was a major figure in one of the religious reformations.
And they turned it into a parking lot.
No wonder we loved Scotland, with stories like this!
Another shot in front of Edinburgh Castle:
It was FREEZING. We hadn't bought our winter gear yet, so we were chilly.
Inside Edinburgh Castle:
I love the details--this is from the marriage of King James (of Scotland) to Mary (of England)...I'm probably getting the names wrong.
One of the other Americans in our group scoffed, "Yeah, well, our national animal is a bird that eats dead fish."
I guess we just didn't feel like we had to prove anything.
This was a diagram of Scotland's royal line. All during our tours of England, I had wanted just a picture or map of the royal line so I could figure out who was who....
I realized it doesn't really actually help that much, because it's still darn confusing.
Me standing next to a MASSIVE cannon that was a wedding present (I think for James and Mary?).
It's only been fired twice--first after the announcement of a royal birth, when the reverberation from such a huge blast nearly knocked the castle walls down. The people all agreed that they should never shoot that cannon again, but didn't write that decision down.
Two hundred years later, they shot the cannon again (again, for a ceremonial celebration), and this time they wrote down that it probably wasn't a good idea to use this cannon. Ever since, it's been a decoration.
On the steps:
It's funny to me that I don't have as many pictures of Edinburgh as I do of Paris and London, probably because we didn't spend as much time seeing the iconic touristy places and spent more time just wandering.
I loved it.
This little gem is a tribute to the over 3,000 people killed during the witch hunts over the course of not very much time...my creepy face is to show that I sympathize with the witches.
If someone accused you of being a witch at this time, there was only one way to test if a person was really a witch or not--throw them in the loch (which was more of a sewage runoff area than any real water). If they floated, they were a witch, because witches are (scientifically speaking) lighter than regular people. If they sank, they weren't a witch but probably would drown, which was too bad for them.
Sounds pretty foolproof to me.
In front of the Highland St. John's Church, which was built directly across from (and taller than) St. Gile's Cathedral. St. Gile's was older, but the people who branched off and built their own church built it taller so they could say that they were closer to heaven.
Joke's on them--it's a cafe now.
We also ate at Deacon Brodie's Tavern, named after the man who inspired Robert Louis Stevenson to write Jekyll and Hyde. Deacon Brodie was a prominent citizen with a family by day, who by night was a consummate gambler, womanizer, and thief.
After he was caught, he was hung on the gallows he himself had built.
Talk about irony!
The food was good, too--we basically ordered a plate of meat and shared it. Haggis, steak, pork, chicken, eggs, sausage, and a side of mashed potatoes. Also, peas. Because we're healthy like that.
Waiting for our "free" ghost tour:
Where we learned about Twice-Hanged Maggie (who of course now has a pub named after her):
She was sentenced to death, and hung by the neck for 30 minutes. Her family had gathered up her body, placed it in the coffin, and stopped for a drink at a pub when they heard noise coming from the coffin. They went out, opened it, and realized that she was still alive!
They took her back to be hung again (not much familial loyalty there, in my opinion), when a lawyer spoke up and said that she'd already carried out her sentence, which was to be hung by the neck for 30 minutes, not until dead.
Ever since, it's said that she lived above this tavern and when others would come to be hung at the gallows, she would lean out the window and shout, "Don't worry! It's not that bad!"
Face Timing with the kids was a LIFESAVER. I'm grateful for technology.
Leaving your children when they're this age is such a sweet torture--it was wonderful to be on this trip but I missed my children every minute, and any time I'd see someone else with their kids, it made me just ache.
Shot from the hotel window--it's so fun to look out and just realize that you're half a world away from home!
Remember when I wrote about Greyfriar's Bobby?
Here's the statue of him!
You'll notice his nose is gold--that's because he's apparently a good luck charm, and rubbing his nose will bring you luck.
Maybe that's why we had so much fun in Edinburg!
He also has a pub named after him:
Of course.
Another tombstone--I want to see if there's any way I can track our MacKenzie line back to these people whose graves we saw!
Steve looking at a possible ancestor's grave.
The door of the tomb of Bluidy MacKenzie!
Standing near the Flodden Wall--this wall was originally the border of the entire city of Edinburgh, and in this one square mile lived upwards of 50,000 people! It was not a pleasant place to be.
Hence the nickname "Old Reikie," because of the smell.
You'll also notice the building in the background, behind the wall--it's a boarding school where the children are sorted into four different houses (located in the four different towers) for the year. This is widely regarded (and confirmed, I think), as J.K. Rowling's inspiration for Hogwarts.
Aren't these trees just lovely?
I also found the grave for John Watson!
Spring in the U.K. is just lovely. You should try it sometime.
We also got to see Edinburgh's own Walk of Fame, and I snapped a picture of J.K. Rowling's handprints.
Mostly because our tour guide told us to.
But also because I'm a geek.
Dove also told us some fun details that I never would have noticed on my own.
For example, a medieval version of a burglar alarm was to create a "trip step"--one of the steps in your home would be only an inch wide or so, and because of your own familiarity with your home, you wouldn't miss the step, but anyone who was an intruder would trip, fall, and either break their neck (the stairs are pretty steep) or make enough noise to wake you.
Clever, huh?
I also saw Tom Riddle's grave!
According to the tour guide, the Riddles were a boring, law-abiding family. But now their name is infamous.
Also with MacGonagall's grave:
Here is the tombstone for Greyfriar's Bobby--you'll notice the sticks at the tombstone. Apparently people also bring newspapers, dog treats, and collars.
I didn't grab too many more pictures, but I would LOVE to go back to Edinburgh. Steve already did the research, and nurses don't make a ton in Edinburgh, but who knows? Anything can happen!
Comments