Edinburgh

Bright and early we departed for the city centre in our coach. It was so nice not to have to get the bags downstairs by 7am.

Once again as we entered the city of Edinburgh we just didn’t know which way to look. We have been travelling in the United Kingdom and Ireland for over two weeks and had begun to get used to the incredibly quaint buildings and the age and detail everywhere we have been, but Edinburgh is just another level.

Edinburgh is made of of two distinctive areas. The New Town was developed in an orderly fashion in the 18th century and has many Georgian style buildings. 

The Waverley Vally divides New Town (which is 300 years old) from Old Town which seems to hover over the newer area as it is built on a ridge that runs from Edinburgh Castle down to Holyrood Palace. 

Edinburgh Castle dominates the landscape as it sits above the city on a shear rock face. The Royal Mile runs all the way down to Holyrood Palace however, it is made up of many Streets running end to end beginning with Castlehill , which obviously runs down from the castle, the Lawnmarket, the High Street, the Canongate and Abbey Strand. The narrow lanes and closes that run perpendicular to these streets are contained by tall buildings which were the tallest of that age. They were occupied by merchants and nobles and some are as high as six stories.

Some of these building have been constructed on top of the original house which now appear to be underground. More about that when I cover my visit to The Real Mary kings Close.

These were the times when the slop buckets were emptied onto the street and human and animal waste ran down into the midden. 

It was a time when any woman who was a little ‘different’ or stood out in some way would risk being accused of sorcery. The only way to check whether she really was a witch or not was to tie her up and throw her into the midden. If she managed to survive then she had to be a witch and would be executed. If she died then she obviously was not a witch, but oh dear, she is dead now anyway.

We passed the Grassmarket where between 1660 and 1864 the executions took place. People were taking photos of the spot, but it gave me the shivers thinking of all the poor souls that had died there.

A pub called the Maggie Dickson is located right by where the gallows were situated. In 1724 poor unmarried Maggie fell pregnant. She hid her pregnancy and shortly after the birth the baby was dead, and she was accused of murder. After her hanging her body was taken by cart to be buried however, on the way there she woke up! The law said that a person could not be punished for a crime twice so Maggie got to live to see another day! After that the term ‘Until death’ was added to an execution sentence.

Edinburgh Castle was great, I think that it may be the largest Castle that we have visited on this trip. We were early and had to wait a wee while and it was freezing even though the sun was shining. Waiting in the courtyard that leads to the Castle gate we watch the construction of the seating for the Military tattoo that occurs at the end of July. 

Edinburgh Castle stands on Castle Rock which has been occupied by humans since the Iron Age. It is a great fortress and it generally houses the ‘Stone of Scone’ also known as the ‘Stone of Destiny’. 

The Stone has been used in the coronation of the monarch’s of Scotland, and after the 13th century has been used for the coronation of the monarchs of England. And that is why I didn’t see it, because it is still in England after being sat on by our new King Charles the 3rd a couple of weeks ago.

There have been plenty of times where the canniness of the Scottish has been mentioned. We had to laugh when one of our guides, who hales from Glasgow, said that the Scot’s are so canny that copper wire was invented in Scotland when two Scottish men were fighting over a penny.

On our last day in Edinburgh we hired a private car and driver to take us out to see the Kelpies and the Falkirk Wheel. These were two things that we really wanted to see. We took one of our new tour buddies with us as her husband was playing golf.

A kelpie is a shape-changing water spirit of Scottish legend. Kelpies are said to haunt rivers and streams, usually in the shape of a horse. The kelpie may appear as a tame pony beside a river. It is particularly attractive to children but they should take care, for once on its back, its sticky magical hide will not allow them to dismount! Once trapped in this way, the kelpie will drag the child into the river and then eat him. Horrifying isn’t it! 

When standing under these magnificent sculptures they almost felt like they could move. It was quite unnerving that a solid structure made you feel like he was going to bend down and snap you up in his metal mouth.

Along side the kelpies is a river with river boats moored, and  this leads to our next adventure.

We had seen a YouTube clip of the Falkirk wheel and were amazed, hence the need to get a car and go and see it. The wheel is a lock that transfers boats to a different level in the river however, this is the world’s only rotating lock and stands 35 meters high, that is 8 double decker buses stacked up!

Fortunately for us a couple of river boats were coming down from the higher end of the river and we got to see it in action. The recording is on time lapse so is speeding through the process.

And then the boat appears

It was fascinating and an engineering feat and it is powered using the same amount of power as 8 electric kettles. 

A few meters along the same boat took the next, more traditional, lock.

Our driver took us to Stirling castle but it was too busy so we just drove around the village, which is once again very olde world and charming. 

Our last stop was to see the William Wallace memorial, and I think We will be watching Braveheart again on our return to NZ.

Highlands, Pitlochry, St Andrew’s and Edinburgh

The next morning our journey continued and our first stop was the really lovely village of Pitlochry.

The rain had arrived overnight and followed us down from the highlands and after a high of 23 yesterday we were expecting a high of only 11 today. 

Pitlochry was just waking up as we drove into the narrow main street. Cottages and stone building lined the street and little tea shops were inviting havens out of the cold and rain.

After a coffee and cake we had a quick wander and even though it was a miserable day, the charm of Pitlochry shone through.

Beautiful succulents in a cute front garden. 

Our next stop was St Andrew’s, the home of the game of golf. I felt Lance starting to twitch when jokingly Ally told us that we didn’t need to stop for the men at St Andrew’s today as it was Mother’s Day.

St Andrew’s is right by the water and it looks like a reasonable beach with sand and not stones. The rain had dried up but the wind had an icy catch to it so we bundled up and I was suddenly with a ‘man with a mission’ as Lance strides around the Pro Shop looking to purchase some St Andrew’s gear.

After a wee spend we had lunch in the Hams Hames Pub and Grill and I had a bit of a look around the village. The buildings are really old but all the shops are golf shops! (What’s wrong with that ..? L) Nothing for me here!

The last destination in Scotland was Edinburgh and we chose to add an extra night  to give ourselves more time to explore.

Fortunately we had a decent hotel room where we could semi unpack, wash our smalls and get a bit organised. The Leonardo Hotel is located in Murrayfield which is about 20 minutes out of the city centre.

We had opted in to the ‘Highlands night” and as the coach drove onto the city our jaws dropped at not only the age, but also the drama that the sky line provided with ornate buildings. And we were in the ‘New Town’ which is only around 300 years old!

This is a private school. Fettes College will set you back around £29,000 per year. That is pound remember!

New College at the University of Edinburgh

Charlotte Square Edinburgh

As we crossed the valley into old town you could almost hear the merchants and life from times gone by. We couldn’t wait to explore further on the morrow!

Our evening’s entertainment was of course very Scottish and we were piped in to the building. 

But the rest of the night was a bit ‘cheesy’ and if we could rewind time we would not chose to do this evening.  Although the Haggis bites were delicious.

Sligo, Derry - Northern Ireland, Giant’s Causeway, Belfast then on to Scotland - Glasgow

We had an early start out of Sligo and we’re on the road with a first stop in Derry. 

We had to laugh at the comment Ally made as we passed  the road workers “Ahhh there they go, all breast feeding their shovels.”

Picture them standing in the side of the road leaning on their shovels.

I didn’t realise Derry was such a big place. And I think that I am going to have to start watching the Derry Girls on my return to NZ.

Our guide Ally got our driver Jurgen to take us through Bogside in Free Derry Corner. Huge murals remember those who were heroes and those who died in the three day riot in 1969 when thousands of Irish catholic national residents  clashed with the Royal Ulster Constabulary and loyalists.

Pulling up outside the Guild Hall, we piled in for the bathrooms, and I had a wee wander along the street and a scone with a great coffee. Then I nipped back and caught up with Lance alongside the Foyle River.

Back on the road our next destination was in Northern Ireland. Crossing into Northern Ireland we were hardly aware of any change apart from the road signs no longer having any Irish, they were now all in English. And shortly we were to hear a stronger accent and most significant to us was the change back into sterling pounds from euro. 

Arriving at the Giant’s Causeway we no longer needed our winter woollies. The sun was shining  when we arrived and it felt like spring was in the air as we made our way down around the cliffs. Fortunately you could catch a bus because it was a fair way down, and worse getting back up.

Forty thousand hexagonal basalt columns stretch out from the beach. They are an incredible site and make perfect stepping stones. Legend has it that the giant named Finn McCool ripped up the basalt in a fit of rage and threw them into the sea.

Our guide Ally has been filling us in as we move through Ireland and into Northern Ireland. 

Before the potato famine the impoverished Irish had been pushed to live in the west where the land was rocky and not good for farming. They brought in seaweed and sand to build more arable fields. They grew potatoes as main crop to feed people. The potato species that was being grown was changed to one that produced more potatoes but alas, they were more susceptible to potato blight which turned the crops to mush. They were starving and the people did not die of hunger they died of dysentery.  Good food was being produced in other parts of country but it was all being sent to England.

We had a great view of the Presbyterian Church from our window.

Belfast City Hall

Arriving in Belfast in the late afternoon left no time to explore. Our hotel was central and we had booked ourselves a special dinner out at Deanes Eipic which is a fine dining Michelin Star restaurant. Our plan played out really well as the restaurant was only a two minute walk from our hotel. 

Our evening was just fabulous. The food was outstanding, all nine courses! And the service was great too. You can read my review by clicking this link. Deanes Eipic. 

We had a slow start in the morning as we were not leaving until 10:30am. Most mornings we had had to have our bags  at the bus by 7 or 7:30 am then breakfast and then on their road. So a slow start was very welcome.

The sun shone as I had a wandered around the area close to our hotel. I didn’t want to wander too far as I was terrified of getting lost and us missing the ferry to Scotland.

Belfast looked like any modern city and was dotted with magnificent buildings. People were on their way to work, grabbing coffee and having a quick ciggy at the bus stop. I noted that most were smoking cigarettes and not vaping.

Back at the hotel we made our way to the port and had a seamless transfer onto the ferry where we jumped off the bus and made our way to a seated area with food and drink. 

The crossing took around two and a half hours and was very smooth, and then we were in Scotland where our first stop was the city of Glasgow.

The drive from the port at Cairnryan to Glasgow was very pretty, especially the village of Alloway where we stopped for a quick look. This is the birthplace of Robbie Burns and was quite lovely.

Continuing on to Glasgow we were all pretty tired, it had been a long day of travel and imagine our disappointment when we entered our hotel room and found it had a double bed, yes not even a queen, and the room was so small that the bed was pushed up against the wall. The whole room was pretty grim and what made it worse was the shower in the morning would not heat up, so I had a lick and a flick with a wet hand towel. A hand towel was used because none of these hotels supply face cloths, fortunately I brought my own travel facecloth with me. Please note the word ‘face’ here and not for use on the ‘nether regions’ hence the employment of a hand towel.

Just before we were leaving I nipped into the loo for a last deposit and couldn’t find the light. A cord was hanging from the ceiling and I thought to myself “typical antiquated hotel room” and pulled the cord. Immediately an alarm rang in our room, I had pulled an alarm cord for if I had a fall or something! Once the light finally went on I noticed that the cord was bright red. 

In the meantime the phone rang and and Lance, who was running around with me trying to find a way to stop it, answered the phone but the cord for the handset came off!  I found a reset button and the alarm stopped and then . . . 

Bang, bang, bang on the door! It was the manager to make sure we were okay. How embarrassing.

Oh well, onwards and upwards. Hopefully a better room at the next stop.