Advertisement
Published: January 22nd 2008
Edit Blog Post
Deserted Sunday morning Edinburgh
As we left the hotel (WITH James this time) we saw barely a soul on the streets. It was even hotter in my room last night but with us being on a side street at least things were quiet enough to leave my windows open. I put my bulging suitcase and my bags of souvenirs in front of the window just in case somebody decided to come visit me by climbing up the scaffolding and through my giant window.
I pretty much passed on breakfast. There wasn't much to chose from other than cereal and toast along with the accompanying marmalade (yeccccch). I downed a glass of orange juice and half a slice of buttered bread. Based on past performance I knew our bus would be stopping somewhere before too long. We never go more than two and a half hours between stops on any of the EF bus rides.
As we loaded up our little bus with the ever-increasing horde of suitcases and bags of keepsakes we were having a very tough time getting everything into the bus's rather large trunk. Mark had to pull everything out and start from scratch a couple times as later arrivals presented him with even bigger carry-alls laden with junk. I walked away and boarded the bus as the
Looking back at my new favorite city
I really enjoyed our stay in Edinburgh. I would have enjoyed more time looking at some of the military displays up at Edinburgh Castle or listening to music in one of the pubs, but that would have to be on another trip. You go to a lot of places on these EF trips but you don't spend much time in any one place. It's a lot like a Chinese buffet: you sample all kinds of different things in small portions until you hit upon the couple you really want to devour. usually unflappable Mark started to look just a tad bit perturbed. Meanwhile James and one of the adult men in the group returned to the hotel to pay some sort of extra charge on one of the room bills. In a couple minutes Mark somehow slammed the trunk then boarded the bus. As he started up the engine and glanced in his mirror he probably observed quite a few ultra-tired kids already dozing in their seats with their headphones firmly in place. Most of us had had empty seats next to us during the trip but with all the merchandise we had been looting from Ireland, Wales and Scotland those once vacant seats now held piles of stuff.
After that quick glance Mark put the bus in gear and headed off down the totally deserted street. Not totally deserted though because as we pulled away I saw James and the other guy coming out of the hotel. Mark turned on to one of the main arteries out of town. I assumed he was simply turning the bus around and planning to come back around the next corner to pick up the two stragglers. But he just kept going straight
Jedburgh Abbey
This abbey was built on the ruins of an earlier 9th Century church. Since the abbey was constructed in the 1300's it has been the subject of numerous attacks. The place has been in the current state of ruin for almost 500 years. out of town. Nobody said anything for about ten blocks. Finally Gail asked Mark if he was planning to return for James. Mark got a horrified look on his face then glanced in his mirror. Finally he made a left turn and doubled back for our two strays. When James was back on the bus he acted like it was no big deal: "I have the hotel and meal vouchers. I knew you'd be back for me." Of course, everyone gave Mark a hard time about it for the rest of the trip. Once that started his whole personality seemed to change. From now on he seemed to have a smile on his face wherever he saw him.
Once again I was right - we were on the bus heading South for only about an hour when we made our first stop of the day. Just North of the town of Jedburgh we made a pitstop at a huge souvenir shop/gas station/restaurant/toilet stop. If somehow any souvenir had eluded any member of our group, this was the place to find it. Still hoping to find that bottle of Heather Creme I headed for the liquor corner. There in the
Keeping the place in an excellent state of ruin
Lest you think that there isn't a lot of work involved in maintaining Jedburgh Abbey in a constant state of ruin, it is an on-going process. In order to keep the place from completely falling over the site administrators, Historic Scotland, have been maintaining the grounds and walls since 1913. Archaeological work around the site continues to this day. middle of the liquor area in a beautiful light purple-hued display were botlles and bottles of the stuff. One problem - a big iron gate stood between me and the booze. It seems that with this being a Sunday, liquor sales were prohibited. The best I could do was buy a box of chocolates with the Heather Creme inside. (I ended up giving them away. Just not the same.) I also got a nice cold Orangina, a Bounty candy bar and bag of crisps (potato chips) for my breakfast.
From this stop we drove another 5 minutes or so until we reached the border town of Jedburgh. This was one of the prettiest and most interesting places we had been. The main draw is the ruins of Jedburgh Abbey. King David I decided to have this magnificent edifice erected here just to pique the English. He hoped to prove that the Scots could erect religious structures every bit as magnificent as naything in England. And he was putting it almost right on the border with England just to flaunt it. It turned out to be a dumb idea because every time the English attacked the Scots, they passed through
The War Memorial
Just outside the abbey grounds stood this monument to those killed in war. I'm not certain exactly what war(s) this is dedicated to but the town itself has seen more than its fair share: The town of Jedburgh was attacked or occupied in 1296, 1312, 1320, 1409, 1410, 1464, 1523, 1544, 1545, 1547 and 1548. Even the French once occupied it when they came to the aid of the Scots in one of their many conflicts with England. here and pillaged the abbey. Between 1138 and 1560 (the Reformation) the abbey was attacked, burned, stripped of its lead roof, and used as a stable during at least eight invasions. It was even turned into a fort for a short period.
Our hotel this night would be a few blocks outside the city walls of York, next to the York Racecourse in the
Newington Hotel.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.072s; Tpl: 0.017s; cc: 14; qc: 21; dbt: 0.0421s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb