North - - - to the Orkney Islands

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On Sunday the 29th we met up with Jesse for coffee then toured the Princes Street Gardens before she went to work. Then we did one of the 'hop on / hop off' bus tours to get an overview of the City of Edinburgh and a little 'guided' information.

But first, the Triumph Street Pipe Band won 1st in the North American championship competition on Saturday, August 4. Congratulations Robb, and all the band members. Next year, Grade 1 and qualifying at The Worlds, maybe ?

After the tour which took just a little more than an hour we were off to explore on our own. Stangely enough one of the first sights we took in was on the Royal Mile, - - - Deacon Brodies Pub (just to strategize and plan). Just behind Brodies, which would be sort of to the north-west is the Royal Bank of Scotland headquarters building and their museum. I don't think too many of us would think of a banks HQ building as being a tourist site but it is also where the bank, the oldest in Scotland, has its' museum. Since the banks here have issued currency for many years it was almost like a tour of a mint. Quite a history of the bank interwoven with the country's history and interesting.

After touring the banks museum which took us out of one of the brief showers we've encountered we went across the street from Brodies and into St. Giles Cathedral. (After all, it was Sunday) St. Giles is a large, magnificent structure from the 12th century. A little quick math and this building is over 800 years old. The stained glass surrounds the cathedral and is magnificent with each panel telling its own story. I think one could easily spend a full day here if they had someone with them to explain each of the stained glass panels. As you walk into the cathedral there is a long open area, the sanctuary, and along the walls are a number of small chapels and memorials. All very interesting but we didn't spend the full day necessary. After taking in the cathedral we retreated across the street and had dinner in the upstairs area of the Deacons' place.

Deacon Brodie has his own story and spot in history too. He allegedly is the inspiration for the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Briefly, he was a cabinet maker by day, but he had a second calling as a thief, B&E artist, and fence. Naturally he was eventually caught and hung. The justice system in those days was a little different. There is also something about opening his coffin after he was hung, and he was missing ?
http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/usbiography/biographies/deaconbrodie.html
Sorry, but you will have to cut and paste the web page addresses

We spent the next couple days doing the usual Edinburgh tourist things / sights and took a Scottish girl and her friend Rachel out for dinner for her birthday. The birthday girl got the glasses she wanted and Rachel was just as excited about the 'care package' we brought her from home too.

Among the tourist things we did, and sort of to get a break from the crowds in the City, we took a bus to Queensferry, North of the city, where we took a small tour on the Maid of the Forth for about an hour and a half. The bus ride out was a tour of the countryside itself and we lucked out with a friendly bus driver who let us off at a bus stop about a 5 minute walk from where the boat tour started. This tour was out to some small island with the ruins of an old Abbey and home, apparently, to a lot of seals. We took the cheap tour and skipped being stranded on this island for 1 1/2 hours on a day that threatened raid. We left that part to the majority of the other passengers and their children.

Turns out that Queensferry was an interesting little discovery. It is a small village under the Forth rail bridge which was opened on March 4, 1890. The village had been there for a couple hundred years before that. We had stopped for a coffee before shipping out, at the Hawes Inn which has been in continuous use as a pub since 1632. Remember Robert Louis Stevensons' story "Kidnapped", well there is mention of the Hawes Inn in that story, and the other part of the story is the Stevenson often visited the inn.

The Forth Rail Bridge is another bit of history itself. How did they build structures like that ? 1 mile and 1005 yards long, with two 1700 foot spans 304 feet above the Forth of Firth, supported on towers that have their foundations 90 feet below the firth. 42,000 tons of steel. That's a long, high, bridge span.

After our boat tour we had lunch at a little restaurant called the Boathouse, (not related I'm sure), and the food was excellent. It looked and smelled like it had recently opened and the renovation/redecoration of the old building was beautiful itself. Something like 'Restaurant Makeover' on HGTV if you ever watch that channel.

When we returned to the city we did what everyone else was doing and wandered the Royal Mile. We were still a couple days ahead of the Edinburgh Festival but it was still crowded. On our walk up to the Mile I showed Heather an old antique shop I had found on Cockburn Street a couple years earlier. Sort of like a pack rats place but lots of good silver (the real stuff) from estates along with other assorted old stuff - - Posters, medals, buttons and pictures etc. Further along I took Heather to an antique jewellers I had discovered. A couple jewellers who are brothers and they too had some beautiful antique items from estates. Apparently they also have done a lot of restoration and creative work for Hollyrood Castle and its inhabitants as well as the Scottish Parliament. Fascinating stories.!

After the antiques we went down the other side of the hill into the Haymarket and made our way to the BeeHive Pub which has been in operation since about 1600 and it's current configuration is an ammalgamation with a pub that used to be across the street. Seems that when the road was closed someone built on the road between the two existing pubs and created one large, many roomed, pub.

The BeeHive Pub is the start of a Literary Pub Tour. http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/edinburgh/pubguide/beehiveinn.html

We were really lucky for our tour was conducted by two professional actors who played off each other and did a lot of improv to put the tour together. The literary part of the tour was that it was loosely woven around various Scottish authors and poets over the years, their stories, and the pubs, or areas they frequented in their time. We started in the Beehive Inn in the area of the old hay market below the castle then climbed up the hill to a pub on the Royal Mile where we had a short break to 'refresh' then down the Mile a little to a very small pub hidden in the courtyard of Advocates Close. Here we learned a bit more about Robbie Burns and his escapades in the 1700's bfore moving on to the 1800's at a pub in the New Town. The new town was / is Edinburgh as it developed North and West from what is now Princes Street. A very interesting tour, and rewarding with a pint or two along the way !

We know how lucky we were to have our tour conducted by by these two actors 'cause the next night when we were wandering around we ran into the tour in the courtyard being presented by a young fellow dressed in period costume. He may have been accurate, but no where near as interesting as the interplay between our actors was. Excellent

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Photos

Scottish girl
A Scottish girl we met

Deacon Brodies
It's a historical restaurant, really.

Front desk
Rachel - "Front desk. How may I help ?"

St/ Giles
View from the entrance.

St/ Giles exterior
It's a huge building

Hollyrood Castle
Hollyrood Castle - no pics inside allowed.

The Forth Rail Bridge
An amazing structure

Hawes Inn
R.L. Stevenson#s "Kidnapped" may have started here

Forth car bridge
The new Forth vehicle bridge

Pentland Venture
The ferry to the Orkney Islands

Mom & Jesse
Two favorite girls

Comments

[Patsy]

love the red hair
hello again.. hope your having lots of fun.. great pics Kane.. love jesses red hair.. but one question,, how long did you stay at beacons pub to strategize your plans..??? hahahahhaa

[Beth]

Great pictyures but not enough - loved the sound of the pub crawl.

[Karen]

Sounds like your having fun! Thanks for taking Rachie out and giving her the care package!