Hadrian ’s Wall, crossing the border, piping in the old country and dining with kings, not a bad day’s work.

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So, York got its ass kicked really, really hard today. We woke up, hit the road and crossed the border into Scotland. The whole day began with an 8:15 departure, and the first causality of the entire trip. Steve Flynn of Worchester Mass slept through his wake up call and was left to fend for himself in York. This might sound mean but our guide honestly thought he was there and the mistake was not realized until we reached Hadrian’s Wall and suddenly we had ourselves a problem, but more on this later.

First, Hadrian’s Wall is magnificent and a bit of a pride boost. You have no choice but to be proud of being Scottish when you are standing on the very wall that was constructed by the greatest empire in the history of civilization to keep your people out. There is still a lot of ruins and you can see how the society functioned around it 2,000 years ago.

The sight is made all the more impressive when you look back at the massive hill you had to climb and the even more massive amount of sheep shit you had to dodge to appreciate the view. It does, however, suck a bit to get up there and find that you left one of your new friends in a strange city a few thousand miles from home, but the show must go on.

From the wall we traveled onward and upward into the land that gave the world haggis, shortbread, and my mother, Scotland. This experience was almost unreal to me, as it was something I had been thinking about doing and wanting to do for several years. Before I got off the bus I had to pause and take a breath, as I knew that the next step I took would allow me, for the rest of my life, to say, “I have set foot in Scotland.”

It was chilly, not cold, just a bit chilly, and I looked out over the hills that were, appropriately, covered in mist, I took a deep breath. Something seemed right. I walked back up to the border and stood with one foot in England, and the other foot in Scotland. I can’t describe it. My entire life this place had existed in stories and on maps, in other people’s pictures and other people’s memories, and now, I was a part of it. We got back on the bus and headed to Edinburgh.

I have noticed something about the UK. With the exception of the motorway (Brit for freeway) straight lines do not seem to exist. The place is like one of those round mazes. Every road leads to endless more and it’s impossible to tell what goes where, but somehow we made our way to the city, the massive, imposing, and gorgeous city. A brief walking tour gave us the highlights, and there are nothing but highlights, so I will choose a few.

Our first walk took us to Edinburgh Castle, which was preparing for the MASSIVE Tattoo in August. As we approached the castle I could hear, faintly, bagpipes playing “Amazing Grace.” Hand to God, I am not making this up. I stood there, and just stared. You need to see the place to believe it, that is all I will say.

We then made our way down to the city again and took some pictures with a statue of a little dog who stood vigil over his masters grave for 16 years. The dog was so loved that his grave is still visited, and the pub in front of it has been named for him, Greyfriar’s Bobby. If this story doesn’t touch your heart, then you do not have one. A funny aside, in the graveyard of the beautiful dog there is a sign, “By city ordinance, NO DOGS ALLOWED.” This somehow seems wrong, but such is life.

Then, we were on to the bus and the big surprise of the night. We would not be spend the night in the centrally located hotel, as it was booked. Instead, we would be staying 45 minutes out of town. Bad news? NO! We would be staying at the Radison Airth Castle. Airth Castle, by the way is the SUMMER CASTLE OF ROBERT THE BRUCE! Yes, that is right, I got to eat and sleep in the castle of the first king of Scotland. This is one of the absolute, without question, highlights of my life.

Sat up until about 2 am in the lounge of the hotel with some Aussies, and all of us had to stop every few minutes and look at each other, just to remind ourselves that we were in Robert the Bruce’s castle in Scotland. This was the experience of a lifetime for all parties involved.

Tomorrow, free day in Edinburgh, more on this later.

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Comments

[Aron]

Have you tried out the 20 women rule yet?