Scotland 2019

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After landing at 6:30 am and before settling into our apartment in Edinburgh, we strike out on the “hop on, hop off” bus for an overview of the city. There are 3 routes available and it’s best to buy a pass that also includes entrance fees to the Royal Yacht Brittania, Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood Castle.

Edinburgh is a city of appx 500,000 people and there has been a number of festivals in August including the “fringe festival” which is one of the largest gatherings (primarily performing arts, especially comedy) in Europe. So it is estimate another 1/2 million people converge on the city. Needless to say, parts of Edinburgh was “jammed” with people. Walking around made touring Times Square in New York seem like a walk in the country. There are over 5,000 performances spread throughout hundred’s of venues. The program alone is over 400 pages.(Alanis Morrisette from Ottawa was performing)

On our second day, we toured the Royal Yacht Britannia which was quite impressive and the tour well organized. The Yacht was commissioned in the 50’s and during the next 40 years travelled over 1 million nautical miles. It is now owned by a non profit trust established to preserve the history and contribution the Brittania made to the reign of Queen Elizabeth 11. In order to get a feeling of Royalty, we took a break and had a very civilized tea on board as we overlooked Leith Harbour

Perched high above the city at the end of the “Royal Mile ” is the most famous Edinburgh Castle, a must see! Over the past 10 centuries it has endured many iterations as numerous battles between England and Scotland caused numerous destructions and rebuilding. On the other end of the street is Holyrood Castle which also has a long history and is currently Queen Elizabeth’s official residence while in Scotland. It is directly across from the modern designed Scottish parliament buildings. The Royal Mile is the main street of the old town and it has many historic sites such as John Loche’s house, Adam Smith’s burial place etc.

I’m always cramming the tour schedule and never seem to learn, although Debra has been trying to temper my impulses. This certainly proved true for our time at the National Museum of Scotland. We were only able to cover about 20% of the exhibits and focused mainly on the Scottish history. It’s a wonderful facility and deserving of much more time.

Clearly the highlight of our trip so far has been the Tattoo at Edinburgh Castle. This was an entertainment extravaganza that we certainly recommend. Although it still is somewhat a military theme, it offers so much more, featuring groups from countries around the world. The traditional finale performance of the Lone Piper, on top of the castle, playing ”Soldier Lie Down on a wee Pickle Straw” was certainly enough to make the hair on the neck stand up!!

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Photos

Afternoon Tea
My princess having Tea on board the Royal Yacht Britannia.

Caption at Peoples Museum
Canadian Socialist leader Tommy Douglas’s special recognition at Peoples Museum

30 year anniversary dinner
Very nice restaurant “The Witchery” next door to Edinburgh Castle.

Greyfriar’s Bobby
Statue of famous Skye Terrier who outside the cemetery where his master was buried. The dog supposedly stayed by his grave for 14 years?

Tattoo
Great show!!

Comments

[Daryl Branscombe]

Response
Looks very interesting so far. On your tour have you included where they shot the movie "Outliners" It is a classic. I have watched 3 seasons and more to go. Also famous battle site between Scots and England in the 1700's. Can't remember the name. Enjoy! Daryl

[Debra and Dana]

Outlanders
Hi Daryl; Yes, trip is going well. We head out of Edinburgh tomorrow and will be visiting some of the sites shown in the Outlanders, although some of the series was filmed in New Zealand as well. The battle you refer to is Culloden and that is on our agenda. It was primarily between Jacobites (those Scots who wanted the Catholic King James to be re-instated to the Throne) and the British. Hope all is well at home. More blogs to come.