This afternoon Gillian and I are taking the train across Scotland from the capital, Edinburgh, to the largest city, Glasgow. As in the rest of Europe, the train service is clean, fast, affordable, and far more manageable than flying. We spent the last two days here in the Jewel of Scotland, Edinburgh, which is home to the historical and political heart of this country. Although it is certainly a reprieve from the hustle and bustle of London, Edinburgh holds its own as an important city of the United Kingdom.
Of particular excitement at this time, Scotland is preparing to hold a referendum vote on its independence from the United Kingdom. This underscores much of the rich history of rivalry between England and Scotland that we learned about on our tour of Edinburgh, which is steeped in tales of wars and kingdoms from the medieval period to today. In 1998, the UK passed the Scotland Act, which devolved power to allow Scotland to have its own parliament and lawmaking institutions. Scottish Nationalists today are campaigning for full independce of the Scottish country with the upcoming election; however, there seem to be mixed opinions on what the future of Scotland will be. We even saw a car driving around the city shouting Scottish music from the windows and towing a giant "VOTE YES!" sign behind it!
We began our journey in Scotland yesterday by flying from London to Edinburgh. On our early morning flight, we seemed to use up all our bad airport luck. Every train we took, we just missed the previous one. At security, we picked the longest lines of course. I even had to go through extra baggage security, with every single article of clothing in my bag having to be combed through. Luckily, we made it to the gate just in time for our flight and a pleasant journey. After landing and taking a bus into central Edinburgh, we checked into our hostel in the center of Old Town. Edinburgh is divided into two sides, Old and New Town, which are aptly named for their apparent ages. Old Town is the historic and medieval section of town lined with stone buildings and castles. New Town was constructed in the late 1700s by the wealthy and noble to escape the filfth and crowds of the city. They drained the loch (lake) down the hill and constructed a picturesque Georgian city with planned streets and open green parks. Edinburgh is home to the world's first skyscrapers, with many 11+ story medieval buildings pouring down the volcanic mountainside. Scots built Edinburgh down instead of out because many people were too poor to pay the city's entry/exit tariff at the toll gate and spent their whole lives in the protection of the city walls.
After checking in, we hiked the Royal Mile up to Edinburgh Castle. This menacing medieval fortress is the most visited site in all of Scotland and the most recognizable element of Edinburgh. It served as a place of security and wealth a top the extinct volcanic mountain it was constructed upon over the last 1000 years. Many famous figures like Robert the Bruce, who established the Scottish Kingdom, William Wallace of Mel Gibson in Braveheart fame, and Mary Queen of Scots are associated with the castle. After an hour-long line, we finally made it into the castle just in time to see the famous one o'clock gun, which is shot once at 1p every day to mark the hour. Other famous parts of the castle ground include the palace where Mary lived, the National War Memorial, and the Crown Jewels of Scotland, which were returned recently from Westminister Abbey by Queen Elizabeth II on the condition they return to England for future coronations.
From the castle, we headed to the center of the Royal Mile, which connects the Castle to the official royal residence of the Queen in Scotland known as Holyroodhouse Palace, for a free walking tour of Edinburgh. Prior to the tour, I stopped at a Starbucks for a coffee, and, to my surprise, the cashier knew of Metairie when I showed him my Louisiana ID with my credit card. By chance, he attended the University of Alabama for college and had a fraternity brother there from my hometown. What a small world! Our tour looped us through many of the main sights of Edinburgh including the Royal Mile and St. Giles' Cathedral, which isn't a cathedral at all because there are no bishops in the Church of Scotland (Presbyterian). Our guide was a local law student at the University of Edinburgh, and he gave our tour a local flavour. One of the highlights of modern Edinburgh is its inspiration for J. K. Rowling in her writing of the Harry Potter series. She composed the first two books in The Elephant House cafe facing the Greyfriars Cemetary. Some of the graveyards residents inspired characters in her book like Thomas Riddle, Mr. Moody, and the Scottish poet William MacGonagall.
After the tour, we became true tourists by purchasing tickets to the Scotish Whisky Experience, which takes visitors through the history and production of Scotland's largest export. You ride an animatronic whisky barrel through the whisky production process before sampling the different smells and tastes of the Scottish whisky producing regions. Like the Jameson factory in Dublin, this is a great way to learn about the national beverage of Scotland and it's rich tradition. Note: whiskey is Irish and (Scotch) whisky is from Scotland. For dinner, we stopped at The World's End cafe for traditional pub fare before ending the night at the Royal Oak Pub, which has live traditional Scottish music each night of the week. It was the perfect ending to a long day in Edinburgh.
The second day was a little lighter on the intinerary. First, we headed over to the National Museum of Scotland for the history and artifacts of the Scots from 900 AD to today. The top of the museum had a great lookout point of the entire city of Edinburgh. Next, we toured the new Scottish Parliament building, designed by a Spanish architect in a modern concrete style, to celibate the devolution of power from England. After peeking at the Holyrood Palace, we decided not to take the extreme hike up Arthur's Seat to the top of another of the city's volcanic rocks. Instead, we made our way across the tracks to the New Town for the first time. The streets are spacious and full of beautiful parks like St. Andrew Square, Prince Street Gardens, and the Georgian House. Before heading to our train, we stopped by the National Gallery of Scotland to see some of the country's most famous artists.
Overall, Scotland has been a great place to relax and soak up culture, reminding me of my previous trip to Ireland. To me, Scotland and Ireland are similar both in their Gaelic traditions, friendly people, and mutual distrust of the English. I am excited to continue our journey at the modern and cultural hub of Glasgow. Stay tuned!
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