Wednesday 8 May 2013

Edinburgh - part 2

Here are some pieces of trivia about Edinburgh that our guide, Marion, shared with us - in no particular order of importance.

-We all know that J.K. Rowling wrote the first of the Harry Potter books sitting at a coffee shop with her young son. What I certainly didn't know was that she wrote the last of the series while living at the 5 Star Balmoral Hotel on Princes St in Edinburgh.

-The town of Leith at the seaside on the outskirts of Edinburgh, was were the first rules of golf were laid down.

-Many people have heard of the Edinburgh Festival that attracts performing artists from around the world, but did you know that they also host annually the world's biggest Book Festival?

-Fettes College is a prep school that Ian Fleming, creator of the James Bond series attended  (among many others with names that you would recognize). Sean Connery, the first actor to portray James Bond also has a connection with Fettes College: he used to deliver the milk there.

Our first stop was at Edinburgh Castle, which is described as "The Iconic Scottish Tourist Attraction" and I'll grant you, it's BIG. This is a view of the city through one of the cannon ports on the battery.

I've come to realize that watching Braveheart, and a 2-hour DVD of Billy Connolly humour was not enough preparation for appreciating the finer points of the Scottish history and psyche. Despite the fact that it's a bit difficult to keep the characters and battles and allegiance in their appropriate centuries, I was fascinated by the layers of history that the castle encompasses especially in the Military Museum and a special section on the role of castle as a facility for prisoners of war as recently as the 19th century. The tour included the birth chamber of James VI of Scotland/James I of England, and even a dog cemetery on the grounds. I certainly can't do it justice but it was a visit that was essential to feel the full Edingburgh experience.



 One of the wonderful things about traveling with a guides is that not only do you get to observe interesting aspects of the unfamiliar world around you, but you have someone to explain it to you. This is a workman at Edinburgh Castle who is repairing the stonework of a crow step gable, very aptly named for the ledges that the great stones form along the gable.

Speaking of the full Scottish experience, just below the gates of the castle is an enterprise known as The Scotch Whiskey Experience, where you literally ride through the process of brewing Scotch whiskey, smelling the peat fires that can give it a smokey taste, to being in the vat and voyaging among the yeast bubbles. It's actually great fun. We proceeded to an area where the guide explained about the 4 main regions of the country where Scotch whiskey is distilled, and the differences in their tastes. Then on to the tasting room, shown here with the world's largest collection of Scotch whiskey bottles: all unopened, some over 100 years old.




Let me introduce you to my lunch at Auld Jock's Pie Shoppe: This is a "potato jacket" with cheese and haggis. It was actually wonderful, but let's face it, anything would taste great with 2 cups of grated cheese. The haggis actually reminded me of a nicely spiced meat layer of shepherd's pie.



One of the great things for tourism is that all of the public museums have free admission, with a suggested donation bin at the entrance. This means that you can pop into any gallery for 20 minutes, soak up some culture and beauty and be on your way. This is what I did after coming down from the Old Town. I took a little tour of of some of the rooms of the older Scottish painters in the Scottish National Gallery. I was stunned to walk into a magnificent salon and discover Auguste Rodin's The Kiss commissioned by E.P. Warren, an eccentric American collector. What a gift to see such a masterpiece within touching distance.

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