I had the good fortune to visit Edinburgh, Scotland again. Pronounced Edinboro (you know, like Pittsboro, Pennsylvania). Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland and is home to about half a million people. The city is often referred to as the "Athens of the North".
Edinburgh Castle
This photo was taken on our first visit to Edinburgh and I have included it in this post as it is the most famous landmark of the city.
On our visit last year it rained the entire time and this time there was about a foot of snow on the ground.
From what I understand, it does rain every day of the year :), but heavy snow is uncommon for this area and they were very ill-prepared for it. The airport was shut down for 4 days causing quite a mess. Ironically, Jim departed 4 days before me on the last flight to land before the airport closed and I was the first to land when the airport reopened. Guess it was meant to be.
This is the view out my window on the plane waiting to depart Brussels.
We were supposed to depart at 8:00 pm. We boarded at 9:00 pm, but actually took off at 11:00 pm. Yeah, we sat on the tarmac for 2 hours. I think that may be illegal in the States!
The snacks were good (Kit Kats with Chilean red wine) and apparently everyone on the plane was from Belgium. I know that because I never heard one complaint. Belgians are accustomed to patiently waiting . . . and waiting . . and waiting. I believe if this had happened in the U.S., the air marshall might have been summoned.
And maybe also in Italy. Upon our return to Brussels, while waiting . . . and waiting in line to show our passport, a little elderly woman and her husband were waiting in line in front of us. From the moment the line stalled for a mili-second she was pacing and ranting (in Italian I assume) to her husband and she proceeded to go check out every other line for the shortest one. The husband was having none of it and stayed put in the line ahead of us. I said to Jim "Even if she gets through quicker, I don't know where she thinks she's going without him". To which Jim replied "Maybe she has the keys". All I knew was she definitely wasn't from Belgium with that "chop chop" attitude. As you might expect, they exited Customs at exactly the same time. She motioned to him to hurry up :)
The Christmas Market
Royal Bank of Scotland headquarters
Views of the city from Calton Hill
The Firth of Forth (an estuary of the River Forth that flows to the North Sea) in the distance
St. Giles Cathedral
John Knox, leader of the Protestant Reformation and considered founder of the Presbyterian denomination in Scotland was born near Edinburgh and was Minister at St. Giles Church in the mid-1500's. He is buried in the graveyard of this church.
The Old College of University of Edinburgh
St. Andrew's House and headquarters of the Scottish Government
The Balmoral Hotel beautifully lit at night
Palace of Holyroodhouse
One its most famous residents was Mary, Queen of Scots who was named Queen of Scotland when only six days old. She was imprisoned at the age of 23 by her cousin and adversary, Elizabeth Tudor, the English Queen. After 19 years of imprisonment, Mary was finally tried and convicted of treason and executed thereby removing Elizabeth's last threat to the throne. Today, the palace is used for official state ceremonies and entertaining.
There is a very nice gift shop at the castle where you can buy all sorts of souvenirs and if you'd like to own Royal China, this is the place to get it. I really wanted to buy one of those "God Save the Queen" pillows, but I refrained. The whole Royal family thing fascinates me because as an American, I just don't get it.
"God Save the Queen" is the national anthem of the U.K.
Recognize that tune? Yeah, same as America the Beautiful. Now I know where we stole that.
Incidentally, on our way to Stirling, Scotland the next day we passed the birthplace of
Mary,Queen of Scots.
So, even though there was plenty of this . . .
despite their inclement weather, it really is a beautiful city.
And a big thanks to Ross for Winslow-sitting!
Thanks for all the pics! So glad you got to go even if you were stuck in the plane for so long!
ReplyDeleteI am so jealous! I have always wanted to go to Scotland as my Grandfather Kearns "came over" in the 1890's at age four from Glascow in his kilt and registered on Ellis Island with his family. (Wish I had that moth eaten kilt my grandmother finally pitched!)
Also, I graduated from Ednboro University 30 miles south of Erie, PA. Yeah, we were The Fighting Scots and every football game began with bagpipes marching onto the field...and I lived in MacPherson....so of course I wanted to go to Scotland!;) Not to mention Bravehart is one of most favorite movies and I was addicted to the Elizabeth R series on PBS when I was in High School....see, I really am very, very jealous!