Wed/Thurs. 9/12 - 13 Flight through London to Edinburgh, Scotland
Our trip aboard a crowded British Airways 744, once the 1 hour delay in taking off (later compensated for
by cooperating tail winds) was pleasant – and with the aid of smooth FULARS LONDON PRIDE ALE, we arrived
at Heathrow only to be met with an impenetrable mob of everyone’s seeking access to connecting flights.
It took us a full 2 hours to navigate the terminal labyrinth and pass inspection, and managed to catch
our shuttle connection only because it had been held up by so many latecomers.
In EDINBURGH, we met
our tour leader, Fred Stride, at the McDonalds Holyrood House hotel, and lost no time in taking a
neighborhood orientation tour. Later, I took a long walk on Royal Mile, bustling with tourists and
locals, and lined with hotels, shops and eateries. I was shocked to discover that the exchange rate
for $100 U.S. yielded a paltry 47.48 pounds. I visited the impressive ST. GILES CATHEDRAL, with its
magnificent stained glass windows, and the simple kirk nearby which the Queen attends on her yearly
visits. This evening, we had our first get together introductions, followed by a dinner at our hotel,
where we tasted haggis and were entertained by a most amusing and talented bagpiper.
Fri. 9/14
Edinburgh is a charming city, dotted with many spired churches, unique architecture, beautiful little
parks and flowers everywhere. Our intensive city tour took us from the Salisbury Crags of Holyrood Park
overlooking our hotel, to “old” and “new” cities, and enabled us to view the Royal Yacht BRITTANICA,
proudly nestled at the modern seaside marina. En route to STIRLING CASTLE we drove thru the “perfect”
Scottish highlands town of STIRLING, which impressed me greatly. The lovely rowhouses with their very
unique roofs and many tall chimneys, all nestled amid lush vegetation, confirmed my imagination of the
typical Scottish village.
The imposing STIRLING CASTLE itself, steeped in the history of more kings
and wars and rebuildings than one can remember, takes one back to centuries of real living history.
The extensive display of the kitchens and “ready rooms” for preparing and preserving food, was particularly
impressive, as was the fact that for the most part, chefs and kitchen help were usually male. En route
back to Edinburgh, we stopped to view the 2 South Queensbury bridges, one for auto traffic, the other
RR. When built, the “Firth of Forth” traffic bridge was the longest suspension bridge in Europe.
Because of the inflated rate of exchange, added to extremely high prices of food and everything else in
GB, we have become partial to “in house” picnics supplied by the local grocery.
Sat. 9/15
Our so called free day became busy indeed. We decided to make good use of a $5 US all day bus ticket as
we criss crossed the city visiting museums and other points of interest, and taking various routes at
random to their final destinations, just to see and experience many different neighborhoods.
The NATIONAL GALLERY and NATIONAL MUSEUM OF SCOTLAND are both excellent institutions, and, as most
museums in the capitol, entrance free. The floral displays in the CENTRAL GARDENS are almost too
beautiful to comprehend. After several relatively short bus rides, our last venture of the day on
the #10 bus from the center of town to the end of the line was so long (and interesting) that we
barely made it back for 5 PM mass at St. Patrick’s church near our hotel. An exhausting but fun day!
Sun. 9/16
Today we travel from northeastern Edinburgh, Scotland on the North Sea, to northwestern England, the
Lake District. Alternately rainy and sunny, this morning the mostly local roads we drive are banked
by very green rolling fields crowded with sheep. A very bucolic sight. We stopped briefly at
GRETNA GREEN, Scotland’s southernmost town that was once popular for couples who ran away from England
to marry. They were married (and still are today), in the Blacksmith’s shop. How romantic!
In pouring
rain we visited the WORDSWORTH HOUSE in the tiny village of WINDERMERE, where William Wordsworth and his
family lived during his most productive years 1799-1808. Life was surely very difficult for even these
moderately wealthy people in the early 1800’s. Dinner was at our victorian hotel, the HYDRO,in the town
of Windermere, followed by a slide presentation and talk by a member of the Lake District Leadership.
Windermere is the geographic center of Great Britain.
Continue...
This trip to England/Scotland/Wales was made 9/12/07 – 9/26/07 by a resident of New York State.
Your comments are welcome.
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