The guys are golfing today so we three girls have a “day off” and are making our way to Edinburgh. It’s a beautiful day, which made the drive more pleasant. After a couple of hours we decided to stop at the town of Dunkeld to stretch our legs and have lunch. What a nice surprise. The Main Street is very pretty with a few interesting shops and the River Tay running through it. But the big surprise was a beautiful partially ruined cathedral. The Cathedral of St. Columba, constructed in the 1200’s and lasted 300 years, sits on the banks of the River Tay and was THE church in Scotland briefly in the ninth century. Saint Columba’s relics were stored here during the Viking raids in 849, which made it an important destination for pilgrims. Later on it became a larger cathedral. It was destroyed by Protestant revolutionaries in 1560, who tore most of it down and by the Jocobites who fought the Battle of Dunkeld nearby. In 1762, the Duke of Atholl (every time we hear his name it makes us giggle - say it out loud) and the government paid for repairs. After lunch we got back in the car and resumed our trio to Edinburgh.
Edinburgh (pronounced ED’n-burah) is the historical, cultural and political capital of Scotland. Scotland’s kings, parliaments, writers, intellects, and bankers have called this city home for nearly a thousand years. It is a charming city perfect for strolling and taking in the stunning vistas nesteld among craggy bluffs and a skyline studded with spires, towers, domes and steeples. Statues adorn the streets and the buildings are all a yellow-grey built from the same local sandstone. Having said that, I have a hard time strolling with no purpose – I feel it’s a waste of precious time. So, I try to walk aimlessly but with an end purpose. We only have 2 full days here so we will likely be pretty busy trying to take in all the sights. Cobblestone streets morph into dank lanes (or wynds and closes) and open into secret gardens; narrow walkways from the castle link up via old stone bridges; and the famous castle in the centre of town, built by King Malcolm III in the late 11the century atop Castle Rock, looms over it all.
Edinburgh is comprised of the Old Town, from the castle on top of the hill, stretching along the Royal Mile, to the palace at the bottom. Just north of the Old Town is New Town. It’s really not that new (from the 1700’s) but has upscale shops, broad boulevards, straight streets, square squares, circular circuses, and Georgian mansions decked out in Greek-style columns and statues.
Edinburgh is big in banking, scientific research and scholarship at it’s four universities. In 1999, when Scotland regained a measure of self-rule, Edinburgh became the home of the Scottish Parliament.
I can’t wait to explore it.
We arrived at our posh apartment, on Carlton Hill, by taxi after turning in the car at the airport, and decided we needed a drink. So we headed to the local pub and had a couple of Tennents beers. Tennents is the local beer in Scotland. My mission was to find elusive, and hopefully free or cheap parking in Edinburgh, as Vic and I still had our car. The bartender was very helpful and gave me a very neat and detailed map of where we could park for free for the duration of our stay here. That was a bonus as the parking In Edinburgh ranges from 2 pounds to 5 pounds an hour. That could get pretty expensive! After winding down at the pub we went to the local grocery store and stocked up on all the essentials we needed for our time here. We then went back to the apartment and waited for the guys to arrive. They came in at about 5:30 and we had a couple more drinks and then went out for dinner and made our plans for the next day.