My last day in Scotland I spent being a tourist around Edinburgh.  I shopped along Princes Street.  Bought a kilt for my husband so that when I miss bits of Scotland, I’ll my own adorable Scotsman at home. 

I listened to my last on-the-street bagpipe performance.  Let’s face it, pipers are just not too common in Bellevue!

I visited the Sir Walter Scott Monument.  You can’t go far in Scotland without seeing some reference to Sir Walter Scott or Robert Burns.  Two authors they still love today. 

I toured the National Museum of Scotland.  This was a wonderful thing to do at the end of my trip because it had little bits and pieces of all the sights I had seen during my journey through the Highlands.  It was a wonderful way to synthesize all the information I’d gathered. 

I went to a Scottish dinner show and tried Haggis . . . one small bite.  Didn’t taste too bad, but I couldn’t get past what they ground up to put in the stuff (hint for those of you haggis novices, they use all the “other” parts that one normally doesn’t eat of sheep and cows, mix it with oats and spices and boil it in intestine).  All that kind of made the whiskey tasting that followed seem like a joy.  I even found a Whiskey that I didn’t detest too much. 

I got my last midge bite.  I will not miss those little guys at all!  And I ate my last scone.  I found I preferred the Edinburgh scones with little pieces of fruit in them to the regular.  Had to sample my way through Scotland just to confirm that theory.  Tough job, but someone had to do it.

I’ve loved my time here in Scotland.  It’s a place that has felt incredibly familiar.  A place I felt very accepted and met some very wonderful people.  It’s proved to me that we, as a society, have come a long way from those early Neolithic days, but that we have not forgotten what is truly important in life—each other and our shared history.

From Scotland for the last time,

Cheers, mates!

--Gerri

Today it was raining a lot.  I even broke down and bought an umbrella.  After that, the rain stopped, of course.  But it didn’t matter.  I’d already decided to spend the day touring inside at the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

The Palace at Holyroodhouse stands at the end of Edinburgh’s Royal Mile and is the official residence of the Queen when she is in Scotland.  The State Apartments are renowned for their magnificent plasterwork ceilings and beautiful tapestries.  One of the most impressive rooms in the Palace is the Great Gallery where you find portraits of real and legendary kings of Scotland.

The Palace is probably best known as the home of Mary, Queen of Scots, and was the setting for many dramatic episodes in her short reign.  It was here Mary witnessed the brutal murder of her secretary, Rizzo, by her jealous husband.

On the grounds of the Palace are the ruins of the 12th-century abbey.  According to legend, King David I founded the abbey on the very spot where he had a vision of a stag with a cross between its antlers. 

Tomorrow is my final day in Scotland.  I’m heading for the Royal Museum and the Museum of Scotland.  I’ll report in when I can.

Until then,

--Gerri

Edinburgh is a very big city, and very crowded at present.  Usually there are half a million people that live in the area.  Currently there are over a million people in town.  Why?  Someone thought it was a great idea to have every festival the city hosts during the month of August.  The streets are packed with people attending the International Festival of Music and Drama, The Fringe Festival, the Film Festival, Jazz and Blues Festival, the Book Festival, the Arts and Crafts Festival, and the Military Tattoo, that alone attracts 10,000 people each night.  Lots and lots of people. 

It is kind of fun though to walk down the streets and everywhere you look there are venues of the Fringe Festival.  These are the acts that want to participate in the Festival of Music and Drama but didn’t get into the more traditional venues.  Yesterday I got to hear several music acts and witnessed a play being performed in the doorway of a men’s restroom.  Unique to say the least.

The big highlight of the day was touring Edinburgh Castle.  Everywhere you look in the city center, the castle is there, perched atop a rock bluff.  You enter through the front gate, cross the stone bridge, then proceed through five gates and an iron portcullis before you reach the lower level of the castle.  Very impressive and effective security.  And still the castle was taken over at least twice in its history.  Another highlight of the castle tour for me was seeing the Honors of Scotland—the crown, the scepter, the sword, and the Stone of Destiny that I featured in my first book, The Warrior Trainer.  It looks exactly as I imagined.

The afternoon found me at Roslyn Chapel.  The guide at Roslyn Chapel said two miracles have come to the chapel.  The first being that Cromwell did not destroy the place during his campaign through Scotland.  He housed his horses in the chapel, destroyed the nearby Roslyn Castle, but left the chapel untouched.  The second miracle was Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code.  So many visitor have flooded to the chapel since the launch of the book and the subsequent movie, that much needed funds have come to the chapel that have allowed for massive restoration efforts to preserve what was starting to decay.

Tomorrow, I get to stay put in Edinburgh for a while and do some necessary research.  Check in with me tomorrow to see where I’ll be.

--Gerri