Scotland - Day 2

So sorry for the delay in getting day 2 posted. It's been a whirl wind of sights and traveling and booking the last of my accommodations. Word to the wise: even if your trip is more or less last minute, book stuff before you leave.

After breakfast, I returned to the city to explore the western side of what is called the Royal Mile, which extends slightly uphill for roughly a mile from the royal palace Holyrood, where the royals tended to prefer to spend their time when safe, to the Edinburgh castle. Along the way, I stopped in at St. Giles Cathedral, where famous Scottish preacher John Knox was said to have preached from. (John Knox, interestingly, was a protestant minister who was captured in St. Andrews and forced to row in the galleys of a French ship for several years, after which he was released, studied with the Calvinists, and then returned to Scotland and ultimately Edinburgh). The steeple of St. Giles is quite unique - it is open with only framing supports, looking much like a crown.

Next I proceed to the castle itself, which is quite the popular tourist attraction - I had to wait in line for ~45 minutes. Note to self - next time, don't get distracted, but go immediately to the most popular attraction first to beat the crowds. I spent several hours at the castle, which is quite impressive and has a rich history of wars and sieges. There's even a little chapel on top where you can get married (there was even a ceremony going on during my visit). Supposedly it's very popular among brides' fathers, as it only seats about 20.

After the castle, I made a short trip to the National Museum of Scotland to learn more about the early history of Scotland. I unfortunately got there too late to see everything I wanted to, but between it and some other sources, I've become to develop a much deeper appreciation for Scotland's history, which I will briefly butcher below.

To start off, I'll point out that while I have always appreciated Scotland's desire for freedom, I never truly understood the extent of it. I suppose I just thought they were of English decent, but didn't like the way the English went about things. In reality, at least prior to the last few centuries when the cultures melded further together, Scotland was mostly populated by peoples distinct from the English. The reality is, even the Roman empire couldn't successfully conquer Scotland, instead building Hadrian's Wall at what is roughly the Scottish border to defend from the "savages" to the north. There were several groups of people who lived in different areas of Scotland, including the Norse, the Celts, and the Picts. By the 10th century, Scotland had a Gaelic culture and was more or less united under the Mac Alpin dynasty. As England grew in strength, in continually tried to conquer and rule Scotland, but Scotland eventually one its freedom under Robert the Bruce (of Braveheart fame). Ironically, James VI of Scotland (son of Mary, Queen of Scots) inherited the throne of England and thus, despite England's never-ending efforts to control Scotland, it instead became ruled by a Scottish king. At this point, of course, everyone in the royal families of Europe were so inter-related that the whole concept of nation battling nation turned into a tragic farce of familial in-fighting. In the early 1700s, Scotland and England were officially joined to form Great Britian - Scotland had relented because its leaders and merchants saw England as an opportunity to grow their wealth. Only recently, has concept of a Scottish "devolved" government really gained momentum, most noted by their new parliament. Of a related note, England and Scotland have not always been one landmass, which was quite surprising to me. Perhaps its Scottish propaganda, but they claim that Scotland and England were at one point two separate islands, and when they finally collided, the resulting force is what created the mountains in the north, known to us as the Highlands.

Anyway, with my brief history lesson over, I'll return to the day. Sometime around late afternoon I happened to see a man in a kilt (not uncommon here, of course) who looked as if he were sagging. It's hard to say, but it looked like his kilt was hanging awfully low on his rear end. I never thought I'd see that. There is a certain pride in a Scot wearing a woollen skirt, but what this man was doing was quite ridiculous.

Before dinner, I did a wee bit of shopping ("wee" is a required term here, it seems), including stopping at Caidenhead's, Scotland's oldest independent bottler, for a taste of whisky (not called Scotch, here, of course). And don't put an "e" in it, either. That's what the Irish do, and I imagine it would be met with strict censure here.

For dinner, I stopped at the Beehive Inn in Grassmarket (just below the southern cliff of the castle) for a quick meal prior to the next event of the day. I had a minced lamb pie, which was okay, but far less exciting than dinner the night before. I think the quality of the food was in some way a result of the restaurant in the inn clearly being owned by a corporation. In fact, sadly, it sounds like almost all of the local pubs have had to sellout to larger businesses, in many cases breweries, which has had a negative impact on the atmosphere and likely tastiness of the fare.

After dinner, I enjoyed the Literary Pub Tour, which involves two actors debating the merits and inspirations of some of Scotland's most famous poets and authors, while leading us to several pubs around the city. It was recommended by both of my guide books and turned out to be worth the praise. At a couple of the pubs, I sampled two whiskys that were new to me - Springbank and Laphroaig, the latter of which the barkeep told me was very smoky, which it was and is characteristic of the region it is from. My favorite of the pubs was Ensign Ewart, the cramped interior of which is rich with dark wood, swords, and pistols. It is also the closest pub to the castle.

At the very start of the tour/performance, a woman in the front row started to talk rather loudly to the man next to her. The performer took the occasion to remind everyone that it is in fact a performance, and he requests that people try not to talk during it or ask questions. However, just a couple minutes later, the woman began to ask him a question. I was embarrassed for her, but also though, "oh boy, one those, I hope she doesn't ruin the whole thing." But I was soon to learn that the whole thing was a rouse - she was in fact the other performer. The whole premise of the show is the one actor takes and edgy interpretation of the writers as inspired by the common man and his drunken rabble-rousing, while the other takes a more academic perspective and sees them as geniuses above the filth. Their bickering makes for quite an entertaining way to experience the city.

One point they make during the tour is that recently, a well-known Scottish writer claimed that a people cannot have a unique culture unless they have a unique language. Now many might then claim the Scots cannot have a unique culture because they speak English. However, this writer made the point that Scots don't speak English, but "Scots". It's similar to English, but has many words and phrasings (and intonations) that are quite different. One of the actors then proceeded to read one of this writer's poems in its original Scots and then translated into English. I hardly understood the first version, which he read in a dramatic fashion with a thick Scottish brogue, so I'm more or less convinced of the claim. We'll see how much I can understand once I move to the more remote areas of the Highlands.

Once the tour had ended, I snuck out of the last pub before grabbing a drink and headed home to promptly fall asleep. I hadn't stopped moving, really, since the early morning.

During the day, I also learned that the remnants of a hurricane had moved back across the Atlantic and was headed for Scotland. I couldn't believe it!? I never thought they came over here - wasn't Irene enough for me this year?