Scotland Part 1

     Tuesday morning we packed up our stuff and started out for Edinburgh. My parents and Robyn had arrived there the day before on one of my dad's Edward Jones trips. We were going to meet them up there and have a Scottish holiday together. The drive was a lovely one through the Scottish countryside.

Fields were crisscrossed with stone fences like these.

     Once we made it into Edinburgh, we had a challenging time trying to get to my parent's hotel where we were meeting them. One of the roads that Gertrude wanted us to take was closed for construction and we ended up driving in circles for a while before finding a road that would actually take us to the hotel. We pulled up in the hotel's courtyard and a doorman in a kilt pointed out the way to a parking garage where we could leave the car. As we emerged from the parking garage we were spotted by my family who had been watching for us in the lobby. There were hugs all around. We were all excited to see each other but I think my mom and Taran tied for the most excited. = )

    We took a quick visit to their room. It was very nice. They were staying at the Grand Sheraton hotel in downtown Edinburgh. But for all it's grandness the best they could do for a bed for Robyn was an air mattress on the floor. You'd think that for what Edward Jones is spending on the room they could have given her a real bed!  >: (

     Edinburgh Castle was not very far from their hotel - in fact, they had a great view of it from their window. So we decided to take a walk up to the castle before supper.

Edinburgh Castle

     The Romans had a settlement in Edinburgh as early as the 2nd century AD. They built a fortress on the site of the current castle which is actually the top of an extinct volcano. It became a royal residence of Scottish kings in 1126 when King David I lived there. In the years of wars between the Scottish and English, the castle changed hands many times. Mary, Queen of Scots, gave birth to James VI (who later became James I of England) in this castle. It has a fascinating history but it would take too long to relate it all so I'll let you do your own research. = )

    The road leading from Edinburgh Castle to the Holyrood Palace is called the Royal Mile. It is a Scot's mile long - that's about 1.12 miles to everyone else. It is lined with cool old buildings, shops, and churches.

Once an old church built in the mid 19th century.
Now, the Hub, home of the Edinburgh
International Festival.

St. Giles Cathedral

Along the road there were many of these alleys
called "closes" each with a different name.
This one is believed to date from 1544.

The Mercat Cross

    A mercat cross was a symbol that a town had been granted permission to hold a regular market in town. The permission was given by a king or bishop and was a sign of a town's prosperity. The Edinburgh mercat cross is topped with a unicorn. The unicorn is the official national animal of Scotland. It symbolizes innocence, purity and joy and was also seen as a symbol of masculinity and power.

So beautiful!

    On our way to find something to eat, we happened by The Elephant House, the birthplace of the Harry Potter novels.

The Elephant House

    J.K. Rowling wrote much of the earlier novels in the series sitting right there in that cafe.

    We also visited the little statue that remembers the Greyfriars Bobby.

Greyfriars Bobby

   The story goes that little Bobby's owner, John Gray, died in 1858. He was buried in the Greyfriar's Kirkyard. This little terrier then spent 14 years sitting at his master's grave until he died in 1872. He was buried not far from his master's grave. A year later this statue was erected to commemorate the little loyal dog.

     Then we headed over to a restaurant called Nando's. This is apparently the favorite restaurant of one of the members of Robyn's favorite bands, One Direction. The food was good and Robyn got her "One Direction" moment - everyone was happy. = )

     We went back to the Grand Sheraton to visit for a while before we drove to our hotel.

In front of the Grand Sheraton

Looking down from hotel window.
Girls are sitting on the big ball;
Taran is somewhere ripsticking.

    You might have guessed - we weren't staying at the Grand Sheraton. We were staying in the nearby town of Dunfermline at a Holiday Inn Express. Edinburgh sits on the south side of the Firth of Forth, an inlet of the North Sea. Dunfermline is on the north side, directly opposite Edinburgh. Edinburgh is in the county of West Lothian and Dunfermline is in the Kingdom of Fife. I just love it that we were staying in a place called the Kingdom of Fife and we had to cross over the Firth of Forth to get there. It just sounds so Scottish! Getting there, though, was not my favorite part. Actually, getting out of Edinburgh was the hard part. The half hour it should have taken to get to our hotel stretched to an hour as we drove around Edinburgh trying to find the highway. Gertrude was very little help since she kept trying to get us on roads that were closed. We did finally make it and I had the best night's sleep since we left Bruchsal. (I forgot to mention that in the London hotel the water pipes made the most horrible noises all night long. Fortunately I was the only one that was kept up. Unfortunately, I was the one kept up!)