Our Trip to Europe

Day 8 – Glasgow, Scotland

Today we left very early for Edinburgh, Scotland. The drive was approximately 90 minutes. As usual, the weather was overcast and by the time we reached Edinburgh it had started to rain. We walked up the hill to Edinburgh Castle. On each side of the entrance are statues, one of King Robert the Bruce and Sir William Wallace (Braveheart). Inside the castle grounds, we headed straight for the Scottish crown jewels. They weren’t as spectacular as the English crown jewels but these were much older. The original English jewels were lost and replaced but the Scottish were able to hide their jewels so these were the originals. Also on display with the jewels was the “Stone of Destiny” which appears to be nothing more than a large rock. The Scots, however, hold it in high regard. It is used at all coronation ceremonies since the 9th century. It was stolen from Scotland by the English and kept in England from 1296 to 1996 when it was finally returned to Scotland under the agreement that they would return it to Westminster Abbey in London for all future coronations. After viewing the jewels, we continued to tour the castle and all the various buildings and memorials within the grounds. We also went into the oldest building in Edinburgh which is St. Margaret’s Chapel. It was very small but very beautiful inside. There is a cannon called the One O’Clock Cannon that they shoot off every day except Sunday to mark the time. The ships in the bay use the shooting of the cannon to set their time by. Also on the grounds was a memorial to all the Scottish men who lost their lives in wars which was very interesting and touching. There was also a museum housing old weaponry, uniforms worn by the Scottish warriors and information about all the wars they have been involved in. We finished up around lunch time – it is STILL raining, and we headed back down the Royal Mile looking for The Elephant House where we planned on having our lunch. Found it and got a table. It was a very interesting restaurant with more locals than tourists. We found out that JK Rowling eats there and they had a bulletin board dedicated to her. It was surprising to see a local with his very large black lab inside the restaurant laying on the floor next to their table. No way could you get away with that in the US.

We were running out of time so we headed back to towards the street where we were to meet back up with the bus. On the way, came across a couple of men dressed to the nines in women’s clothes. They were attracting a lot of attention. Not sure what it was all about but interesting anyway. Saw the memorial to Sir Walter Scott – very gothic – and some of the shopping areas. We have been surprised that everywhere we go you always see McDonalds and Starbucks.

Tomorrow is a day at sea and we have the chocolate buffet tonight at 11:30. Trying to stay awake for that since we can sleep in tomorrow. Our next port will be Alesund, Norway.