Goodbye, Edinburgh!

Our final day in Scotland we wandered the streets with our backpacks on, getting in the last of it as we made our way slowly to the airport.

Our first stop of the morning was actually this building which houses George Heirot's School. Fun fact: J. K. Rowling wrote her first few Harry Potter books in a nearby cafe and reputedly modeled Hogwarts after this location! So naturally I pretended I was heading there for my first day of classes...

The cafe Rowling frequented is this one to the left, right near Greyfriars Bobby (if you click on the link, look up this story by clicking around on that site. I love this little guy!). She would sit in the back along the windows and look out over the city of Edinburgh. I definitely agree with this post that mentions the fact that this is a city where one can imagine people with magical powers strolling along the little lanes. 

In the morning we realized that much of the main section of the Royal Mile was blocked off for Remembrance Day activities (Veterans Day in the US). Thank you, veterans. I'm a few days behind blog-wise but I'm always grateful. 

Quick shift into the warmth and beauty-filled rooms of the Scottish National Gallery. We even got to see "The Kiss" the sculpture you see above, by Rodin. Personally I loved the flowing marble of the dresses on the sisters below. Plus that ice skating Preacher! So whimsical. Also, did you notice? That's Niagara Falls in the background on the left! 

Last item on our list of things to do in Edinburgh was finding this little walkway that mostly locals only are privy to. It runs along a small river and passes by houses and neighborhoods off the tourist beat. It really must be true because it was basically deserted our entire time on it. I love finding the secret spaces.

Goodbye, Scotland. You were good to us (well, mostly. Chris did get sick from too many jalapenos on those nachos...) and I would love to come back to you someday. 25 days, Rochester!

Rosslyn Chapel

Something I forgot to mention in previous posts about our trip here is actually a thing I'm pretty proud of. When Chris and I decided to do London for our anniversary I realized that we would be heading to the UK for three more trips during our stay in Europe. So we got quite a bit of cash changed over from Euros to Pounds for anytime our credit card wouldn't be accepted. After our trips to London and Liverpool were over we discovered we still had 95 British Pounds left. We were determined to spend every last pence and try not to exceed that during our three day trip, meaning we were going to leave our credit and debit cards out of the picture. Impossible, you say? Well, that's true, we did get on the plane with 8 pence left in our pockets.

What a fantastic little Scottish cottage!

But the reason I'm telling you all about this money stuff is because when we arrived in Roslin, with an aim to visit the Rosslyn Chapel (home to supposed connections to Freemasonry and the Knights Templar, both debunked), we discovered it had a rather hefty price tag attached to its exploration. 9 pounds per visitor. That's almost 15 dollars to see this rather teeny church. No matter how historic...that's too steep a price for me. And it definitely didn't fit into our weekend budget. So we backed out of the ticketing area and walked outside. The picture above is all that can be seen of the Chapel from the road. There is a rather large concrete wall blocking most of it from the poor public such as ourselves. Once outside we decided to stroll further down the road past the Chapel since we had taken the bus all the way out here. A little ways down the road, while I took a picture of the surrounding hills and their changing fall colors, Chris discovered a little path. I followed him down it and this is what we found...

Didn't even have to pay to see it. 

And we were treated to even more fantastic views around the corner from the church that we wouldn't have otherwise!

And now the entire thing has been viewed. 

This is the other side of that little door I took a picture of earlier. I thought it was private...it probably is but we walked through quickly and pretended it was an everyday occasion for us to be in that backyard... Back down the road into the small town we decided it was time for food and found a seriously quaint little restaurant across the road from the bus stop. We took our time eating nachos (??), thick sandwiches and french onion soup all with two and half cups each of delightful English Breakfast Tea. I guess you could say this was kind of a strange meal but the waiter didn't even blink at our order.

Another successful outside-the-city experience but now it's back down the road to Edinburgh. One last day in Scotland until we head off into Parisian territory! And only 26 days until we touch down in Rochester, NY!!!

Holyrood Palace Abbey

Chris and I stumbled through the entrance to these ruins after wandering around beautifully detailed rooms that the Queen of England still resides in each summer. In 1128 this Abbey was founded by King David I and it lasted for 640 years until in 1768 the roof collapsed during a storm. Before then the place of worship had undergone quite a few traumatizing events and maybe this storm was the last straw before it was allowed to rest in peace. 

It was sad to see such a grand building in ruins but that made it more beautiful to me somehow. We have seen our fair share of ancient and mesmerizing churches this year but one step inside this one and found myself standing with breath bated. Maybe it was the autumn leaves stretching golden fingers through the windows, just as enchanting and lovely as any stained glass. Or maybe it was when the rain started to fall lightly and land on my hair that I felt closer to God in this church than in many of the opulent, marble and gilded naves I'd been in before. After all, isn't He in everything, all around us? In the wind and falling leaves and the rain as well? What I know for certain is that I was captivated by those weather-worn stones. It made the entire visit worthwhile.


27 days!

Windy King Arthur's Seat

On our second day in Edinburgh we headed out into nature in our (kinda) designer boots and semi-windproof jackets. Not the most prepared outdoorsmen but our attire didn't deter me. As I've said time and again on this blog and throughout our lives actually, sometimes my favorite parts of a trip are the forays into the less-busy side of whatever city we're exploring. No exception here. Arthur's Seat was a volcano way back when, never climbed one of those before.

On the way back down this hike we both slipped a few times. No butts landing in the mud, thankfully, but we came pretty close. A lot of heart-palpitating, half second slides on the mud followed by windmilling arms and then, with feet once again firmly planted,  furtive glances around us to see who witnessed that embarrassing moment. Can't you feel that heart-dropping, feet itching feeling of an almost slip right now as you read this? Ugh I hate those!

(this is not edited)

Look! A 5k!

 Sorry, tons of Chris in this post. I can't help it. He's so dashing! I guess being sick agrees with him.

"The sun's too bright I can't open my eyes. Count to three and I'll lower my hat. How was that one? Oh, one more? Okay." Heh heh heh. 28 days!