Said farewell to the wonderful tour group who were heading back to London this morning while I was taking a 9:59am train to Edinburgh. It was so easy and much closer to go to Scotland from Windermere and much less expensive so it only made sense since I still have a few days before I need to be back in Tunstall.
The trip thus far has been so amazing and I met some really lovely, friendly and encouraging people and would recommend Shearings tour company to anyone who likes to travel by coach. They have trips to Europe that require flight transportation but this is so much nicer and the bus, made by Mercedes, was incredibly comfortable. As you can see from the three pictures I took on the bus we had a very diverse group including one mother and her pre-teen son who was truly a delight, what a sweet, well-behaved and smart young man and he really seems to get along well with his mom.
The train arrived early so I sat in the warmth of the cabin for about 15 minutes talking with a very friendly elderly women who was going to visit her sister in Exeter down south. She had to change trains where I did in Oxenholme but she was taking a train to Woverhampton, yes my mother will remember Wolverhampton from our trip 2 years ago with my sister. It's a very diverse community but I suppose if you're not used to that it could seem a little scary. Anyway, I chatted with this lady the whole trip and she had lived in Edinburgh years ago and still goes back for visits so she gave me some suggestions on things to see and do. She was very happy to share here thoughts on Scotland and just general life in England. She told me years and years ago when she was very young she worked downs south in a cigarette factory and Queen Elizabeth, who had only had her coronation a few years early so still very young herself, came to visit their factory so they all got to meet the queen. I certainly would be excited today if I got to meet her.If you look very closely at the picture above from the left hand corner you can see the rainbow we saw outside our train window soon after we entered Scotland.
A gentlemen named Phil got on the train just a stop before Oxenholme and he joined in with suggestions on what I should do during my visit as well. He had been in the Lake District for the yearly mountaineer Film Festival. Yes, there is a special film festival in this region each year with films featuring topics relating to mountain climbing. Phil is a mountain climber if you hadn't already figured that out and he said one of the films was about an American couple who started off in Seattle and took one whole year to hike, climb and even paddle in a 4 pound blow up dingy of a boat there way to Alaska along the coast. This couple hit every season since it took a year and they slept in a tent even in the winter months. Amazingly the women got pregnant just as they were finishing there expedition. The film actually sounds interesting although nothing about their trip makes me ever want to attempt such a thing and even listening to Phil talk about hiking around the Lake District and Scotland and much of Europe in no way made me want to even consider it. Yesterday I did see many hikers out as we passed in our tour bus and there was even a group of senior citizens in full hiking gear with backpacks and walking sticks heading up the mountain trail. I'm sure it's an addiction for some people like jogging and even the rain, sleet or snow won't stop them.
Phil was continuing on to Edinburgh so he made sure I got the right connection as the older lady went in a different direction then us.
The train went directly to Edinburgh and took just under 2 hours and it was such a nice ride because I had Phil and a lady and another man all sitting next to me and they kept me so amused and laughing the whole ride as well as gave me lots and lots of tips on what to do and see. They were great and the time flew by.
Phil was really sweet and gave me lots of good tips on where to go and here is a picture of him pointing out on a brass miniature replica of Edinburgh city of where everything of real interest was. He made a recommendation of a wonderful lunch place Larder Bistro and I had the yummy fish pie and couscous. I'm sure my mom is cringing at the thought of fish pie but it was like a quiche with veggies and salmon. I thought it was delicious.
The day was spent walking and walking and walking and walking and more walking. I think I walked a total of 6 hours with just a short break for something to drink and a snack. This is an incredibly easy city to walk except you must keep in mind that it's very hilly so going up and down the hills was exhausting and by 8pm when I arrived back to the Halcyon House Hotel I was so exhausted I thought I would just fall asleep in my clothes but I forced myself to take a shower and do the blog or else I would get behind in my writing and never catch up. The hotel is on Royal terrace which is, according to their website, "Europe's oldest and most beautiful Georgian terrace" and I'm sure it's true because it really is beautiful here and although my room is very small and my private bath is actually outside in the hall (yes, I must leave my room to go to my bathroom) it's still perfect. I took a picture of the room from the angle of the bed and then my little sink and sitting area. I'm not sure why have have a sink in the room but my toilet and shower are across the hall but still it's lovely and I was so lucky this morning to find such a great deal online when I'd been checking for days. It's about a 20 minute walk from the train station but I was walking around the town anyway so it didn't matter and the hill with the monument is right above us so I walked up there and then down to the city center.
Edinburgh has great shopping, sightseeing and cultural attractions like several museums and theaters. I would have liked to have seen a show but truly I was so exhausted by 8pm that I don't think I could have stayed awake through a whole musical. They are doing "Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Coat" in the old theater near my hotel but no point in seeing anything when you can't keep your eyelids up.
I won't detail everything I saw bit by bit like I normally do I've just given you some information I found online for most of the main sites I saw and a brief history of Edinburgh. I'm taking a short cut today because if I was too tired to see a play I really am much too tired to write a lot in the blog. I think it's all the fresh air I got today to be this exhausted. I suppose I could have stopped earlier but it was so warm out there today, almost balmy in a way and with no rain which for Scotland in November that's incredible and to top it off there was so much sunshine as well.
Edinburgh Castle is a fortress which dominates the skyline
of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, from its position atop the volcanic Castle
Rock. Human habitation of the site is dated back as far as the 9th century BC,
although the nature of early settlement is unclear. There has been a royal
castle here since at least the reign of David I in the 12th century, and the
site continued to be a royal residence until the Union of the Crowns in 1603.
From the 15th century the castle's residential role declined, and by the 17th
century its principal role was as a military base with a large garrison. Its
importance as a historic monument was recognized from the 19th century, and
various restoration programmes have been carried out since. As one of the most
important fortresses in the Kingdom of Scotland, Edinburgh Castle was involved
in many historical conflicts, from the Wars of Scottish Independence in the
14th century, up to the Jacobite Rising of 1745, and has been besieged, both
successfully and unsuccessfully, on several occasions.
Arthur's Seat is the main peak of the group of hills which
form most of Holyrood Park, described by Robert Louis Stevenson as "a hill
for magnitude, a mountain in virtue of its bold design". It is situated in
the centre of the city of Edinburgh, about a mile to the east of Edinburgh
Castle. The hill rises above the city to a height of 250.5 m (822 ft), provides
excellent panoramic views of the city, is relatively easy to climb, and is
popular for hillwalking. Though it can be climbed from almost any direction,
the easiest and simplest ascent is from the east, where a grassy slope rises
above Dunsapie Loch. (picture from internet)
The Scott Monument is a Victorian Gothic monument to
Scottish author Sir Walter Scott. It stands in Princes Street Gardens in
Edinburgh, opposite the Jenners department store on Princes Street and near to
Edinburgh Waverley Railway Station. The tower is 200 feet 6 inches (61.11 m)
high, and has a series of viewing decks reached by a series of narrow spiral
staircases giving panoramic views of central Edinburgh and its surroundings.
The highest viewing deck is reached by a total of 287 steps (those who climb
the steps can obtain a certificate commemorating the event). It is built from
Binny sandstone quarried in nearby Ecclesmachan. Bill Bryson has described it
as looking like a "gothic rocket ship". (Picture from internet)
The Palace of Holyroodhouse, commonly referred to as
Holyrood Palace, is the official residence of the Monarch of the United Kingdom
in Scotland. The palace stands at the bottom of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, at
the opposite end to Edinburgh Castle. Holyrood Palace is the setting for state
ceremonies and official entertaining. Holyrood Abbey was founded by David I,
King of Scots, in 1128, and Holyrood Palace has served as the principal
residence of the Kings and Queens of Scots since the 15th century. Queen
Elizabeth II spends one week in residence at Holyrood Palace at the beginning
of each summer, where she carries out a range of official engagements and
ceremonies. The palace is open to the public throughout the year, except when
members of the Royal Family are in residence.
The National Monument of Scotland, variously referred to as
Scotland's Disgrace, The Acropolis, the Pride and Poverty of Scotland,
Edinburgh's Disgrace or Edinburgh's Folly, is an unfinished building on Calton
Hill in Edinburgh. It is Scotland's national memorial to the Scottish soldiers
and sailors who died fighting in the Napoleonic Wars, and was intended,
according to the inscription, to be "A Memorial of the Past and Incentive
to the Future Heroism of the Men of Scotland". The monument dominates the
top of Calton Hill, just to the east of Edinburgh's New Town. It was designed
during 1823-6 by Charles Robert Cockerell and William Henry Playfair and is
modelled upon the Parthenon in Athens. Construction started in 1826 and the
building was left in its unfinished state in 1829.
The Nelson Monument is a commemorative tower in honour of
Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson, situated on top of Calton Hill, in Edinburgh,
Scotland and provides a dramatic termination of the vista along Princes Street
from the west. It was built between 1807 and 1815 to commemorate Nelson's
victory over the French and Spanish fleets at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805,
and his own death at the same battle. In 1853 a time ball was added, as a time
signal to shipping in Leith harbour. The monument was restored in 2009. The
Royal Navy's White Ensign and signal flags spelling out Nelson's famous message
"England expects that every man will do his duty" are flown from the
Monument on Trafalgar Day each year.
St Giles' Cathedral is the historic City Church of
Edinburgh. With its famed crown spire it stands on the Royal Mile between
Edinburgh Castle and the Palace of Holyroodhouse. Also known as the High Kirk
of Edinburgh, it is the Mother Church of Presbyterianism and contains the
Chapel of the Order of the Thistle (Scotland's chivalric company of knights
headed by the Queen). There is record of a parish church in Edinburgh by the year
854, served by a vicar from a monastic house, probably in England. It is
possible that the first church, a modest affair, was in use for several
centuries before it was formally dedicated by the bishop of St Andrews on 6
October 1243. The parish church of Edinburgh was subsequently reconsecrated and
named in honour of the patron saint of the town, St Giles, whose feast day is
celebrated on 1 September. That St Giles, a 7th century hermit (and, later,
abbot) who lived in France, became the patron of both town and church was
probably due to the ancient ties between Scotland and France. According to legend, Giles was accidentally
wounded by a huntsman in pursuit of a hind and, after his death in the early
8th century, there were dedicated to him hospitals and safe houses for
cripples, beggars and lepers were established throughout England and Scotland
within easy reach of the impoverished and the infirm. St Giles is usually
depicted protecting a hind from an arrow, which had pierced his own body, a
fine relief of which rests in the tympanum over the west (main) doors of the
Cathedral.
The Dome Restaurant and Bar which you can see in these two pictures,
one of its front façade beautifully
decorated for Christmas already and the other, in the back and on the a lovely
shopping street is their huge Christmas tree. The site of THE DOME was
originally the site of the old Physicians hall (1775), built and designed by
JAMES CRAIG the celebrated planner of Edinburgh's New Town. Unfortunately for
the College of Physicians the original estimate of £2,725 rose to £4,800 by
completion, leaving the College approximately £1,000 in debt. Unsurprisingly
after a short time the College looked for a purchaser and eventually THE
COMMERCIAL BANK OF SCOTLAND made an offer for the site and premise for £20,000
in 1843 - some seventy years later. 
Edinburgh History (Listeni/ˈɛdɪnbʌrə/ ED-in-burr-ə; Scottish Gaelic:
Dùn Èideann) is the capital of Scotland, the seat of the Scottish parliament
and government, the largest city by area and the second largest by population
in the country. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32
local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a
30 square miles (78 km2) rural area. Located in the south-east of Scotland,
Edinburgh lies on the east coast of the Central Belt, along the Firth of Forth,
near the North Sea.
The city was one of the historical major centres of the
Enlightenment, led by the University of Edinburgh, helping to earn it the nickname
Athens of the North. The Old Town and New Town districts of Edinburgh were
listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995 in recognition of the unique
character of the Medieval Old Town and the planned Georgian New Town. It covers
both the Old and New Towns together with the Dean Village and the Calton Hill
areas. There are over 4,500 listed buildings within the city. In May 2010, it
had a total of 40 conservation areas covering 23% of the building stock and 23%
of the population, the highest such ratios of any major city in the UK. In the
2011 mid-year population estimates, Edinburgh had a total resident population
of 495,360.
The city hosts the annual Edinburgh Festival, a group of
official and independent festivals held annually over about four weeks
beginning in early August. The number of visitors attracted to Edinburgh for
the Festival is roughly equal to the settled population of the city. The
best-known of these events are the Edinburgh Fringe, the largest
performing-arts festival in the world; the Edinburgh International Festival;
the Edinburgh Military Tattoo; and the Edinburgh International Book Festival.
Other annual events include the Hogmanay street party and the Beltane Fire
Festival. Edinburgh attracts over 1 million overseas visitors a year, making it
the second most visited tourist destination in the United Kingdom.
For some fun facts about Edinburgh go to this web page and
it’s a quick fun read - http://www.electricscotland.com/familytree/magazine/augsep2003/edinburgh.htm
EDINBURGH has witnessed some momentous events over the
centuries – but there is plenty your history classes never told you about: the
best cure for baldness in the city in the 17th century, or why a bunch of
medieval monks went on strike, for example. And they certainly never explained
where the famous phrase "You’ll have had your tea" comes from. So, in
an effort to bring alive some of the quirky events, tales and myths of
Edinburgh, writer Jim Hewitson has pulled them together in a collection called
Astonishing Scotland! A Cheeky Thesaurus of Scottishness. Here are 50 of the
most peculiar facts about our capital city.
