Edinburgh

Market Street, Old Town

Hanover Street, New Town

Hiking King Arthur's Seat

If you find yourself in Edinburgh, don't miss it.

Views of Edinburgh and beyond from one of the city's extinct volcanos

Robin taking pictures 

That's me (w/ shout out to LA) 

Edinburgh is so pretty!  

"Hold Stirling and you Control the Country"

      Looking out onto Stirling from the castle wall

I write from an Edinburgh City “First Bus” rattling its way through peaceful byways and villages, all tiny and dotted with signs for institutions like “Ye Olde Hole In The Wall Pub” and “Linlithgow Apothecary”. The bus drops me in Stirling and I meander up the leafy and cobble-stoned hillside walk to the castle. It’s an important region for Scottish pride, so with a full free day, and a sunny one, I wanted to check it off my list. 

If you can deal with history, here are some things I learned:

Stirling itself was the location of two major Scottish victories in the late 1200s/1300s, spaced some 20 years apart: William Wallace (that’s right- “Braveheart”) over the English, and Robert the Bruce at Bannockburn, the victory that established Scottish nationhood. This original castle was torn down after Bruce’s victory, for fear that England would try to sack it again. 

The rebuilt castle was passed along through generations of Stewarts in the 14th and 16th centuries. They seemed hard working and pretty cultured. James IV was “fluent in the native tongue of nearly all of his subjects including barbaric Gaelic”, which I found pretty generous. He built Stirling’s Royal Chapel for the baptism of his son James V, and then V built the Palace to impress his French wife. V is the father of Mary, who was donned Queen of Scots as a 6-day-old infant in the chapel (I went inside). Unfortunately, the main palace was closed for renovation, so I didn’t get to see the really Rennaissance-d out section.

Interior of Royal Chapel, where Mary was crowned

All the fun at Stirling Castle ended when Mary’s son, James VI of Scotland became James I of England and moved the crew south to fight the French, and died in battle, his body lost and never found. Uh, I think.

For me, the most interesting part of the experience was, no surprise, arts-related. 

With grants from British foundations and councils, Stirling Castle is a couple years into project with a talented group of British weavers to re-create the famous Hunt of the Unicorn Tapestries. The tapestries were once in the Stewart family collection, then lost, found in a lady’s vegetable cellar, and eventually purchased by Rockefeller for New York’s Cloisters Museum. 

Master weavers are working full time on the tapestry recreation, and the public can go in and watch. There are signs everywhere warning DO NOT TALK TO WEAVERS and THIS REQUIRES INTENSE CONCENTRATION, NO QUESTIONS PLEASE. I wasn’t fooled. All artists know that other artists love talking about their work, and this artist was no exception. She was happy to pipe in when I quizzed the guard on artsy questions that she didn’t know how to answer.  

She has been working professionally for 20 years, and you could tell - she was relaxed when she sat down to work. The massive construction of warp and weave didn’t seem the least bit overwhelming to her. Speaking to the artist was very cool, and much more engaging than my audio tour, so I spent the bulk of my time at the castle hanging around the studio.

After the day of touring, I got on the 2 hour bus to Edinburgh and fell asleep horizontally. A fellow rider woke me at one point to see if I was alright -- guess I was looking pretty knocked out. I blame it on all this history!

Ray LaMontagne in Concert

Between songs, a guy in the audience yelled out,"REEE ! EEYUU AHER AH GAAHD!" 

On Exploring our Neighborhood

Walking around Edinburgh 

Waverly Station in City Centre

My new flat mate, fellow Rotary Scholar Robin, arrived a week before me and did the research to find our place. Robin is from Leveland, Texas, and is friendly, creative and pursuing a Master’s degree in Producing from the Screen Academy Scotland, affiliated to Napier. I knew we would get along when we both came home with bottles of wine before buying any groceries whatsoever.

She found us a flat off of a street called Leith Walk. It’s spacious and sunny, has a great kitchen for cooking, and comes furnished with everything down to a “hoover” and new garlic press. It also has an adorable fake fireplace that glows.

Our neighborhood is residential, a 10 minute walk west to City Centre at Princes Street. 15 minutes to Edinburgh Castle. 20 minutes to ECA campus. Heading east, its 45 minutes to Leith itself, looking on the Firth of Forth (yes, to Fife). After three years of Los Angeles car culture, I am loving Edinburgh’s accessibility. 

Recently we made our first venture to a neighborhood pub. We bought a pint and walked out to the patio, finding seats next to a group of jovial Scottish men. One guy got up immediately, motioned for us to squish our chairs closer to one another, and put a green felt blanket around our shoulders. Chivalry is alive! 

Over the next few hours and pints, we laughed a lot and learned some things. The guys were out in traditional Scottish celebration to “wet the baby’s back” - ie, celebrate the birth of one guy’s baby daughter. I learned that Ewan McGreggor is NOT ENGLISH (oops) and that under no circumstances should one confuse a Scot for a Englishman. We learned that blanket guy was actually an Irish war hero, and had received his country's equivalent of the Congressional Medal of Honor. Incidentally, he was IMPOSSIBLE to understand. The only thing I caught the whole evening was the following expression: “A man is a man, a woman is a woman, a flower is a flower, a pair of boots is a pair of boots”. Meaning remains indecipherable.

Politics might be inappropriate party conversation, but our party conversation turned political by the first round. The only reason it stopped is because we were all getting a wee bit depressed. This particular group of Scots, all decorated military veterans of the 1st Gulf War, were vehemently opposed to the war in Iraq, and had negative things to say about their own leaders. They were especially perturbed that neither Blair nor Brown has been present to receive the coffin of a military deceased at Britain’s equivalent of Arlington. On the brighter side, all of us sitting round the table shared high hopes for the next eight years : ) 

East Lothian

The Moors of East Lothian

North Berwick Harbor

UK Volunteers (they protect the waters)

Dunbar Harbor

Thoughts on Castles

It’s no joke, there are castles everywhere, and they are the most immediate example that this land is rich with story and lore and heritage. You feel it instantly. I’ve sensed this a few times in the US - say, traversing Gettysburg battlefield, roaming through founding neighborhoods of Lower Manhattan or Philadelphia, even well-preserved Colonial or Craftsman homes in Connecticut and California. The feeling is pervasive here.

The North Sea & Lichen

Before my flat is ready for move-in, I am spending my first few days about 25 miles east of Edinburgh, in the town of Dunbar, in the region of East Lothian. I am staying with the lovely and generous Alan and Elizabeth Burchell. Alan is a first year Rotarian and as my host counselor, I will work with him and his club to arrange projects and partake in local service. Particularly, I am hoping to link Dunbar and my sponsor club, LA5, in applying for and completing a project with the help of a Rotary Foundation matching grant. 

Alan and Elizabeth have given me an incredibly generous welcome. They met me at the airport in my most jet-lagged state, and didn't mind that the first thing I wanted to do in Scotland was take a nap. World travelers themselves, they knew where I was coming from. They have been cooking tasty food (salmon, roasted chicken, exploding apples!), preparing many pots of tea, and showing me around this coastal region that they know as their own. Dunbar is actually the birthplace of John Muir. I can see how starting out here would inspire a life dedicated to the natural world. Gorgeous is an understatement. 

My tour guides, Rotary host counselors

Alan & Elizabeth Burchell of Dunbar

We spent the bulk of 2 days exploring, and my first taste of Scottish history was thorough. Dunbar Castle is considerably crumbled, but imposing; standing along its foundation facing out to the sea, my imagination wandered to the figures who defended the place through generations. One feisty woman was named Black Agnes. Her husband was out to lunch, so Agnes succeeded in defending her digs through five months of attacks.     

   Laundry Day in North Berwick

Dunbar Castle & the North Sea

Tantallon was considerably more preserved, and we were able to climb to the top of it- something I figured would have been off limits because it is so ancient. At this castle,  I purchased a Historic Scotland pass which grants free admission to some seventy more during the year. Store discount too -- now taking orders for fine whiskys and anything plaid...

Something interesting I learned from Alan is that if part of a historic site in Scotland crumbles, it is against the law to put it back together AT ALL. Guess this comes from fear that it might be re-constructed improperly, or that touching it would make it fall down even more.