The next day, we flew from Dublin to Edinburgh (pronounced Edinbura). We stopped by the hotel to check in and drop off the bags. Our room was not ready, so we decided to have some lunch at the hotel. We had a traditional dish called Haggis, Nips, and Tatties, which translated into English, is haggis, turnips, and potatoes. Haggis is a dish that evolved from food shortages through the country's history. It consists of all the leftover parts of an animal (sheep mostly) after it has been stripped of all its good meat. These leftover parts are then ground up, put into a sheep’s stomach, and boiled - that's how it was done in the old days anyway. It has the consistency of corned beef and has a gamey taste, but absolutely delicious. Our waiter told us that the way to eat this dish is to have an equal amount of haggis, turnip, and potato on every forkful. He also mentioned that this is the dish they serve when the country celebrates "Burns night" on January 25th. The poet Robert Burns is somewhat of a national hero, so on this particular night of the year, groups of people get together, eat haggis, drink whiskey, and perform readings of their favorite Burns poetry. After this rather educational lunch, we bought a ticket to see the cities three main attractions: Holyrood Palace, Edinburgh Castle, and the Royal Britannia. The ticket also included two days on all of the cities' four tour buses, so we hopped on one of the buses and got ourselves to Holyrood Palace, which was the original home of Mary, Queen of Scots, and is the current official Scottish residence of the Queen (when she is in town). The Palace was built as an addition to a 12th Century Abbey, built by King David I. The Abbey is said to have been an act of thanksgiving for the King’s miraculous escape from the horns of a deer, while hunting near Edinburgh on Holy Cross day (legend has it that the deer had a cross between its antlers – the King closed his eyes to pray for his life. When he opened them, the deer was gone, but the cross remained). In the church was preserved, in a golden reliquary, the fragment of the True Cross brought by David's mother, St. Margaret, from Waltham Abbey, and known thereafter as the Black Rood of Scotland. After visiting the Palace, we finished out the rest of the bus tour and got ourselves back to the hotel for dinner via a local city bus. The locals on the bus were very polite, always saying hello and thank you to the driver. They were also very friendly with us, always asking if we needed help with directions, asking where we are from, etc. I guess it was obvious that we were tourists given our multiple layers of winter clothes - despite the near zero temperatures, the locals were wearing short sleeve shirts, maybe a light sweater at most. The next day, we traveled south to the town of Rosslyn to tour the Collegiate Chapel of St. Matthew, also known as Rosslyn Chapel, founded in 1446 by Sir William St. Clair. This is the Chapel described in the DaVinci Code and is thought to be the resting place of the Holy Grail (theorized in the DaVinci Code to be code name for the Virgin Mary). The inside of the Chapel is mesmerizing. It contains very intricate stone work designed by Prince William, carved first on wood by carpenters, and then into stone by masons. This detailed stone work is in the columns, around windows, in the ceiling, etc. As many people of the era could not read or write, different biblical themes are presented symbolically by carving objects and people in various poses into the stone. The amount of carvings in the chapel and the level of detail to which this is done is really incredible.
Following our chapel tour, we took bus number 15 back to the city. Upon our return, we boarded another city tour bus and went straight to Edinburgh Castle. The Castle sits on a volcanic rock (known as a crag) and has a beautiful spot overlooking the city. The Castle is not that impressive on the inside, however, it does house the Scottish Crown Jewels, which we were able to see. After exploring the Castle, we walked a bit of the Royal Mile, which is a stretch of road connecting the Castle with the Palace. It just happens to be 1 mile long, hence the name. The Royal Mile is filled with shops and restaurants, as well as a cathedral called St. Giles. About a quarter of a mile down the Royal Mile, we hung a left on Cockburn (pronounced Co-burn) Street, which leads right onto Waverly Bridge. Waverly Bridge connects the Old Town with the New Town and is also the location where all the tour buses depart from. We hopped on yet another tour bus that took us to the water front, where docked is the Royal Yacht, Britannia. The Britannia was the last of the Yachts serving the Royal Family and was decommissioned several years ago, now serving as a museum of sorts. We took a self guided audio tour while the kids were down for their nap. We saw all the amazing rooms on the ship, which included the royal bedrooms (separate rooms for king and queen), living rooms, dining rooms, galleys, officer’s lounge, post office, infirmary, etc. Most impressive was the grand dining room where all the special functions are hosted. It’s a huge room with a dining table seating 30 or 40 people. The room has plush carpeting which can be rolled up to expose a dance floor. The room also has a projection system that can be used to convert the dining room into a movie theater. Other impressive aspects or factoids about the ship include:
- It contains a separate room housing all of the royal silver – each piece of which had to be polished daily.
- The ship has three separate galleys – one for the Royals, one for the officers, and one for everyone else.
- Whenever a crew member performing his regular duties encountered a Royal, he was to stand perfectly still and stare straight ahead until the Royal left the area.
- There were military musicians on board to strike up a tune whenever the Royals wanted to hear some music.
After the tour, we had a late lunch in a restaurant overlooking the water and the Britannia, and then got back on the tour bus to complete the tour circuit for that particular bus. We returned to Waverly Bridge, decided we had had enough for the day, and returned to the hotel. We originally planned to stay in Edinburgh a full three days, but had already seen everything we wanted to see in two. Therefore, we had an extra day to fill, which we decided we would figure out how to do once we got to Glasgow. As such, in the morning, we took one more bus tour before departing for Glasgow. All the bus tours we took were excellent and had live guides. We learned mostly about all the prominent people who came from the area. Glasgow is the literary capital of the world, producing writers such as Robert Burns, Robert Lewis Stephenson, Sir Conan Doyle, and more recently, JK Rowling (we passed the Elephant Café where she wrote most of the first Harry Potter book). In addition, to writers, many other great minds came from Scotland including James Watt (inventor of the steam engine, which in turn spurred the industrial revolution), and Alexander Graham Bell (inventor of the telephone).
After the bus tour, we went to the train station, which is right below Waverly Bridge, and bought our tickets to Glasgow (9 Euros each). The ride was about 45 minutes. We arrived to Glasgow before noon and got ourselves to the hotel, which was just a few blocks away from the station. We bought another hop on hop off bus pass, good until the end of the following day, and put it right to use. Glasgow is a much more modern city than Edinburgh, and while it has plenty of museums (most of which are free to the public), it does not have the historic sites that we most enjoy. We were able to see most of the sites that afternoon and spent the next day visiting the inside of some of the museums. The first stop was to Glasgow Cathedral, founded by St. Mungo, patron saint of Glasgow. St. Mungo brought Christianity to Glasgow in the 6th century. At the time, he referred to the city as the Dear Green Place, which in Scottish translates into Glasgow, hence how the city got its name. Actually, the name “Mungo” is Scottish for Dear One, which is what the people of the area dubbed this man, whose real name was Kelvin. We next went to the following museums:
- St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art (unique museum that explores the importance of religion in people’s lives across the world and across time)
- Transport Museum
- Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
After museum hopping, we had a late lunch and then did some shopping on Buchanan St, one of the main pedestrian shopping areas in town. After becoming shopped out, we went for a late dinner, which turned out to be a problem. Restaurants need a special license to serve families. Some licenses only allow children in their establishment until 6PM. However, after some searching, we were able to find a restaurant in the train station that had a license to serve until 8PM.
Well at this point, we finished all of our sight seeing as well as our shopping and still had an extra day to kill, so we decided to make a trip to Stirling. Stirling is the entrance way to the Highlands of Scotland (and also the entrance way to the lowlands from the perspective of invaders) and is where William Wallace and Robert the Bruce fought their famous battles. Stirling is Northeast of Edinburgh and took us about 1.5 hours to get there with a train/bus combination. When we stepped off the bus, we saw a very long and steep incline leading up to Stirling Castle. Fortunately, one of our favorite hop-on hop-off buses pulled up just as we were getting off the other bus. It took us over Stirling Bridge (where William Wallace fought his famous battle in 1297), to the Wallace Monument, the Robert the Bruce Monument, and finally up to Stirling Castle. The Castle was built by James V and was where Mary was crowned Queen of Scots. It was later abandoned by the Royals and became a barracks for the military. Restoration work began in the late 1900’s and continues on today.
After exploring the castle, we returned to Glasgow and treated ourselves to a fantastic dinner at TGI Fridays, which was a special treat since we do not have one in Zurich.
Following our chapel tour, we took bus number 15 back to the city. Upon our return, we boarded another city tour bus and went straight to Edinburgh Castle. The Castle sits on a volcanic rock (known as a crag) and has a beautiful spot overlooking the city. The Castle is not that impressive on the inside, however, it does house the Scottish Crown Jewels, which we were able to see. After exploring the Castle, we walked a bit of the Royal Mile, which is a stretch of road connecting the Castle with the Palace. It just happens to be 1 mile long, hence the name. The Royal Mile is filled with shops and restaurants, as well as a cathedral called St. Giles. About a quarter of a mile down the Royal Mile, we hung a left on Cockburn (pronounced Co-burn) Street, which leads right onto Waverly Bridge. Waverly Bridge connects the Old Town with the New Town and is also the location where all the tour buses depart from. We hopped on yet another tour bus that took us to the water front, where docked is the Royal Yacht, Britannia. The Britannia was the last of the Yachts serving the Royal Family and was decommissioned several years ago, now serving as a museum of sorts. We took a self guided audio tour while the kids were down for their nap. We saw all the amazing rooms on the ship, which included the royal bedrooms (separate rooms for king and queen), living rooms, dining rooms, galleys, officer’s lounge, post office, infirmary, etc. Most impressive was the grand dining room where all the special functions are hosted. It’s a huge room with a dining table seating 30 or 40 people. The room has plush carpeting which can be rolled up to expose a dance floor. The room also has a projection system that can be used to convert the dining room into a movie theater. Other impressive aspects or factoids about the ship include:
- It contains a separate room housing all of the royal silver – each piece of which had to be polished daily.
- The ship has three separate galleys – one for the Royals, one for the officers, and one for everyone else.
- Whenever a crew member performing his regular duties encountered a Royal, he was to stand perfectly still and stare straight ahead until the Royal left the area.
- There were military musicians on board to strike up a tune whenever the Royals wanted to hear some music.
After the tour, we had a late lunch in a restaurant overlooking the water and the Britannia, and then got back on the tour bus to complete the tour circuit for that particular bus. We returned to Waverly Bridge, decided we had had enough for the day, and returned to the hotel. We originally planned to stay in Edinburgh a full three days, but had already seen everything we wanted to see in two. Therefore, we had an extra day to fill, which we decided we would figure out how to do once we got to Glasgow. As such, in the morning, we took one more bus tour before departing for Glasgow. All the bus tours we took were excellent and had live guides. We learned mostly about all the prominent people who came from the area. Glasgow is the literary capital of the world, producing writers such as Robert Burns, Robert Lewis Stephenson, Sir Conan Doyle, and more recently, JK Rowling (we passed the Elephant Café where she wrote most of the first Harry Potter book). In addition, to writers, many other great minds came from Scotland including James Watt (inventor of the steam engine, which in turn spurred the industrial revolution), and Alexander Graham Bell (inventor of the telephone).
After the bus tour, we went to the train station, which is right below Waverly Bridge, and bought our tickets to Glasgow (9 Euros each). The ride was about 45 minutes. We arrived to Glasgow before noon and got ourselves to the hotel, which was just a few blocks away from the station. We bought another hop on hop off bus pass, good until the end of the following day, and put it right to use. Glasgow is a much more modern city than Edinburgh, and while it has plenty of museums (most of which are free to the public), it does not have the historic sites that we most enjoy. We were able to see most of the sites that afternoon and spent the next day visiting the inside of some of the museums. The first stop was to Glasgow Cathedral, founded by St. Mungo, patron saint of Glasgow. St. Mungo brought Christianity to Glasgow in the 6th century. At the time, he referred to the city as the Dear Green Place, which in Scottish translates into Glasgow, hence how the city got its name. Actually, the name “Mungo” is Scottish for Dear One, which is what the people of the area dubbed this man, whose real name was Kelvin. We next went to the following museums:
- St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art (unique museum that explores the importance of religion in people’s lives across the world and across time)
- Transport Museum
- Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
After museum hopping, we had a late lunch and then did some shopping on Buchanan St, one of the main pedestrian shopping areas in town. After becoming shopped out, we went for a late dinner, which turned out to be a problem. Restaurants need a special license to serve families. Some licenses only allow children in their establishment until 6PM. However, after some searching, we were able to find a restaurant in the train station that had a license to serve until 8PM.
Well at this point, we finished all of our sight seeing as well as our shopping and still had an extra day to kill, so we decided to make a trip to Stirling. Stirling is the entrance way to the Highlands of Scotland (and also the entrance way to the lowlands from the perspective of invaders) and is where William Wallace and Robert the Bruce fought their famous battles. Stirling is Northeast of Edinburgh and took us about 1.5 hours to get there with a train/bus combination. When we stepped off the bus, we saw a very long and steep incline leading up to Stirling Castle. Fortunately, one of our favorite hop-on hop-off buses pulled up just as we were getting off the other bus. It took us over Stirling Bridge (where William Wallace fought his famous battle in 1297), to the Wallace Monument, the Robert the Bruce Monument, and finally up to Stirling Castle. The Castle was built by James V and was where Mary was crowned Queen of Scots. It was later abandoned by the Royals and became a barracks for the military. Restoration work began in the late 1900’s and continues on today.
After exploring the castle, we returned to Glasgow and treated ourselves to a fantastic dinner at TGI Fridays, which was a special treat since we do not have one in Zurich.
