Our beautiful sunshine is now the
dreary grey rainy weather that we were promised and I’m beginning to think Rita
was right to think we needed rain boots.
For a city built on 7 hills there sure are a lot of puddles that form
with just a little rain. It does make me
feel like Oregon, but this city is far from anything I’ve seen in Oregon or
U.S. except in the movies. It’s a walk
back in history and I mean a “walk”.
People here walk everywhere quickly so when you ask how far something is
it’s always a “10 minute” walk which translates to 30 min. I think one of the pedestrian’s favorite pastimes
is playing “chicken” at the crosswalks.
First you push the walk/stop button and then you run like crazy in front
of the cars. I finally figured out that
if you run with the group that the cars will stop because they don’t want to be
convicted of mass murder. Don’t try it
by yourself.
Rita and I “split up” today š. She really wanted to go to St.
Andrews Golf Course. She promised her
son Ron a picture. It’s reputed to be
the most beautiful and oldest golf course in the world. She only got 3 pictures because her phone had
not charged. She said it was peaceful
and as beautiful as described. It’s set
right up against the sea and has breathtaking views. She does have a picture of herself with a
very handsome Scotsman, kilt and all. Both
have a great smile. Of course, no picture of the actual golf course.
I went the route of going to
Edinburgh Castle….me and about 3,000 other tourists. Apparently, they get two
million visitors a year. It was a good
thing Rita opted for the peaceful route as the castle is at the very highest
hill in Edinburgh. It is Impressive! Again, our ancestors were a mean bunch of
people. Always killing off someone for
various reasons. Poor Queen Mary of
Scots really had a lot to complain about.
Imagine your cousin having your head cut-off. So much for family get togethers.
One of the highlights today was the
commentator on the bus on my bus tour.
He told so many detailed stories, but what really got to me was the way
people lived 300 years ago. It’s amazing
any of us are here because those poor people lived through horrendous conditions. No indoor plumbing meaning you had to go to
the city well to get water and a “nasty bucket” for a bathroom which got tossed
out the window at 10 am each morning. I’ll
just leave the rest of it to your imagination.
The one thing that caused me to some heartbreak
was how the “Christians” of the day treated people who were not “Christians”. He pointed out a beautiful church where they
would bring people out of the church and torture them for various infractions
such as stealing food and other high crimes.
It’s no wonder there are still hard feelings against “Christians”. It just made me feel sad that the church in
those days did not truly understand the meaning of representing Christ.
It’s late and I need to dry out my
clothes and pack for tomorrow. We are
off for Inverness tomorrow via train so that will be another adventure in “what
the heck are we doing”.
 |
| I had to sneak to take this picture of Mary Queen of Scots - No pictures allowed inside the rooms |
 |
| My favorite way to end - The bagpipes of Scotland |
 |
Entrance to Edinburgh Castle
|
No comments:
Post a Comment