Nigel and Karen in Scotland and Ireland: Day 3
Sunday in Edinburgh! We are finally getting the hang of waking up, I think.
We had breakfast at our Airbnb and set off promptly at 8 to hike up Arthur’s Seat, a mountain situated just behind Holyrood Palace. It’s hard to believe how close these big, barren mountains are from the center of the city. The cool, wet morning air meant there was no sweating, and the overcast sky meant no squinting without sunglasses. I love the weather here. And the view from the highest point of the mountain was fantastic. Yesterday, we’d noticed a cute old church on the Royal Mile, St. Columba’s Free Church, and we decided to join them for worship at 11. We had just enough time to walk there quickly from Arthur’s Seat! Our home church has “fraternal relations” with the Free Church of Scotland, so it felt a very familar there. It was a wonderful break in the hurriedness of our time in the city.
After church, we figured out the correct bus route to take us to the Royal Botanical Gardens—the farthest-away thing we’d attempted to see yet in the city, and the only thing we couldn’t easily walk to. The gardens were free to visit and lovely to look at, even this late in the year. (Check out that crazy tall hedge.) We decided to walk back home from the gardens, which was a bit of a trek. On the way there, we climbed Calton Hill again—this time in the daylight. My feet are killing me. So far, it looks like I did a fantastic job packing for this trip. I don’t feel burdened with unnecessary garments, and I’m wearing everything I brought. But, besides my house shoes, I only brought a pair of penny loafers and duck boots, and they’re not cutting it for all the walking we’ve been doing. I went to the grocery and got a cheap pair of insoles, which I jerry-rigged with folded up paper towels to help my metatarsalgia. What was I thinking not packing better shoes?
After a nice dinner at the Safari Lounge (just up the road from our Airbnb, and recommended to us by our host), we made a long walk back to the Royal Mile and to Ensign Ewart, a pub at the top of the hill. I’d seen that Sandy Brechin, my favorite Scottish accordion player, was going to be leading a session thre. It turns out he leads a session there every sunday night. I don’t know how I managed to miss that during my Edinburgh trip planning, but I’m glad I figured it out in time! People with instruments starting trickling in to the dark, low-ceilinged pub a little after 9 pm, and there were soon too many people to fit around the single reserved table. The next table over, where Karen and I were sitting, got absorbed into the musicians’ space. When the musicians discovered I also played accordion, they asked me to “have a turn” playing. I politely declined this, until they just wouldn’t let me anymore. I ended up playing The Hut on Staffin Island as it was nearing midnight. The straps of the accordion I borrowed were way too loose for me, and even besides that, I did not play very well. But it was sort of a dream-come-true situation! And it was great fun! Certainly my best experience of the trip so far.