In the National Museum. It’s cool to be on Thomas Chalmers’ home turf.
Nigel and Karen in Scotland and Ireland: Day 2
Saturday was our second day in Edinburgh. I slept nearly 11 hours—until about 9 am, and woke up feeling clammy. That was almost assuredly because our bed had no top sheet—just a fitted sheet and a duvet. Is not using top sheets a thing here?
Anyway, we got moving and by 10 we’d entered St. Giles’ Cathedral, another notable building situated on the Royal Mile (noticing a theme?). Of course, I went there for Knox, who presided over the Scottish Reformation as pastor there and who I am currently reading a new biography about. The building is a gorgeous hodgepodge of medieval and victorian architecture with some stunning neoclassical, art nouveau, and modernist plaques and memorials inside. All in all, the interior was more ornate and busy than I was expecting, and it was difficult to imagine the iconoclasic Knox preaching in a nave full of decorations and doodads. Great job, Church of Scotland!
Next we made our way to Greyfriars Kirk, which is where the National Covenant was signed. How unpleasant it was to find a “DIY craft fair” happening in the sanctuary of the church, where people at tables were selling things like dreamcatchers and chakra stones. Made me want to flip over some tables. After wandering through the Greyfriars Kirkyard, which was beautiful and peaceful in the hazy mist, Karen and I ate lunch of cheese and bread on the Grassmarket, sitting on a marker commemorating the spot where over 100 Covenanters were executed. This place is dripping with history, and so much of that is Scottish Reformation history.
We saw Edinburgh Castle after lunch. We didn’t buy tickets ahead of time, which meant waiting in a long but quick line full of tourists from all over the world, a majority of whom were using selfie sticks at any given time. There were a lot of different things to see in the Castle, including the Scottish crown jewels and Edinburgh’s oldest structure, a chapel built in 1092.
Next we decided to check out the National Museum of Scotland (the “Scottish Smithsonian”), which was crawling with kids and parents. (Not tourists, though. I think this is a place where local families go.) The place is a combined science museum and natural history museum with things for all ages. Daunting to imagine looking at half of what’s inside. We spent all the time we had (about two hours) looking through the seven floors (!) of Scottish history. I particularly enjoyed seeing artifacts from—you guessed it—the Scottish Reformation, including some beautiful handmade Covenanter flags, a printed metrical psalter, a stool that may have been Jenny Geddes’, and an old pew that converted into a table with bench seats for partaking in the Supper.
Once the museum closed, we walked over to Captains Bar where there was some music on, which was cool—and it did not feel like a TGI Friday’s, which was great—then we had dinner at a nearby “comfort food” place. The vibe was certainly very comfortable and the food was suitably cozy and greasy, but it tasted foreign. I think I’m starting to pick up on a trend: all the food here is less flavorful than I’m expecting it to be, and the British idea of “meat seasoning” is not my idea of “meat seasoning”—seasoned meat tastes like a Christmas spice cake. It’s good. Just not what I’m used to.
We picked that dinner place because it was right across the street from Sandy Bell’s, another pub with a big reputation for trad music. The place was crowded, but we got seats in the back room where there were three old guys (“Freddie and the Boys”) singing and playing very leisurely. Every 10 minutes two of them would roll a cig and step outside. The social dynamic of this is not something I’m accustomed to: you’re sitting in a pub listening to people play music, but you’re really all there to drink and hang out, and it’s not a concert or anything, because nobody feels any pressure to do anything in particular. But it was a great experience. Lots of fun.
It gets dark around here about 4:30 pm, so it’s hard to stay out late, especially when you’re drained from a long day of walking. But we did better tonight than last night. Here’s to tomorrow!
The view from our Airbnb in Edinburgh. People are allowed to park any ol’ direction they please.
The “John Knox House” on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, just down the hill from Edinburgh Castle and a stonesthrow away from St. Giles’ Cathedral, where Knox preached.
We flew to Edinburgh on Aer Lingus by way of Dublin. Their branding and livery is pretty on-the-nose.