Josh and Laura toured Edinburgh Castle on Sunday the 22nd of September. Laura shared her photos with me.
From this view of Edinburgh that Laura captured at the top of the castle walls you can see the Church I was visiting while they were in the castle, The Parish church of St. Cuthbert. Further in the distance the three spires you see are from St. Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral that we visited later in the afternoon.
The castle is a worthwhile place to visit for any first timers to Edinburgh. You can read about the history of the castle here.
My next few posts will be from our last full day in Edinburgh. We had a private tour in the morning and continued to walk our legs off in the afternoon!
Back to the present: Today is the last day of January and in our little corner of the world we are getting some light snowfall. Hope all is well in your corner!
On Saturday September 21, 2024 we left Dunfermline to Stirling to turn in our car rental. That went well and the car agency dropped us off with our luggage to the Stirling train station. We bought our tickets for the ride from Stirling to Edinburgh which were very reasonable. While we waited for the train to arrive we played a game of Phase 10.
When our departure time was close we waited on the platform.
Safely on board for the ride to Waverly Station in Edinburgh.
It was raining lightly when we got to Edinburgh so we got a taxi for our short ride to the apartment we rented. This choice by me turned out to be my least favorite of the trip and it was a space that just felt like it closed in on you. The instructions for retrieving our keys for our unit was easy enough and we got somewhat settled and headed out to catch a hop on hop off bus to get an overview of Edinburgh. In retrospect we could have ditched this idea and just found a nice pub to eat a meal in.
Standing proudly in Princes Street Gardens, the Scott Monument is one of the most iconic Edinburgh landmarks, a must-visit for tourists and locals alike. Dedicated to Sir Walter Scott, it is one of the largest monuments to a writer anywhere in the world.
A glimpse of Edinburgh Castle.
The hop on hop off was a bit of a fiasco as our original bus had a malfunction and we had to wait on the street for a new bus and then it went downhill from there. Greg became more ill with the malady I had gotten over and he was shivering and he could not get warm. We got off the bus at the end of it’s cycle and looked for someplace warm to eat. The Pub recommended to us was full to the gills so as we wandered back towards our apartment we popped into the Hawksmoor without any reservations but they found us a table. We ordered hot tea for Greg right off. That was helpful. We had a decent meal and turned in for the night.
Sunday was a nicer day for three of us but Greg stayed in bed all day working on getting better for our last full day in Edinburgh on Monday.
I’ll save Sunday’s and Monday’s adventures for more cheery posts soon.
On Friday the 20th of September 2024 after our time at St. Andrews castle we got some back lane directions to get to North Street.
Butts Wynd Lane
The lane took us by some of the University of St. Andrews buildings with this beautiful St. Salvatores quad.
We were hoping to be able to get inside Saint Salvatore’s Chapel but were disappointed to find a private event going on with no entry for us.
We walked by along North Street and could tell this was a beautiful chapel. I found this youtube and the gal who took the video does show the interior of the chapel with added information and history. She shows the spot where Patrick Hamilton a Presbyterian Reformer was martyred in the video, also.
Our next stop was the Northpoint Cafe made famous by Prince William and Kate. We made it in time to have some refreshments before it closed.
Back on the streets we wound our way to the ruins of St. Andrews Cathedral and St. Rules Tower
Our feet and our backs were complaining at the end of this afternoon. The grounds were in the process of closing just as we arrived so before they locked the gate, Laura and I went in. I kept the gatekeeper occupied with questions and conversation while Laura walked about the ruins taking photos.
St Andrews Cathedral was Scotland’s largest cathedral. It took nearly 150 years to build and was consecrated in 1318 by Robert the Bruce. An ill-fated building, it suffered damage from fires and storms, but the Religious Reformation of 1559 was the most damaging event of all. Following an anti-Papal sermon by John Knox, his congregation went to the Cathedral and destroyed its symbols of Roman Catholicism. Further attacks led to the Cathedral being closed and the friars expelled.
On the site of St Andrews Cathedral, there was originally St Rule’s Church, which belonged to a community of Augustinian Canons who had the adjoining building as their living quarters. Nowadays, only the Tower remains, and at 30 meters high, it provides the best panoramic views across St Andrews.
The tower is generally accessible to climb and see great views but we arrived too late in the day for that.
There is also a museum on this site but, you guessed it, the museum was closed by the time we reached this site.
When we couldn’t hold the gatekeeper off any longer we left the grounds and let him lock the gate. We walked back to where our vehicle was parked along the University lanes with one more stop in mind before we left St. Andrews.
Well of course we needed a photo of our Gregory right at this spot!
Before we left to Scotland we watched Chariots of Fire knowing we would be close to the beach where the famous opening to the movie was filmed. We wanted to re-enact that opening.
Eric Liddell: I believe God made me for a purpose – but He also made me fast. And when I run, I feel His pleasure.
“I have no formula for winning the race. Everyone runs in her own way, or his own way. And where does the power come from, to see the race to its end? From within. Jesus said, ‘Behold, the Kingdom of God is within you. If with all your hearts, you truly seek me, you shall ever surely find me.’ If you commit yourself to the love of Christ, then that is how you run a straight race.” ~ Eric Liddell
We were pleased with the results. We have videos but unfortunately I can’t find a way to post that on my blog. We were cracking ourselves up and amazed our feet allowed this last event of the day. When we got back to our car, it was decided we needed to find some takeaway or purchase something we could pop in the oven for dinner. Take away did not materialize so we stopped at M&S and found some savoury pies and some desserts, too.
Laura’s watch clocked us at 21,797 steps with 29 stairway climbs, too. Yikes.
Food heated and feet up for the rest of the evening!! Cheers!
After breakfast on Saturday we would start our journey back to Stirling to drop off our rental car and take a train to Edinburgh for the last leg of our trip.
On the same Saturday as our visit to Glasgow Cathedral and the Necropolis we attended the Celtic v. Hearts game at Celtic Park Stadium. It is our tradition when traveling with Josh and Laura to attend at least one futbol (soccer) match. Josh has a good source to secure tickets for us and they are always tickets that include special seats and hospitality.
Celtic won the game and after the game we decided to wait around to see if Josh could get his Jersey signed by a U.S. Player who is on the Celtic team.
Success! It was fun to greet Cameron Carter-Vickers and congratulate him on his performance in the game.
Our time at the stadium was complete and now we hoped an Uber could pick us up and get us to our dinner reservations on time.
We made it with 5 minutes to spare! The Ox and Finch is a Michelin star restaurant with small plates on offer that were all very interesting and out of the ordinary. We enjoyed our time.
It was the end of a very filled first full day and only full day in Glasgow.
We had breakfast on Sunday at the Ivy again before we packed up and journeyed to Stirling for our next big adventure.
I had some extra shots of our time at the Ivy from Saturday morning.
The rest of these photos are from Sunday morning the 15th of September.
While waiting for our uber to Stirling, Laura was able to search out the music this Piper was playing and get a video and photo of him. It was a bucket list item for Laura. She got a few more of these moments, too.
Goodbye Glasgow. We enjoyed our stay.
Waiting for our Uber ride to Stirling.
At every turn and every new experience we thanked God for His goodness to us.
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 