Goodbye Britain

Day 16

I really didn't have much on my plate for the date and I was really slow at getting my act together in the morning. When I finally did get going I didn't go far, only about 10 minutes to the Hunterian Art Gallery. This is on the University of Edinburgh campus.

The first part was called the Mackintosh House. I didn't really care for it. The Mackintosh's were architects and designers that were very much ahead of their time. For some reason the staff was following me around and it made me very uncomfortable. What did they think I was going to do, stick a dining room table in my back pocket?

The museum also has a large collection on James McNeill Whistler. I've always wondered why most of his stuff isn't in the US. It turns out that he spent much of his adult living living in London and Paris. The large collection in Glasgow is attributed to his wife's Scottish heritage and a large following by a group of Glaswegian artists known was the Glasgow Boys.

I regrouped at the hostel for lunch and decided to walk to the Fossil Forest. Apparently there are about 2 dozen fossilized trees in a park. I walked and walked but never seemed to get anywhere. After about 2 hours I decided that I didn't even want to look at a bunch of really dead trees anyway and headed back.

People say that you are either an Edinburgh or Glasgow person. For tourism I would definitely pick Edinburgh. It's just beautiful and there is so much to see and it is very easy to take a large amount of day trips from there. If I had to pick one of them to live in I would choose Glasgow. Its a bit like New York with its diverse areas and I like that.

I'm very glad that I begun my trip with the UK. I'd been to 3 of the 6 cites I used as bases and it was all quite familiar. It was really a good way to get in shape for the trip. I'm very much looking forward to visiting Ireland. It will be almost completely new territory for me!

They Can Never Take My Freedom!

Day 15

I woke up early despite the slightly late night the day before. I was on the hunt for William Wallace and was headed to Stirling to find him.

I got a bit confused when I got to Stirling. The bus stop is in a mall and I couldn't figure out how to get out. I ended up wandering by something called the Bastion and Thieves Pot. Turns out that the oldest building in Stirling was a prison and to save it it was incorporated into the mall when it was built. I checked out the signs there for a bit before finally finding my way out of the mall.

Stirling is a cute little town with two or three main streets that wind their way up to the castle. The town has been fortified since prehistoric times, the current castle dates to the late 16^th century. William Wallace would not recognize the current structure at all. The castle as we see it today was built by James VI for his French wife and their son he hoped would be king of England after Elizabeth I's death. The castle was the first renaissance building in Britain.

One section of the castle concentrated on the Unicorn Tapestry. Apparently this is a seven section tapestry that was made for the castle. I thought it odd that not only were they reweaving each one, but that the originals were familiar to me. It turns out that someone sold them to the Rockefeller's who then donated them to the Cloisters in New York City. New York doesn't want to give them back so the castle is recreating them.

The whole castle was in the middle of a big restoration project. Many of the rooms were really just gutted shells. Only the cathedral, the kitchens and the great hall have been restored so far. They are working on the royal chambers next. It was really cool to see how they were researching and restoring the rooms.

The views from the castle were spectacular, I couldn't stop taking pictures the whole time.

I meandered my way back to the bus station. Along the way I checked out the Holy Rude chapel, but it was closed. I also spent some time wandering around the hauntingly picturesque Stirling Cemetery.

I had just enough time to check out the William Wallace Monument before it closed. The castle is nothing like it was when William Wallace would have visited and I wanted to find him somewhere.

The monument was built on Abbey Craig where Wallace rallied his troops before the successful Battle of Stirling Bridge. This battle was his first big victory. The facts were very much like there were in Braveheart the movie. The English killed Wallace's father and wife. Wallace, in turn, killed the English. Eventually it became clear that more support was needed and Wallace left for the continent to ask for help. A few months later he returned, having failed. In 1305 one of his friends sold him out and handed him over to the English. Wallace was hung, drawn and quartered. He has become a symbol of courage and bravery for many people throughout the world.

The museum has a massively huge sword that is thought to have belonged to the 6'6 Wallace, but cannot be proved.

The next floor had busts of famous Scots such as Sir Walter Scott and John Knox. The next floor described the process of building the monument and other Wallace monuments around the world. There is even one in Baltimore. By the time I reached the top it was growing dark and cold. I took some pictures of the countryside and headed back.

Stirling was a cute little town and I should have allocated more time there. I missed out on several museums and about 6 more Wallace sites.

Goin' To Glasgow

Day 14
My early night allowed me to get an early start on Glasgow. I had been here before, but just for a day and I was sure that there was more to the city.

My hostel turned out to be in a really cool little area full of ethnic food and used book stores. Even though I had taken the bus there, I elected to walk back to the city center. My first stop was St. Mungo's Museum of Religious Art and Life. It was a neat little place. It showed the differences and similarities of world religions and how they affect Glasgow.

I decided against checking out the cathedral and the necropolis because I had been there before. If you come to Glasgow I would recommend visiting them.

What I would not recommend is the Tenement Museum. Agnes Toward moved into the apartment in 1911 and did not leave until 1975. Much of the apartment was as she had kept it in 1911. The place was advertised as small, but it was larger than my NYC apartment. The actual apartment itself was pretty neat to look at. The small museum downstairs concentrated on the role tenement buildings had played in Glasgow through history and their evolution. There was also a section on Ms. Toward. Apparently she was a pack rat and even her WWII ration card was on display.

The museum is sort of interesting, it is just beyond tiny. I think I read every bit of information in there and I don't think I was there for more than 20 minutes. Due to the price (£4) I would recommend not going. If they lower the price to £2, maybe, but even then it seems high.

I was hanging out in the common room when a whole bunch of Croatians came in. It turned out that they were the majority in the hostel and were all there for a Croatia v. Scotland football (soccer) game. Before I knew it there was a party on. Everyone was very nice and spoke great English. I hope to see them again.

Search for the Holy Grail

Day 13

I had contemplated spending about $50 on a tour to the highlands that included Roslyn Chapel. Then a little bird (the girl at the front desk) told me that £2 could get you there and back. She didn't know which bus though and because it was a bank holiday the information desk was closed. I wandered down the main street until I happen to see a bus schedule that mentioned Roslin the town. That was easier than I thought it would be.

As soon as I got off of the bus I could tell how much colder it was. Roslyn Chapel is quite small. To help restore and support the 700 year old structure there is an ugly steel shell around the whole thing. Once you step inside that is all forgotten.

The stone work is amazing, I've never seen anything like it. The main ceiling was covered in flowers and stars. There were angels holding hearts, crosses and books adorning all of the windows. A young couple turned away from an upset looking devil as an angel looked on. There were also various bible stories depicted around the chapel. The 7 deadly sins took up much of an arch. Hidden among the thousands of carvings were the 'green men'. There are faces with leaves coming out of the mouths. It's a pagan idea and its unknown why there are about 130 inside the chapel alone. I was only able to spot about 25 of them.

While the chapel was being built the lead mason went to Italy for inspiration. While he was gone his apprentice had a dream and carved one of the columns. When the master mason returned he was furious, properly because the column was better than anything he could have done. In his anger he hit the apprentice over the head and killed him. In one corner is the head of the master mason forever stars at the apprentice's column. In another corner the apprentice has a gash over his head and closed eyes, his mother looks on tearfully.

Of all of the mysterious and unusual carvings was in the ceiling of the Lady Chapel. Rectangular carvings hang down from the ceiling, there are hundreds of these. Each one has a unique symbol on it. No one know what they mean, but it is agreed that it is some sort of code.

It is rumored that Roslyn may be the resting place of the Holy Grail. There is in fact a room beneath the chapel that has not been entered for over 300 years. The St. Clair family who built the chapel 700 years ago do not feel that their ancestors remains should be disturbed and will not allow any excavations of the area.

Another mystery is there some of the carvings look like corn. Corn is an American veggie. It's odd that it would be in the Roslyn Chapel as the America's and corn were not discovered until 50 years after the chapel was completed. There is a theory that the Knights Templar discovered the Americas prior to the accepted date. It is pretty certain that the Knights Templar did have something to do with Roslyn as Templar marks are found in the carvings and many knights were buried nearby.

There are several hundred niches both inside and out of the chapel that were meant to hold statues. They don't know if the statues were even ever there, and if there were, what happened to them. One theory is that during the reformation they were hidden beneath the alter. I think that would be reason enough to disturb the long dead St. Claire's.

Despite the ugliness of the steel support structure it was really cool to be able to climb up it and get a really good look at the carvings on the roof.

I was pretty shocked to see so many people at this little out of the way chapel. I was happy that they were there though. Until about 10 yeas ago the chapel was falling apart. Green moss covered all of the stonework. There was no money to keep this outstanding chapel standing. With grail lore growing over the past decade more people came and slowly more money was available. Once the Da Vinci Code came out attendance skyrocked. Now there is not just money to keep the chapel standing, but for repairs and research. It's odd to think that Hollywood and legend are keeping the chapel alive.

Unfortunately, you were not allowed to take any pictures in the chapel so you will just have to take my word for it or look it up on the Internet yourself.

By the time I had finished at Roslyn my toes and fingers were ice cubes. I was happy to be heading back to the slightly warmer Edinburgh. I still had most of my day left and headed to the National Art Museum of Scotland. After Roslyn nothing was terribly impressive. Although it was interesting to learn that Rubens often made etching of his paintings for sale to the greater public. It's through these that some of his aging paintings are able to be restored.

I haven't done much by the way of trying out Scottish cuisine and I thought it was about high time that I did. I ordered a deep fried mars bar at a local chip shop. I almost couldn't decide between the deep fried pizza and the candy bar. It was pretty good, I recommend it.

I also recommend stopping into St. Giles Kirk. Most of it is misable, but the Thistle Chapel is amazing. Wooden thistles hand from the ceiling and the choir seats are capped with Scottish symbols that are painted brightly. You have to pay £2 to take pictures in here so I can't share what it looked like.

My ticket to Roslyn had a £5 off coupon for the Edinburgh Dungeon. I'd been to the one in London and wasn't a big fan, but the reduced price drew me in. It was just a cheesy ad I had expected, but it was some good fun. They do actually use historical facts to base the various rooms on.

After this crazy busy day I was ready to just pass out in my bed, but the blog called and I was off to find an Internet cafe were I could upload pictures. I really don't see a point of posting unless I can have pictures with it. When I was done I headed back and collapsed in my bed. I planned on waking up early and heading to Glasgow. I drifted off to sleep dreaming of the Holy Grail and the mysterious room beneath Roslyn Chapel.

White Easter

Day 12

When I checked into Caldonian Backpackers I had to search the 36 bed dorm room for my bed. While I was looking some guy (Italian I think) told me to stop looking, that I could just use his bed. In your dreams buddy.

As it was Easter there wasn’t a whole lot going on. I decided to climb up the hill mountain thing to a point called Arthur’s Seat. After huffing and puffing my out of shape self up the sometimes precarious trail I had finally made it. I wanted to run around and cheer, but then people might have thought I was crazy. It was also snowing a bit at this point and I didn’t want to slip on the rocks.

One odd thing I noticed while I was up there. There were several families throwing hard boiled eggs down the hills. I couldn’t figure out if they were cheering because they broke quickly or if it was when the rolled for a while. Does anyone have any idea why they would do this?

It was afternoon by the time I had come down from Arthur’s Seat. There still wasn’t a lot going on so I decided to go to the movies again. This time to see 10,000 BC. Don’t bother, wait for the DVD.

Back at the hostel I grabbed a couple of drinks with some of the other people staying in my room. It was a quiet Easter, but it was kinda cool that it was a white one.