The end.

Hearing: the drone of my bus.

I really dont want to go. I just feel so at home here. They have started decorating the streets too. Its been such a wonderful holiday, i just dont want it to end. Im sad i admit but happy that this trip of mine turned out so well. I guess theres just one thing left to do.

Goodbye Edinburgh.

VP

Read More

Rosslyn Chapel and The Real Mary Kings Close, Edinburgh

Hearing: TV noise

Happy Birthday to Me!!!


A quick trip out to Rosslyn Chapel today. I actually didn't know that it was so close to Edinburgh, only about 1/2 an hour by local bus. So out i went, there were a few others who had the same idea and located in a small village, off a side road, there it was. For those who don't know, this chapel is home to one of the places that Dan Brown wrote about in his book The Da Vinci Code. It also featured in the movie. Its rumored to have masonic ties and no wonder, the stonework is so detailed. Everywhere you look there is something to see. There is so much religious symbology but mixed in is a "mother nature" feel which i suppose helps the myth Dan Brown wrote about. This chapel is actually only part (the choir) of what was to be a much larger church but when Sir William St Clair (the founder) died it was left incomplete.




















The ceiling of the main alter has all sorts of symbols running along the arches. A recent theory was that they were musical notes. The guy who came up with this theory actually played the music he thought they depicted at the chapel earlier in the year though the music according to the guide was a bit unusual.

An interesting story about the place is based on the 2 pillars you can see on the left. One straight and one curved. Its called the apprentice story and it goes a little something like this. Out of all the masons employed to build and decorate this chapel one was in charge of these 2 pillars and he had an apprentice to help him. This master had finished the pillar on the left and wanted something different for the other so he was sent off to find inspiration leaving the apprentice behind. One day the apprentice approaches Sir William and says he saw a dream of how the 2nd pillar should be and could he please be allowed to do it. Sir William agrees and the apprentice comes up with the pillar on the right. When the Master comes back and sees that the apprentices work is better than his he is jealous and beheads his apprentice. The master is also beheaded as punishment for such a crime and if you look carefully, there is what is believed to be, a carved version of his head, the apprentices head in the corners just below the organ.

At the moment the chapel is covered with a temporary roof to keep out the moisture that had been seeping into the stone through the years. Its presence allows you to see the chapel from the top (also minutely decorated) and gives you a chance to see beautiful views of the valley and Rosslyn Castle.























I also paid a trip to The Real Mary Kings Close. It is basically the remnants of 16th -19th century closes and houses preserved as they were. The unusual thing about this is that there is a building on top of it! The building of the Royal Exchange (Council Chambers) knocked down a few floors of the existing buildings but left the bottom floors intact to be used as foundations! When you step inside the close it looks like any other close you can see running off the Royal Mile but there is no sky, just the floor of the Council Chambers.

The tour takes you underneath and shows you the homes of people who lived there, tells you about the plague and how it was dealt with and how if you were poor your home was one room where 12 people lived including the livestock. There is one house still preserved exactly as it was before only you cant go inside as the floorboards may be unsound and the walls are painted with arsenic treatment (as if we're going to lick the walls??!!). But you can take a peek inside from the doorway and right at the back can see a lovely old "thunder box" LOL!

As with a lot of other places in Edinburgh, the Close is haunted and one particular room is haunted with the spirit of a little girl from a well to do family (they had 3 rooms) who apparently was sick and had to be abandoned by her family.

I have to say its as close as you can get to stepping back in time going down Mary Kings Close, just standing in the close and looking down - everything is as it was all those years ago - a lot cleaner but still the same. They have added a few things here and there (like laundry hangings across the close above) but nothing to take away the feel of the history of the place. I really wanted to take photos but they weren't allowed - total bummer.


VP

Read More

Calton Hill and Mercat Tours, Edinburgh

Hearing: TV noise

Ok, laugh if you want but im sleeping with the TV on tonight. That ghost tour really gets your heart racing. But before i get carried away let me just start at the begining.

First up are photos of Calton Hill and views from it since i was there this morning.

























One of the more famous shots of Edinburgh. Looking out from Calton Hill to Princess street Edinburgh Castle in the distance and the top of St Giles to the the left.



































































































All Mercat Tours start here at the Mercat Cross next to St Giles Cathedral. At around 2.30pm i met up with my tour group and did the Secrets of the Royal Mile Tour which was really interesting. It pointed out things that you wouldnt notice normally.





 




Here are a few things the guide told us about:

• The Parliament building and carpark are built on top of St Giles Cathedrals graveyard. There is a yellow square slab on parking bay 23 marking the grave of John Knox.
• The Mercat Cross acted as the town centre. It was much bigger back then and acted as a market, a place for entertainment, where gossip was shared, public announcement were made, public punishments were delt and where the stocks were kept (kinda conveinent since you could buy rotten fruit from the market and throw it at whoever was in the stocks).
• There is a golden "I" at one of the intersections which marks where the hangings and beheadings happened.
• The real life person the character of Dr. Jykell/Mr Hyde was based on lived here and apparently had 1 wife, 2 mistresses and 18 kids!

Now the tour that has gotten me into the state I'm in was also by Mercat Tours and is called the Ghosthunter Trail (no under 16yo). It started at 9pm and there was a huge turnout. Couples, friends even a few singles like myself. Our guide Faith, was brilliant. We started with a visit to the haunted underground vaults. As we walked through we were told all sorts of stories about people who lived here and met with their deaths, about other group tours where people felt or heard something and ran for it about the 3 main ghosts who were most active down there...I must admit it was fun having your heart race and watching how others were dealing with it too. Some of the girls demanded their boyfriends hold their hand at all times and stay close and the guys i could tell were just putting on a brave face. Everywhere people were imagining something tugging on their sleeves or a cold draft as a ghouls breath. The atmosphere was pulsing and everyone was holding their breath just waiting for something to happen. What a rush!

Ghost story after ghost story and then out of the underground vaults and onto a graveyard for more ghost stories. I remember one being about a lady being buried alive because her family thought she was dead only to be found by grave robbers. That lead to people insisting on being buried with a string tied to their wrists and attached to a bell outside their grave so if they were buried alive they could pull the string and ring the bell to alert the grounds keeper. One of the stories that really got to me was this...

A long time ago there was a building - number 13 - which was home to a family. Then one day they disappeared and no one ever went in or came out of there for a long time. One day the place was bought and turned into a hotel of sorts, there was no problem until a maid doing her rounds came across a room that was at the very top. Hearing something inside she went in to investigate and never came out - they found her on the floor frozen dead with a look of fear on her face looking up at the centre of the ceiling. Two men decided to investigate. One would spend the night in that room and the other in the room next to it. The deal was that if the man saw anything he would ring a small bell, if something big was happening he would ring a larger booming bell and his friend would come running. The clock ticked away and soon the friend heard the tinkle of a small bell, he waited, heard it again, and then got up and headed for the door by the time he reached the mans room the other big booming bell was ringing out and the minute the friend put his hand on the door knob everything went silent. The friend stepped inside and there was the man, on the floor dead, the same as the maid staring at the centre of the ceiling. The large bell was on a shelf in the corner of the room. The friend looked at where his friend was looking and ... died. Now the thing is no one knows which building this is anymore, since that time, the streets have changed and so have the numbers and guess where I'm staying? The topmost floor of my hotel...LOL! Just to prove I'm not such a big scaredy-cat i did look at the ceiling of my room when i came in but I'm still sleeping with the TV on tonight!!!

VP

Read More

Greyfriars Bobby, Edinburgh

Hearing: Pub music, ppl chatting, clinking glassware

Well I'm here - in Greyfriars Bobby's Bar. Its right next to Greyfriars Kirkyard and the little monument doubling as a drinking fountain for dogs dedicated to old Bobby.

After having a bit of lie in this morning i headed out to follow Greyfriars Bobby's trail. I walked along Princess street, went left towards Grassmarket, onto the Cowgate up to Candlemaker Row and then to Greyfriars Kirkyard, which btw, still doesn't allow dogs within its grounds. Directly in front of the entrance is little Bobby's grave and a few steps down to the right, Auld Jock's (John Grey's) grave and that of James Brown the then keeper of the Kirk.

Just in case you don't know, Eleanor Atkinson is the American author who wrote the classic story Greyfriars Bobby set here in Edinburgh and was later made into a Disney movie. The story is based on a very real Bobby and Auld Jock though there are 2 other versions of the story that dispute some of her details. One is written by Gilhhooley and the other is Macgregor. Either way they all agree that John Grey and Bobby existed and that after Grey died Bobby stayed loyally by his side till he died 14 years later. A very sweet and touching story of loyalty and good, one cant help but fall for the little rascal Bobby.

Yesterday i visited the famed Edinburgh Castle and as usual had the audio tour to tell me about history and whatnot - there is a lot of info there. The views from the Castle...wow! And the Royal Mile (aka the highstreet which stretches from the Castle to Holyrood Palace) is full of points of interest including St Giles Cathedral (also mentioned in Greyfriars Bobby). At the end of the Mile, to the right, past the palace is a great view of Arthur's Seat which seems popular with hikers and photographer and i can only imagine the view! I'll upload photos when i get home and give you a visual tour. EDIT: Photos of Edinburgh Castle uploaded onto post with yesterdays date.

Tomorrow I've booked 2 tours with Mercat Tours. One on the History of the Royal Mile at 2.30pm and the other a ghost tour at 9.30pm which includes a graveyard visit and a trip into the haunted underground vaults. Cant wait.

VP

Bobby's Bar - The little fountain/statue is to the right.



Close-up of the life sized bronze statue of little Bobby and his fountain. It was originally directly across from where Bobby was buried but a few mishaps through the years moved it to its current location. I don't think it works now.


The entrance to Greyfriars Kirkyard, you can see the headstone for Bobby directly in front and the sign at the entrance still claiming "No Dogs Allowed".



The headstone for Bobby, John Grey and James Brown.


Views of Edinburgh Castle as i walked by in the morning and it all lit up in the evening.





The monument to Sir Walter Scott on Princess Street.

Read More

Hello Edinburgh

Edinburgh Castle

A view from the Royal Mile to Edinburgh Castle. One of the buildings on the left is a brewery but used to be a school and, if you look closely, still has the name carved in to the stone at the top.





The view (left) from the square outside the ED.



A model of Edinburgh Castle displayed inside one of the rooms.



Photos as I walked around the castle and views from it of Edinburgh.















An interesting little aspect - a dogs graveyard. A place where all the mascots and military dogs were buried.



One of the oldest buildings in all of Edinburgh is little St. Margarets Chapel, and it really is little, a dozen people inside would make the place feel crowded! And believe it or not weddings still take place here.



There is a Prisoners of War (POW) exhibit reconstructed to reflect how things were, but i think you need to add a lot more dirt and hammocks since I doubt it was as clean or spacious as my photos shows. As you walk through you can hear excerpts of conversations of past prisoners.

The Palace



The War Memorial



Edinburgh Castle lit up at night



Actually I'm surprised I didn't take more photos, esp ones of Mons Meg or the time gun. I guess if you really wanted to see them and more you could just Google Edinburgh Castle. Sorry guys, I must have been too engrossed in the audio tour.

VP

Read More

Fireworks and Friends

Hearing: TV noise

So i just got into Edinburgh (EDI), Scotland. My little hotel is so nice, very cute and despite the lack of elevator and the long climb to the top i know im going to like it here. The first shock EDI gave to my system was as i was coming in by bus from the airport my first glimpse of Edinburgh Castle. I wasnt even expecting it, i was just looking out of the window watching the B&B's, people and shops go by and then we turned and BAM it was there and all i could do was stare totally stunned. A short walk from the bus stop to the "new town" and im here. You cant see it but there is a flatscreen tv hung on the wall next to the cupboard.


Yesterday was my last day in London. I had a fantastic time. I have to admit i was a little worried at first about crashing at my friend Amandas place since she shared it with 2 other couples but they all made me feel really welcome. Sam, who kept me laughing the whole time, cornered me the minute he got a chance to grill me with questions about being a flight attendant, what really goes on onboard and why are we so rude..??? LOL! Suzie, his girlfriend, is lovely and very sweet. She organised for us to go see the fireworks last night and was really upset when we we ran late - dont worry Suzie, i still had a great time just hanging out with everyone later at the bar, thanks so much.
So here is a photo of us at the fireworks all rugged up since it was quite cold. Its me (left), Damo (Amandas boyfriend), Sam and Suzie.










Suzie and Amanda - classy girls drinking wine.










No they are not drunk...Just a lovely pose for the photo - Sam and Damo.










I really had a great time. Thanks guys so much for everything i really enjoyed my time and getting to know you a little. Manda, it was great catching up with you after so long, have a blast on your trip with Damo to NYC you lucky girl, cant wait to see the photos. Take care and lot of hugs.

Rightio think its time to go find some dinner...

VP

Read More

Stonehenge - England

I just got back from my trip to Southampton to visit Stonehenge. I took the National Express 11am bus from Victoria station (15.60pounds) and only got back after 11pm.

It was such a long time just travelling (driving would have been better) but it was a place I've always wanted to visit and worth the long trip. So after 5.90pounds entry and a free audio guide later i made it there. I took some great photos since I was there for the sunset and listened to some interesting information about the place. It was lovely experience.















You can actually see the site from the road if you drive past so you don't have to pay if you are just passing through the area and want to see it. The other thing is the site is roped off as you can see in some of the photos and its to stop people climbing all over it or (and it has been done) taking pieces of it.

And now I just want to sleep. Enjoy the rest of the photos :)

VP

Read More