STL DPB IN SCOTLAND - EDINBURGH OLD TOWN

 

The Old Town of Edinburgh sits on a ridge. It has a long central road, known as the Royal Mile, with meandering streets and alleys leading from it. Population and pestilence brought the city down the hill into the regular grid of New Town. We were grateful for our luck on the weather, given how wet it was when we arrived.                    

STL DPB IN SCOTLAND - FRIENDS

 

Statuary in Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, two of the great figures of the Scottish Enlightenment. David Hume and Adam Smith. They were contemporaries and good friends, the eminent empiricist and the intellectual father of capitalism. (Wonderful book about the two of them, https://tinyurl.com/u48zhjkj.) My sympathies run more toward the former but their impact cannot be understated. Scotland is justifiably proud.             

STL DPB IN SCOTLAND - EDINBURGH

Taking in as much as our wobbly old legs will carry us to. First, the National Gallery of Scotland, which has a remarkable collection. Second, one of the vaguely Gothic buildings of the University of Edinburgh, a snap that may have been taken by accident. Third, a scene in a pub. The man is intently watching a giant television screen showing American football. Last, from the ramparts of Edinburg Castle, looking northeast toward New Town and the Firth of Forth.

Up to Inverness today, perhaps followed by some Nessie hunting.             

STL DPB IN SCOTLAND - ST. GILES' CATHEDRAL

Long, hard day walking around Edinburgh. It’s hilly and our legs are old. A main attraction is St. Giles' Cathedral, https://www.stgilescathedral.org.uk/, which has been Roman Catholic, Church of England and Church of Scotland, which is to say, Presbyterian. The Calvinists smashed all the windows and devotional represtational stuff, but it has been richly restored. There was a pianist rehearsing for a recital Monday evening and we walked in to one of my favorite Chopin nocturnes.  If you would like to Play Where’s Waldo, Mrs. C is somewhere in the seats.               

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - NAME YOUR POISON

First night in chilly, wet Edinburgh, Scotland. We went to a little restaurant and pub next to our hotel that had a large array of whiskies (and this isn’t all of them). Now major jet lagged, got to get to sleep.