Europe 2016, Part VII: España

Current State
I'm over halfway through a 4-hour layover in the Madrid airport. I spent the first half of the layover going through a passport check and adding pictures to my blog post on my week in England. Now, I'm sitting at my gate with a little less than an hour until we start boarding the 9-hour flight to Chicago (and a little more than an hour until we actually take off). I'm a little sunburned, mostly on my back. It's not too bad, but it does make carrying bags on my shoulders more painful than it should be or has been during this trip.

Madrid
On July 3rd, I flew from London to Madrid to spend a night at Molly Ronan's apartment. Molly wasn't there, but when she saw on Facebook that I was going to be in Spain, she graciously offered that I could sleep in her apartment if I passed through Madrid. I did some research and realized that it would be a relatively similar cost to fly to Madrid and take a train or bus to Málaga as it would be to fly directly from London to Málaga, plus I would have one night without hotel costs, so I decided to do it. My 8:25 a.m. flight was out of Stanstead airport, so I had to leave my hostel before 5 a.m. to catch a bus that would get me there by 6:25. I was checking a bag and had no idea how long the security lines would be, so I wanted to make sure to give myself enough time. The folks at the hostel assured me that I could pay cash directly to the driver, but I got nervous when I arrived at the stop and saw that everyone had tickets in hand. A group of us were there waiting as the 5:09 expected arrival came and went with no sign of a Stanstead bus. We got more and more nervous as 5:20 passed, and a few people got in a taxi. I was pretty anxious by this point, but I had no intention of paying 150 pounds for a taxi - even if I had split it with other passengers, spending that much on a cab just seems absurd. Finally, the bus arrived at 5:30 to an irate group of stressed travelers, and, to the dismay of another gentleman and myself, the driver said the route was full and refused to sell any extra tickets, saying we could try our luck with the bus expected at 5:39. Just as I was re-evaluating my timeline and whether it would be worth it to take a taxi, the second bus arrived and they driver did allow the other gentleman and myself to board. We arrived at the airport around 6:45, so just 20 minutes after I had hoped to be there. I was glad I got there early because the baggage line was ridiculous. I was flying Ryanair, which is a super budget airline operating out of Dublin. I had to wait in a long line to get my passport checked and my bag tagged, then stand in another line to actually drop my bag off to be put on the plane. Ridiculous. Luckily, the security line was fairly quick and I was able to stop for a coffee and "buttie" (a kind of British breakfast sandwich) and still be at my gate with plenty of time to board. Phew.

When I got to Madrid, I took a bus then a subway into the city. They have a pretty good underground system there - I think the longest I had to wait for a train was about 6 minutes. I went to the neighborhood near where Molly lives and got lunch, waiting for her to send info about when I could go to her apartment. As it turned out, I had to wait until 10:00pm, so I put my essentials for the night in my small bags and dropped my big bag off in a locker at the main bus station. I then went to a main area of town to walk a bit and update my blog with info about my time in London. When 10:00 came, I went to Molly's apartment and was greeted by one of her roommates, Maria, with a kiss on each cheek and "¿Que tal?" (the Spanish version of "how are you?"). She was very hospitable but we didn't talk much since it was rather late. Molly's room faced in toward a central courtyard of the apartment building. The window was already open when I got there and, upon looking out, I realized that all of the windows facing the courtyard on every floor were open. This meant that there was never any real silence - the hot night air was permeated by a constant flow of chatter and merriment, even until the early hours of the morning. I'm not sure when or if it stopped because by the time I woke up, other folks were up and chatting. I really enjoyed this experience because it felt like a true taste of Spain.

In the afternoon, I took a train to Málaga and met Robyn at the bus station (she flew in about an hour before my train arrived and took a bus to the station, so we were there around the same time). Our Airbnb host, José, told us he wouldn't be at home when we arrived, so we needed to call him when we got to the station for further directions. I made a wifi call and he said we had to pick up the key at a bar called Baires (I heard "Bailes") on Calle Juan de Padilla (I heard "Calle Juan de Barilla/Varilla), which was just down the street from his place. This caused some confusion, so I had to ask him to text us the actual name and we had no further problems finding either place after that. The space was nice and José wasn't there our first two nights. When he did show up on Wednesday, he brought home a cute little puppy, Sasha, who he was taking care of for a friend. He was really nice and the whole thing was extremely casual.

Málaga is a very touristy beach town, a very popular destination for travelers from different parts of Europe. Many people spoke English and restaurants usually had English versions of their menus that we could peruse as needed. We spent the majority of both of our days there at the beach, lounging in the sun and taking quick dips in the Mediterranean. It was the calmest ocean water I've ever experienced, and was truly a refreshing swimming experience. We both got a bit sunburned, but not terribly. Other highlights: We had dinner after 9pm every night, always with a shared jar of Sangria - what a delight. We did nothing particularly touristy or travel-oriented. It was truly a vacation from my vacation.

We're about to board now, see you all in a few hours!!

Te quiero,
Colleen

Europe 2016, Part VI: England

SUNDAY, JULY 3^rd

Current State

In a Starbucks in Madrid, I think close to the city center (“el centro”). I’m here for just over 24 hours total, so won’t be doing much sightseeing, but it made the trip from London to Málaga cheaper and gives me more time to get used to the significantly warmer climate!

It’s been a while…

Wow, sorry for the lack of updates this week! England was amazing and packed full of exciting adventures (and catching up on sleep), but left little extended time for writing my thoughts. Here’s what’s been happening “across the pond,” as it were.

Monday – Robyn and I took an early flight to London and dropped our bags off at the Airbnb. This one was similar to where I stayed in Galway in that it was run like a BnB business, rather than as a room rental in someone’s house. The hosts, Stefano and Sara (business partners, not a couple), were very kind and accommodating. They also had free tube (London Underground) maps we could take! After dropping our things, we rallied and went to lunch at Whetherspoon’s. It’s a British chain and Robyn informs me that everyone calls it “Spoon’s,” which I think is cute. Our food was good and it was right across from our first destination, the Tower of London.

A female "beefeater" (or yeoman)!

I’m so glad that we went to the Tower. It was originally built by William the Conqueror in the 11^th century, so it has a long and storied past. Although originally used as a castle, it’s purpose quickly turned to being a fortress of defense. It is best-known as the place where traitors to the crown were executed during the Tudor era. Two of Henry VIII’s wives, Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard, were executed here. Another claim to fame is the story of how Richard III trapped his two nephews in the Tower and allowed them to conveniently disappear so he could be king. Now we know that he actually killed them (or had them killed) and hid their bodies under a staircase. The remains of the bodies were uncovered a few centuries later during renovations and modern forensic work has confirmed their identities. One of the most interesting things about the Tower is that it is staffed by “Beefeaters” or Yeomen of the Guard. These are men and women who have served a certain number of years in the army and been selected to serve in this special role of Tower guards. They wear formal and slightly medieval attire, emblazoned with E II R (Elizabeth Rex the Second), and live on the premises. One of their duties is actually leading tours of the site, but they also have more formal duties. The most important items kept at the Tower are, of course, the Crown Jewels of England. The line (queue) was ridiculously long, so we didn’t actually see them but I’m sure they are marvelous.

Tribute to those executed on Tower Green.

"Traitor's Gate"

Above: The only Tudor era building remaining in London (the others
burned in the 17th century fire) - originally made for Anne Boleyn.
Right: The view of the Tower Bridge from a walkway at the Tower.
As we were taking this picture, a little kid walked by with his family
and yelled, "it's sad because I love you but you hate me!"

We were already feeling exhausted but we wanted to make the most of our time, so we had a quick snack and relax on the bank of the Thames. It was beautiful and I got my first sunburn of the trip despite the temperature being below 65… Typical. Then, we took the tube to South Kensington and walked around “The Royal Buroughs of Chelsea and Kensington” (aka Chelsea, the fancy / posh area of the city – basically the London version of the Upper East Side). We had a nice walk down one of the main shopping streets, enjoying how late it stays light out. For dinner, we had take away in our Airbnb and turned in fairly early. (Have I mentioned how exhausting traveling is?!)

We stumbled upon the theatre
for "Harry Potter & the Cursed
Child" - All previews sold out
months ago, so we couldn't go. 

Tuesday – In the morning, we went to get day-of tickets to the Mousetrap and ate breakfast at a small pub-style restaurant in the West End. After breakfast, we wandered in a few West End shops and made our way to the British Museum. This is where the UK keeps all of the artifacts that are important to preserving the memory of the British Empire (read: things that were stolen from countries Britain colonized and some actually British things). Highlights included the Rosetta Stone and a really fabulous exhibit on the history of clocks! We strolled through the Covent Garden area next and a market-style mall with a name I can’t seem to remember. We then walked down the Embankment to the Westminster area. It was a beautiful walk and we got to see the outside of Westminster Abbey and Westminster Palace (which houses Parliament, not the monarchy, as we discovered after far too long wandering around looking for signs). I didn’t realize that Big Ben was part of Westminster Palace / Parliament, I always imagined it was its own structure. It’s more beautiful as part of Westminster as a whole. We both wanted to do different things in the afternoon – Robyn wanted to go to the Tate Museum of Art and I wanted to ride the London Eye. It was beautiful, but a little expensive, all things considered. I don’t think I would do it again. I then walked along the South Bank of the Thames, which is a very cute waterfront featuring little shops and restaurants. We met at the Globe Theatre just to say we’ve seen it, then went to dinner at an Italian restaurant nearby. By the time we finished our dinner, it was time to take the tube back to the West End to catch the Mousetrap! We sat literally front and center, which was a very interesting way to see the play. I definitely made eye contact with some of the actors, but they kept in character marvelously. At intermission, both of us speculated on parts of the solution that turned out to be right, including my guess of who the murderer was. Thoroughly enjoyable! And yes, they swore us to secrecy at the end just like Grandma said they would.

At the top of the Eye!

Viewing compartment on the London Eye.

Camden Market

Wednesday – We started our day with a visit to Camden Town, which has a cool and well-recommended indoor/outdoor market. It was kind of similar to Portland’s Saturday Market, but with some indoor shops as well. Our visit was brief but enjoyable. I would definitely go back to explore this area further on a future trip. We then did a quick tour of the Museum of London, which yielded some interesting information but was maybe a little broad for my taste. Basically, it goes through the history of the city from the Roman era to modern day. There were some eras that had tons of artifacts on display and some eras with very few. For example, neither of us found anything about World War I, which seemed very odd. It’s possible we missed it, but I’m not sure how. I would definitely go back though because our trip was relatively short. This was for good reason, however, since we had to go meet Allison for lunchtime tea! For those who don’t know, Allison was one of my best friends in high school and also just finished her first year of teaching. We keep in touch a bit but we hadn’t seen each other in a few years so it was wonderful to see her! We all enjoyed ourselves so much that we lost track of time and I had to rush off to collect my luggage and get to the Victoria Coach Station to catch a bus to Bath.

Bath

After a bumpy three hour bus ride, I arrived in the town of Bath in the Southwest of England around
8:45pm on Wednesday. I had a short walk to Annabelle’s Guest House, a cute and traditional BnB just outside of the city centre. I rang the bell of the row house and was greeted by the manager, a very friendly, middle-aged Italian man. In the mornings, he cooks made-to-order English breakfast (sausage, egg, ham, tomatoes, mushrooms, baked beans) and there is self-serve bread, pastries, cereal, and tea/coffee. Woah. Talk about hospitality.

Just hanging out, regency-style.

On Thursday, I started my exploration of bath with a walk through the main area of the city to the Jane Austen Centre. It was University of Bath graduation day, so the streets were packed with graduates and their families. They hold their graduation ceremonies at the Bath Abbey, which must be absolutely stunning but also means they exit the ceremony right into the city centre. A little chaotic. Per usual, I spent more time than expected at the Jane Austen Centre. It’s a small exhibition, mostly focused on how Austen’s time in Bath influenced her writing. That said, I thought it was very well done and thoroughly enjoyable. They also have costumes to try on and you can pose with them next to their unique Jane Austen wax model! They believe it to be the most accurate representation of her that exists because it was made with the help of a forensics expert. The Centre also has a Regency Tea Room, which is where I had lunch. The sandwiches were okay, but the scone (“scawn,” as they say) was incredible. I wanted to buy everything in the gift shop, but was able to limit myself to one Pride & Prejudice spin-off book and a copy of the first thing she ever wrote – “The History of England, By a partial, prejudiced, & ignorant Historian.” I’m quite excited to read both while lounging on the Malaga beaches this week.

A high school student from Seattle sampling
the medieval thumb screws on the ghost tour.

After I had my fill of Jane Austen for the day (just kidding, I can never be full of Jane Austen), I decided to stroll through the city centre and see if there was a good walking or boat tour I could do. Around 5:00, I found a brochure for a boat tour that claimed to leave at 5:20 and 6:40. It was a 1-hour cruise up the Avon River to a smaller town called Bathwick. The weather was relatively nice and I was looking forward to some scenic views, but when I arrived at the harbor at 6:30, there was no boat to be found! When I looked on the company’s website later, it didn’t list a 6:40 tour, so the brochure must have been outdated. I was a little disappointed but I ended up going on a walking ghost tour of the city, which was perhaps even more fun than the boat cruise would have been. It was led by two older men, one dressed as a monk and the other as a doctor. They showed us different supposedly haunted sites around the city and told some pretty great stories, both histories and their own paranormal experiences. I didn’t see any ghosts, but I’m hoping when I look through my pictures more fully I might see something spooky.

View of the large bath from a Victorian era balcony.

On Friday, I went to the Roman Baths. I had been on the fence about whether or not this would be worth the money, but a woman on the ghost tour said she really enjoyed it so I decided to give it a go. It was pretty awesome and I’m glad I went. This is the original site of the Roman Baths in the town, an enormous complex built around a naturally occurring hot spring. The Romans considered hot springs to be holy sites, and they believed the goddess Minerva lived in this spring. So, they created a series of pools from the springs that citizens could use as well as a temple to honor Minerva. Unfortunately, citizens of Bath during the Victorian era ruined the original springs by uncovering them so they are now full of algae. However, they do provide a sample of untainted spring water at the end of the tour. It’s full of minerals, so it’s supposed to be very good for one’s health.

The holy hot spring - home of Minerva.

Minerva - the goddess believed to live on site.

London, Round 2

After seeing the Baths, it was time for me to leave Bath. I was excited to get back to London but also sad to be leaving this cute and friendly town. I would love to go back – it’s got tons of tourist activities that I just didn’t have time to do and a great variety of restaurants and tea shops. I took the bus back to London and went via tube to Palmer’s Lodge - Swiss Cottage, the hostel where I stayed for Friday and Saturday nights. I didn’t have very long to settle in because Allison and her parents very kindly invited me to join them for dinner and a performance of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime.

We ate a delicious meal at a French restaurant in the West End called Le Garrick, which is where Lori (Allison’s mom) took the picture of Allison and me that is now on Facebook. We then walked to the Gielgud Theatre and took in a truly spectacular show. And I use spectacular not because the writing or acting were particularly great, but because the show was a stunning display of technical prowess. There were tons of lights, chalk drawings on the walls and floor, incredible use of paneling. It was a spectacle in the best sense. Allison and I discussed the show (and teaching/life) over drinks afterwards. We both agreed that they kind of had to rely on tech to make the show good because the book has a fairly mundane plot. What makes the book and the play great is that they allow the reader to understand how Christopher experiences the world. The book does this through its narration, the play uses technical elements to thrust viewers into Christopher’s mind. It’s hard to describe, but I would highly recommend it to anyone.

Selfie in front of Hampton Court.

Example of ornate ceiling.

On Saturday, I took a train 40 minutes out of London to Hampton Court Palace. This was Henry VIII’s favorite palace for the second half of his reign and was also favored by William III (of William and Mary) and Georges I and II. I spent about three hours just going through the exhibits (and there were two I didn’t visit!) and an additional hour walking the magnificent gardens. This palace was originally created by Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, one of Henry VIII’s closest advisors before he decided to split with the Catholic Church. Wolsey was criticized heavily both in life and death for his extravagant lifestyle, and Hampton Court is possibly the best example of it. It’s a beautiful building right on the Thames river, and I’m not even slightly surprised that Henry VIII took it over after Wolsey died. The tour basically takes us through all of Henry VIII’s reign, showing how different parts of the Palace were adapted as his life progressed. The architecture is stunning and we can see when things were built based on which wife was incorporated into the construction. It’s hard to describe in writing, but it made for a very engaging audio tour walkthrough. I won’t go into detail here on the exhibits about William III and the Georgians, but I’d be happy to talk about them with you when I’m back! The palace gardens are stunning and have been added to throughout the many years since Hampton Court was built. They have been open to the public since the Victorian age and are home to the world's oldest hedge maze! I completed the maze at the end of my visit and, of course, took a selfie to celebrate. 

Hedge statue of Henry VIII

I found the center of the maze!

The guards look tiny from the gate!!

Coming back, I stopped by Buckingham Palace to take some quick photos. I was surprised that people try to make the guards flinch. They’re super far back from the gate, so it seems a little silly… that being said, it could be that they do things a little differently when the Queen is not in residence as is the case this week. I then walked to Belgrave Square because I’ve been reading (listening to) the Julian Fellows book “Belgravia” throughout my trip. Fellows created Downton Abbey and wrote this book after the series finished last year. The interesting thing about the book is that it’s only available digitally right now because it is released in episodes. I got a late start, so I’ve been listening straight through. But, if you started when it first came out, then you would have a week between when each chapter arrives on your phone. It’s a very engaging story about a social climbing merchant who (fictionally) helped create Belgrave Square and Eaton Square in the 1820s and 30s. It’s an engaging book and definitely plays with some of the same ideas of Downton Abbey, such as the relationships between wealthy families and their servants.

Buckingham Palace

One corner of Herrod's.

I knew my mom would be disappointed if I didn’t go in Herrod’s, so that was my last stop for this trip. It is enormous. It’s the Powell’s of department stores, but five times bigger. I got overwhelmed just with all of the food options on the first floor, and I wasn’t even trying to get a meal! I was literally walking around with my mouth gaping open like a fish. I also checked out some price tags in the women’s evening wear section: sale dresses for over $1,000! Ah! After seeing that, it was a little difficult to return to meager hostel life but I survived. In all seriousness, Palmer’s Lodge was a nice place to stay with the exception that the pillow I got was very lumpy!

I think I’ve said more than enough for now. I’ll post some thoughts on Spain and pictures tomorrow.

Cheers,

Colleen

Europe Part V: Edinburgh (+Glasgow)

Current State
It's Sunday evening and I'm at Robyn and Neil's apartment in the Tollcross neighborhood of Edinburgh. We had dinner and are spending some time catching up on work / blogging / rest before Robyn and I leave for London early tomorrow morning. More on that later.

View of Edinburgh Castle, stumbled upon during a walk.

Edinburgh Castle

On Thursday, Robyn had to work so I went sightseeing on my own. I considered getting tickets for a bus tour or walking tour of some kind, but ultimately I decided to buy tickets to see Edinburgh Castle first and figure the rest out later. I after buying my ticket from a tourist info shop, I walked up the Royal Mile toward the castle. The Royal Mile is a street that runs between Edinburgh Castle and the Palace of Holyroodhouse. Edinburgh Castle is a medieval structure that has been used as a home for Scotland's royalty as well as a fortress for defending the city and holding prisoners of war. Holyroodhouse is a royal palace that still serves as the Queen's official residence in Scotland. I'll talk more about that later, since I got to visit the Palace on Sunday (today).

Edinburgh Castle has the absolute best views of the city and is the best part of the skyline. Similar to building restrictions in Washington, D.C., the city of Edinburgh does not allow anything to be taller than the Castle. This would be challenging anyway since the Castle is on a hill, but it does mean that there aren't any significantly large buildings apart from the Castle. It also means you can see the Castle from various points in the city, which has made many of the walks I've taken exceptionally beautiful.

When I first entered the grounds, I decided to do a self-guided tour but was disappointed in the lack of information provided on the plaques at the different sites. When I realized this, I went back to the entry and bought an audioguide. This was a good choice as it provided TONS more information than the little written plaques did. Guided tours are provided free with the entry fee but you have to catch them at the right time and the audioguide still has more detail, so I would have rather had the audioguide included.

Various parts of the Castle have been built at different times, starting in the 12th century. The oldest building on the grounds, also probably the oldest building in the city, is St. Margaret's chapel. It's a tiny (but still beautiful) chapel that was built by King David I in the early- to mid-12th century to honor his mother, Margaret of Wessex (canonized in 1250). It's partly the oldest surviving building because Robert the Bruce allowed it to stand when he took control of the Castle in 1306 and destroyed most of its buildings. He also left money toward the end of his life for the restoration and preservation of the chapel. The audioguide talked quite a bit about Robert the Bruce because he helped re-establish Scotland as an independent nation after a few years of turmoil and partial English control.

Quite a few of the sites were about different battles that had happened at the Castle, particularly sieges on it relating to contentious orders or succession and/or England trying to control Scotland. I didn't find this as interesting, so I won't go into much detail here. Suffice it to say, the Castle has a very important role in Scotland's military history. More interesting was the fact that it was used as a prison during various British wars in the 18th and 19th century, specifically the American Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. They had a place where visitors could go and see the doors to the prisons, including various writing and drawing prisoners had carved into the wood. Also in this exhibit was information about the lives of the prisoners while captive, including their rations of food and examples of their craftsmanship. Apparently, the prisoners would make items and trade them with the citizens of Edinburgh for tobacco, letter writing materials, money, etc. The things they made were beautiful - you would have no idea that they came from various parts of their rations unless told. They also had a couple of bunk rooms set up to look like they would have in those years, complete with audio of actors pretending to be prisoners talking about topics like the American Revolution.

The big exhibit surrounds the Honours of Scotland, including how they arrived in Scotland and which monarchs have been crowned using them. The oldest is the Stone of Destiny (Stone of Scone), a stone seat that Scottish rulers sit on to be crowned. It was taken from Scotland in the late 13th century by King Edward I of England and remained there until the 1990s. Most English rulers have been crowned on the stone, including Queen Elizabeth II. Although the stone is now stored in Perth, Scotland, it will travel to Westminster Abbey whenever the next coronation happens (assuming Scotland doesn't declare its independence first...). The main part of the exhibit is about the crown jewels, which are the Crown, the Scepter, and the Sword of State. Mary, Queen of Scots was the first monarch crowned using all three together (at the reasonable age of 9 months). The Honours were also used to crown Queen Mary's one-year-old son, James VI (who later became James I of England), and James VI's son, Charles I (who was so unpopular, they executed him and began stripping power from the monarchy). When Scotland and England were officially unified into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707, the Honours were determined to have no purpose to the new kingdom and hidden in a chest in Edinburgh Castle. Sir Walter Scott, the famous Scottish writer, got permission to uncover the Honours in 1818 and they have been on display virtually ever since. The one exception was during WWII, when people feared Germany would attack Great Britain - during this time, the Honours were hidden in the basement of a decrepit tower (David's Tower) at the Castle.

Great Hall - famous for hosting a banquet for James VI/I.

Ornate fireplace featuring crest of combined thrones.

Original thatched roof of the Great Hall.

After seeing the Honours (which were, of course, very beautiful), I saw the part of the Castle that was most recently used as a royal palace. After the creation of the Palace of Holyroodhouse in the 15th century, Edinburgh Castle became a less popular choice for royal residence. However, visitors can see the bedchamber where Mary, Queen of Scots gave birth to James VI as well as the Great Hall that was used as a dining room. It's not clear to me why she chose to give birth here, given that she spent most of her time in Scotland at the Palace of Holyroodhouse. James VI only ever returned to the Castle once and it has not been used as a royal residence since 1633, when Charles I stayed there on the eve of his coronation as King of Scotland.

Overall, I really enjoyed my visit and the views it provided! I took plenty of pictures to show how pleased I was :)

View of Edinburgh from the Castle grounds.

Thursday Evening & Friday
On Thursday evening, Robyn and I read news reports about the Brexit vote and went to bed thinking (like most people) that remain would win easily. We woke up on Friday morning to the news that the leave campaign had succeeded and the pound had already dropped 15-20 cents to the dollar. I'll make a separate post about the Brexit vote and its aftermath, but we took it as an excuse to go shopping on Friday afternoon since the exchange rate was the best it has been since the 80s. First, we walked through the Morningside neighborhood, which is where Robyn will be living next year with three of her friends (Neil will be doing a medical residency in a town called Elgin, about four hours North of Edinburgh). It was a very cute neighborhood with mixed age demographics. We also popped in a grocery store, which is when I realized that people in the UK don't refrigerate their eggs. It was a weird sight, but I did some research and it's all because of the different production processes in the US and UK. I won't go into it further, but you can read more here and here.

We then took a bus to Prince's street, the main shopping street in Edinburgh. We went in several uniquely British / European shops, including Oliver Bonas (which Robyn describes as a cross between Anthropologie and Forever 21) and Primark (kind of like if Target only made clothes and they were about 1/3 of the cost). We ate dinner at Bread Meats Bread, a restaurant that specializes in meaty sandwiches. I had a cheeseburger but I swapped the American Cheese for Mull of Kintyre Aged Cheddar. I only note this because on the receipt they charged it as "Posh Cheese," which I really enjoyed. We also had sweet potato fries - it's been a long time since I've had them and I had forgotten how good they are! The orange drink in the picture is IRN BRU ("iron brew"), the most popular soft drink in Scotland. It's basically a type of soda made in Scotland, but it doesn't taste quite the same as any soda I've had. The best description of the taste I can think of is if you melted an orange lollipop and added carbonated water. It's pretty good, and they have it everywhere here!

That night, we hung out with Robyn's friends Gaby, Fraser, and George at a bar near Robyn's house. I met Gaby and Fraser just after I arrived on Monday, when we had dinner and watched Game of Thrones with them. This was my first time meeting George, who is dating another of Robyn's good friends. Fraser and George both live in Edinburgh but Gaby currently lives in Glasgow. We played Pub Quiz, which is basically the British trivial pursuit, lamented the Brexit vote, and sampled whisky (different than whiskey or bourbon, I'm told).

Glasgow
On Saturday, Robyn and I took the train to Glasgow, the biggest city in Scotland. It's only about an hour away by train, so it was an easy jaunt. There, we met up with Neil (who had been visiting his family in Lanarkshire, close to Glasgow), Gaby, and Fraser. We first went to the Lighthouse, which is the city's hub of architecture and has amazing views of the city. Gaby works for the Cultural Trust of Scotland, so she had actually helped create some of the exhibits in the building related to the celebration of Scottish culture. Uncle Timm might enjoy knowing that one of the exhibits was about various architectural uses of timber, including awards for "Best Use of Timber."

Next, we went to lunch at a vegan restaurant called the Flying Duck. It was a basement bar that served vegan versions of all sorts of classic food - for example, I had a chili cheese dog made with a vegan hot dog and vegan cheese. It was delicious. We then took the subway to the Kelvin Bridge so that we could walk along the River Kelvin on the Kelvin walkway. We hit the walk at just the right time to miss the rain, and it was quite lovely. Glasgow is known as a dirtier and rougher city than Edinburgh; we did see some evidence of this (i.e. trash in the river), but mostly the areas we visited were very nice. At the end of the walkway, we climbed a set of stairs to the Botanical Gardens. We walked around the outside as well as inside the "hothouses" (greenhouses). After this, it was time for dinner in the West End neighborhood. This was a nice, trendy area of town and we ate at a Vietnamese restaurant called Hanoi Bike Shop. The food was delicious and we were joined by two of Gaby's friends, a gay couple named Zach and Dave. Zach is from California's central valley and Dave is from Australia, but they met in San Francisco. They moved to Scotland a few years ago when Dave got a job at the university in Glasgow.

When we finished dinner, we (sans Dave) went to Swing Club because someone told Gaby they were having a big jazz night. When we saw how small the venue was and realized the music wouldn't be on until well past 9, we decided to go to a nearby bar to get a drink and chat instead. Around 9:45 we started talking about leaving, but we thought we had until 10:30 to catch the train. Then around 9:55, someone remembered that rail strikes are going on so the second-to-last train was leaving at 10:08. Robyn, Neil, Fraser, and I rushed to the station and barely caught the train, but we ultimately made it back to Edinburgh by 11:15.

Palace of Holyroodhouse
On Sunday, Robyn had to work again, so I went back to the Royal Mile. This time, I visited the Palace of Holyroodhouse at the opposite end from Edinburgh Castle. They only allow pictures outside the grounds, but I assure you that the inside was equally aesthetically appealing. Holyroodhouse has been used as a royal residence since James IV and James V (grandfather and father, respectively, of Mary, Queen of Scots) conducted extensive repairs and additions to it in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. However, much of the existing palace wasn't built until the middle of the 17th century and it wasn't used regularly until the reign of Queen Victoria. I was doubly lucky in my timing because they are currently doing an exhibition on Queen Elizabeth II's wardrobe in honor of her 90th birthday AND this was the last day the Palace will be open in June because Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness the Prince of Edinburgh will be taking up their annual residence there next week!

Entrance to the Palace includes an audioguide, which leads you through the various display rooms. After entering, I understood why we're not allowed to take photos: Much of the decor on display is extremely old, including quite a few tapestries that are beginning to look worn by age. The tour progressed through the dinning room, the state rooms, and the apartments of Mary, Queen of Scots. The audioguide provided both historical and current uses for all of the rooms, as well as the option to hear more detailed information on various topics or continue more quickly. Most of it is what you would expect - this is where the Queen hosts formal dinners, this is where the Queen met the Pope, etc. - but some of it was new to me. For example, the tour discussed how Queen Victoria brought the Palace back into more regular use because of her love for Scotland. She acquired Balmoral Castle early in her reign, and Holyroodhouse was a convenient stopping point on the way there. She also brought tartan into the royal wardrobe, including the fashioning of several tartans for the royal family. Tartans are the traditional patterns woven into wool for kilts, sashes, scarves, etc. We generally think of them as plaid, but that's technically not accurate. They are an extremely important part of Scottish heritage and it's common for Scots to wear their tartans at significant life events, such as weddings and graduations. There are distinctive patterns for each Scottish clan (as well as many Scottish institutions, such as universities) that emerged during the 19th century. The English banned the wearing of tartans, along with other aspects of Gaelic culture, from 1746-1782. So, although Queen Victoria wasn't the one to lift the ban, she was the first British monarch to fully embrace wearing tartans / Scotland's national dress.

Next Up...
Robyn and I will leave very early tomorrow morning for London! We are flying out of Edinburgh at 7:00 am and plan to spend the day walking around the city and possibly going on the London Eye. We are planning to try to get day-of tickets to the Mousetrap on Tuesday, but if that fails then I will likely go alone after she is back in Edinburgh. More soon.

Cheers (as they say here),
Colleen