So yesterday we started on our Top Ten Scotland and what better place to start than #1? According to this book, the best sight to see in Scotland is Edinburgh Castle. A bit cliche, certainly, but it's been 15 years since I was there, after which time the Stone of Destiny was returned to Scotland from London, and JFG has never been there.We arrived in Edinburgh yesterday morning after a lovely train ride (supposedly . . . I slept virtually straight through). We emerged from the station blinking in the cold and bright Scottish morning and turned around to get our bearings. And there it was.
TopShop and H & M, on the same block.
No, I'm kidding. It's impossible to stand anywhere in Edinburgh and not be completely overwhelmed by Edinburgh Castle, which seems to rise organically and suddenly from the mountain plateau. Even in the sunlight it's dark and forbidding, so much so that you strain your eyes to see the hobbit, elf, magician and Peter Jackson trooping up the Royal Mile and dragons circling the turrets.
But first, lunch. Because of a blog posting about gluten-free Edinburgh we stopped at Cafe Andaluz on George Street which, true to the posting, clearly marks gluten-free menu items. JFG ordered olives (ugh). I countered with a big basket of white bread. We compromised on Manchego cheese, chorizo, artichokes, and roast sweet potatoes. Yum.
On to the castle. I was sad to learn from our tour guide, Robert (I'm not actually sure his name was Robert; it's possible that I'm so overcome by the romance of Robert the Bruce that every man in plaid pants looks like Robert to me) that none of the original, circa 1000 AD castle still exists (although heaven knows I don't even hang onto lipstick in last season's color) but was still overcome with the sheer scale and grandeur of the castle. We wandered through the war memorial, carved in part straight from the basalt cliff, the great hall and the prisoner dungeons. Since my last visit they've added Mary Queen of Scots living quarters, resuscitated from Victorian atrocity, and the Stone of Destiny -- which really needs some paint because, as stones go and sitting next to the crown jewels, it's a bit underwhelming. It's a rock, and rather dull even by those standards.
Here's what I don't understand about these castles on cliffs. I totally get that they're defensible -- in fact, Edinburgh Castle has never been lost through direct attack, only through siege and sneak-attack -- but they are SO COLD. How did people stand it in 1314? Even if you set my toes on fire I would never have been warm enough. I'd think you could get the whole army stationed there to surrender from sheer frostbite. We sat in front of a display of dragoon uniforms from 1881 or something for about ten minutes . . . not because we're fascinated with dragoon uniforms but because the display was right under the heater.
Then a train ride home and into bed.
Where, you might be asking, are the pictures? Well, now, that's a funny story. AT&T, that racket, makes it very difficult to transfer American iPhones to UK carriers. To accomplish this, you need to take your phone to someone called "the Phone-master" who will "jailbreak" your phone (seriously -- would I make this up?) after which it will work marginally on one of the UK networks. My iPhone, which I had not updated from the 3.1 version, was able to be hacked for about $35 and has been operating since. JFG, however, could not leave well-enough alone. He upgraded to the most recent operating system, which makes iPhones MUCH harder to hack. The Phone-master and his doubtlessly completely legal technical skills finally jailbroke JFG's phone, but now the battery has a life of about 30 seconds. He was out of juice before we got to the bus station in St. Andrews. So, no camera. We'll do better next time.
JFG will certainly have comments about the previous post. He should remember that one of us has a working phone and the other has an expensive paperweight.
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