GREETINGS FROM THE UK; SCOTLAND TO BE precise; Stirling to be preciser. After flying from Palma to Barcelona then over the Pyrenees to Manchester and spending two nights in soulless hotels, it’s wonderful to be back in an AirBnB. We are in the “penthouse” which means climbing 54 stairs but our recently remodeled, 2-bedroom flat is comfy with views of the National Wallace Monument and Stirling Castle. We have our own parking spot and are only a mile from the supermarket and train station.
Pyrenees from 30,000 feet
When we were in Scotland nine years ago the Royal Highland Fair had Edinburgh tied in knots. It took us three tries and a 50-mile detour to get to the castle from our base near Lock Lohman. This time we took the train from Stirling for ten pounds round trip and in less than an hour, Bob’s your uncle.
No pain, take the train
Taking Care of Business in Edinburgh
Monument to Sir Walter Scott
It was wonderfully sunny day as we strolled around taking care of some business with Avis and snapping photos of this and that. I’m nosey—I can’t help it—but I honestly understood more of the Spanish conversations overheard in Spain than I did at lunch in Edinburgh! And these Scots were speaking English, or some variation there of.
National Museum of Scotland
Modeled after Crystal Palace
The collection at the National Museum of Scotland is in a word “eclectic.” And it’s FREE! The museum “officially” opened in 2006 when the Museum of Scotland merged its collection of Scottish history and culture with Royal Scottish Museum (originally the Edinburgh Museum of Science and Art) and its collection of science and technology. It has a bit of everything—dinosaurs to Dolly, the cloned sheep; hot-air balloons to parts for super-sonic aircraft; steam engine to atom smasher; hand loom to 3-D printer—all housed in one spectacular building. The design reminded me of Musée d’Orsay, a former Paris train station, now a museum of Impressionist Art.
Musée d'Orsay, formerly a Paris train station
Actually there are two buildings connected to the University of Edinburgh. The original building, completed in 1866, was modeled after Crystal Palace from the 1851 London Exposition. It has three levels with a domed-glass ceiling. The newer section housing the Scottish history was completed in 1998 and the entire museum reopened in 2011 after extensive renovation.
Hello, Dolly
Computer generated and 3-D printed "thingies"
Tartan, the hard way
Up in the Air
We have been to some of the best museums in the world—even worked for years as volunteers behind the scenes at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science—so we decided to skip the usual exhibits and head right for the Scottish history and culture section. Not so fast! It was a “What’s that?” “Look over here!” “I want to take a picture,” meander before we could make our way through the science and technology exhibit.
Them's Fightin' Words
Saint Andrew, patron saint of Scotland
Mary's Clarsach
While much of the Scottish history was filled with relics from ancient grudge-match battles, strange words and historic minutia, the harp, or clarsach of Mary, Queen of Scots’ and a replica of her sarcophagus caught our eye. Pieces from an ancient chess set, one of the museum’s most cherished artifacts, reminded us of ones we learned of from The History of the World in 100 Objects podcasts and saw in the British Museum. A hand-loom for making Tartan brought back memories of a visit to a workshop in Nova Scotia where we watched tartans being made. The steam-operated beam engine further explained how the ones we saw last year along the Cornwall coast worked. History might not repeat itself but for us, one thing certainly builds upon another and reinforces our understanding of what once was.
It's Your Move—Lewis Chess Pieces
RIP, Mary
A really good day
As we were leaving I noticed a young man in Highland dress. He said he had just graduated from the University and thought he would do it in style. He showed me his Sgian Dubh, the black dagger kept in the right sock. I didn’t ask him what a Scotsman wears under his kilt. Back on the train as we neared Stirling a rainbow appeared out the window, a pearr-feckt day as they say in Scotland.
Next step, Med School
