THE ROYAL HIGHLAND FAIR HAS EDINBURGH TIED IN KNOTS. Now I understand why the castle is in such pristine condition. With only one bridge leading to the city there was no way an invading army could succeed. It took us two tries and a 50 mile detour to get to the castle.
Smailholm Tower
Scottish history is as involved and complicated as that of England and the two overlap at so many times. For the short version, however, you need know only three names; William (Braveheart) Wallace, Robert the Bruce, and Mary Queen of Scots. We have been following their paths for the last few days among the Border Abbeys.. Mary has been almost everywhere at one time or another, either as visiting royalty or as a refugee child. Robert the Bruce is buried at Dunfermline Abbey Parish Church - at least most of him is. Seems his heart is interred in Melrose Abbey. Wallace, the hero of Bannockburn who was disemboweled, beheaded and drawn and quartered, is probably scattered hither and yon. As for literary figures, look no farther than Sir Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson, the country’s best known writers. Scott spent many of his childhood years at Smailholm Tower. If any place in Scotland is haunted by fairies, this is it.
Tomb of Robert the Bruce
While the near-term is still uncertain, our plans for August and beyond are firming up. The China/Tibet trip is booked, a three week private tour with the highly recommended (and frustrating to deal with) Wendy Wu Travels. They would have been painful to deal with if not for the intercession of the Flight Cente folks in London and Glasgow.
Karen from Flight Centre delivers the goods
After a visit to Glasgow Cathedral we picked up our passports with the China visas this morning, our last in Scotland, and are vegging out at an upscale hotel near the Glasgow airport where we will catch a bus/ferry/bus to Belfast tomorrow. We have also reserved spaces on an Earthwatch expedition to the Mongolian steppes for September. We are a bit fuzzy on how we will get to Ulaanbaatar but have lots of time to work it out.
