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My first visit to Scotland was a whim; I decided to take a week off before starting a seminar tour through Denmark and wanted to go somewhere new...

Glasgow, Edinburgh, Scotland

Hank Shiffman
2003-11-26 17:22:20

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Edinburgh, Scotland

Edinburgh Castle sits on an extinct volcano where the city began. Bits of the castle go back a thousand years, although they've found signs of settlement on the hill that are two thousand years older. The castle is impressive for its architecture, its furnishings (gotta love those crown jewels) and its location. It's a monument to the history and ferocity of the Scottish military. (Hey, if you made me fight in plaid pants I'd be fierce too!)

An Edinburgh tradition involves firing off a cannon every day at one PM. (Economics; if they did it at noon they'd have to use so many more cartridges!) They use a modern howitzer, rather than the more picturesque cannon provided by Queen Victoria. Those guns have never been fired; something about the combination of a front-loading gun and a thirty foot drop seems to have discouraged their use.

The Royal Mile extends downhill from the entrance to the castle. It's full of tourist destinations like the Scotch Whisky Heritage Center (I guess only Americans and Irish know the correct spelling of whiskey), the Camera Obscura (a pinhole camera that gives you a view over the city and which must have amazed them back in the 19th century) and more kilt and curio shops than you'd believe. This is the Old Town, much of which dates back three or four centuries. At the far end of the Royal Mile is Holyrood Palace, the Queen's local residence, which started out as an abbey in the 12th century before being turned to more secular purposes.

One surprise I had walking around Edinburgh was to see so many bridges and hills without once finding a river. I'm told that there used to be a loch at the foot of the castle that separated Old Town from the 19th century New Town, although the water was diverted long ago. Now the former lake is home to a rather nice park and the hiding place of the main train station and a modern shopping mall. Maybe that's why I liked Glasgow and Dublin better; their riverbeds had rivers in them.

I just knew there had to be water around here somewhere. According to the map it was only a couple of miles from the east side of town to Leith, a seaport on the Firth of Forth. (Don't you love that name?) I stopped along the way at Calton Hill to capture this shot of New Town. Calton Hill is home to the National Monument to those lost in the Napoleonic Wars. It was supposed to be a duplicate of the Parthenon. Money ran out after twelve of the forty-two pillars were completed, leading to its local name: Scotland's Disgrace. I did finally make it all the way to Leith, a quiet place on a Sunday. But at least I did see some water!

This statue of Sherlock Holmes marks the birthplace of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, which used to reside where the traffic circle stands in the picture above. Fittingly, there's a Conan Doyle pub on an adjacent corner. The city is proud of its own; there's a plaque marking the childhood home of Robert Louis Stevenson on Heriot Row. But why no statue of his most famous creations, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde? Or even of the real life Edinburgh murderer who inspired the tale? I guess the city is prouder of some citizens than of others.

Sometimes my irony radar just goes a little crazy. Here's an example I found in a tourist shop on the Royal Mile. It's a computer font based on the designs of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Glasgow's answer to Frank Lloyd Wright. (No disrespect intended by the comparison; I spent several pleasant hours admiring Mackintosh's work in various museums in Glasgow.) But does anyone else find it odd or upsetting that the shop only carries the Windows version of a Mackintosh font? Is there no justice in the universe?