I’ll Take the High Road, Day 7: A Taste of Royalty

The last day.

I always get a strange combination of feelings when these excusions come to an end.  Sadness at it having to end.  Surprise that the time is nearly done.  Joy at the new friendships forged and memories made.  And a bit ready to come home.

Our final escapades began with a bus tour throughout New Town Edinburgh and Old Town Edinburgh.  Our tour guide, Jenny, was quite knowledgeable and shared a lot of fascinating history about the area.  One of my favorite moments was passing by the childhood home of Robert Louis Stevenson.

Childhood home of Robert Louis Stevenson.

Most interesting was some trivia about Stevenson’s novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.  While it is known that the plot of the novel arose from a nightmare, Stevenson actually based the characters of Jekyll and Hyde off two different people.  One was his nanny who loved him dearly, but also loved the bottle and was not herself when she drank.  The other was Edinburgh’s town counselor, Deacon Brodie.  Brodie was also a furniture maker who had a severe gambling addiction.  He often broke into homes of his customers to steal items in order to pay off his debts.  Eventually he was arrested, tried, convicted, and sentenced to death by hanging.  Brodie smugly thought he would live as he had built the gallows used and didn’t think it would work.  Unfortunately for him, his new gallows was a success.

Edinburgh Castle

When we finished exploring the city, we headed off to Edinburgh Castle to explore the royal home for many Scottish kings.  This was an excellent attraction and one that I would highly recommend.  The castle is actually made up of multiple museums and you will learn about military history, visit the castle dungeons, see the oldest building in Scotland with St Margaret’s Chapel, gaze upon the ominous Mons Meg, and see the Scottish Crown Jewels.

 

We were able to enjoy the castle for about 90 minutes before getting back on the bus for a few more tidbits about Edinburgh and getting dropped off at our hotel.

The afternoon was a free period for us.  I made a stop at Marks & Spencer to switch my money back to dollars.  This is indeed the place to stop as the lack of commission meant I got nearly market rate for my exchange.  However, I did hold back ten pounds for lunch.

I stopped at Burger King and had a quick meal of an Angus Steakhouse combo while I read The Battered Badge, a Nero Wolfe novel by Robert Goldsborough.  I then took a walk around town and did my good deed for the day when I helped an elderly couple from Shropshire find the Mercure.

 

 

I organized my photos thus far and then got back on the coach as we were off to viist the Royal Yacht Brittania, the final royal ship for the British royal family.  This was another excellent attraction as it combined history with a taste of living the royal life.

Royal Yacht Brittania

I was blown away by the luxury and elegance of the yacht.  Truly, it was like a floating mansion.

 

From there, it was off to our final group meal as we had a reservation for Cafe Tartine.

Cafe Tartine

Another wonderful meal.  This was almost as good as the previous night as I enjoyed smoked salmon, Escalope of Grilled Chicken with herb potatoes, green beans, and smoked bacon, and a thick mousse called Orange Scented Chocolate Panna Cotta.

 

 

And just like that, it was over.  I made arrangements with my new friends, the Campbells, to have breakfast in the morning before I’m carted off to the airport.  Another grand adventure has ended.  And the next is being planned.

Until the next time. . .happy travels.

I’ll Take the High Road, Day 6: Ach, Aye!!

This was truly a grand day.  We had some absolutely gorgeous weather as we bade farewell to Aberdeen and left to visit the town of Scone, specifically the Scone Palace.

Scone Palace

Scone Palace is the home of the Murray family whose head is now the hereditary Earl of Mansfield.  Historically, Moot Hill on the palace grounds is where the kings of Scotland were crowned.  While not a royal palace, the building was an abbey before the Murrays gained ownership and being an abbey is the other way for a building to be called a palace.  Fun fact:  there is a difference between palaces and castles.  Castles are fortified.  Palaces are not.

We stopped into the coffee shop on the grounds for some tea and shortbread before having a formal tour.  Our tour guide was fantastic!  He made history come alive before our eyes as he talked about Scone Palace’s history as well as the history of the Murray family.  The Murrays still live on the property so photography was forbidden inside the palace to respect their privacy.

When the tour was ended, we were given a little free time to explore the grounds at our leisure.  I explored the mausoleum on Moot Hill, saw the original Douglas Fir (yes, Christmas trees began in Scotland before being spread around the world), saw the Old Cross, and even solved a hedge maze.

After getting our history on, it was now time to get our game on.  We headed off to St Andrews to visit their world-famous golf course.

Golf was practically invented at St Andrews and it was impressive to see the old course.  I also took a little amble through a nearby neighborhood where I admired the North Sea and stepped into St James’ Catholic Church for a lookaround and a prayer.

At 2:10 we headed over to St Andrews’ practice center where we were allowed to knock out a bucket of balls at the practice range.  Some of the fellow tour members were obviously golfers while most were, shall we say, not.  It made for an amusing time.  For myself, all of my shots were surprisingly straight and true and I managed to hit several balls 75 to 100 yards.  However, if I’m going to learn the game, I need some lessons as I also completely whiffed the ball on several occasions.

From St Andrews, it was off to our final city of the tour:  Edinburgh, Scotland’s capital.

In terms of view, this was the best hotel (Mercure Royal) as I had a room on the top floor with a panoramic view of the city.  We had several hours to ourselves which I used to bathe and shave for tonight’s optional excursion:  a visit to the Jam House for the Spirit of Scotland show with the Ceremony of the Haggis.

View from my room

Ach aye!!! (Oh, yes!!!)  This was the best event of the tour yet.  We had a sumptuous meal consisting of an appetizer of smoked salmon which was superb.  I can see why salmon is considered one of the hallmarks of Scottish dining after tasting theirs.  Then we had a taster’s course consisting of haggis with potato and turnip while our host, singer Bruce Davis, led us in The Ceremony of the Haggis with a humorous interpretation of Robert Burns’ poem, Ode to a Haggis.  The main course was Braised Spear of Scottish Beef with horseradish mashed potatoes and root vegetables.  The beef was the tenderest I have ever tasted and I wished I could have had a second helping of those amazing potatoes.  For dessert was a cup of fruit, cream, and oatmeal.

After diner we got to see the Spirit of Scotland show which was an amazing night of songs, music, and dancing by the talented troupe of the Jam House.  There was even a bit of audience participation as we were encouraged to sing along on the refrain of “Loch Lomond”, the first verse of “Amazing Grace”, and we all stood up and joined hands as the show closed with “Auld Lang Syne”.

I was disappointed to see such a delightful show end, but it was time to return to the hotel where I wrestled with a dodgy internet connection to get pictures posted.  Mercifully, I was looking forward to a bit of sleeping in as breakfast would not be until 7:30 with our first event of the final day not beginning until 8:30.