I left Rome on a hot muggy Friday morning and arrived in Edinburgh Scotland a few hours later to find low fog and drizzling rain. Even with my boots, jeans, and layers (the top one being a short sleeved sweater) I got crazy looks from bystanders. Sure it was a good 30 degree cooler than Italy, but this Monterey girl felt right at home as I found my way through the fog and rain to find my coworkers at the hotel. I found them no problem, and was promptly given shortbread cookies from their stash that had been refilled after the raid of the maid's cart. Fortified with sugar and tea we headed out to do exploring around New Town.
The first destination was The Georgian House located on Charlotte Square. New Town's start was in 1750 when Old Town started to get too crowded and many wanted to provide a better environment for the wealthy. The house looked like it belonged in one of PBS' historical movies- complete with the servants bell outside the kitchen door with each bell labeled with the location. As we toured the dinning room, bed rooms, drawing room, parlour the realization that I would have died growing up in this time period sunk it. I'm not sure if my parents would have been able to marry me off; have you seen my needle point skills?! Then again we found some rather fun clothes in the play room, but since we weren't exactly their target audience there was nothing that would fit...so we had to settle for bonnets.
Our next stop was a scenic walk through Rose Street where we spun the VitaminWater wheel and all walked away with "gold medals and bottles of their newest flavor. Hydration is important, especially when you're continuing your walking tour that will eventually land you at the Edinburgh's Disgrace, but more on that later because we have lots of other things to talk about- like all the fun things along Princes Street!
For those of you that have traveled with me, you know I like to do the "oh! look at that thing up there...let's go find out what it is" method of traveling. Well, along Princes Street there were lots of pointy towers and interesting buildings so I was in heaven. Granted my travel companions may have not appreciated my method, but I let them help pick the order. It worked out- the perfect balance between wandering but still having a destination. As we walked along the park (so much green) both museums and monuments lined our walk. I was happy because we found the Old Calton Burial Grounds and on the gray day, the stones looked beautiful with the green grass growing up along side. Yep. I love old cemeteries almost as much as windows! Although it was in the cemetery that I realized things weren't that old here in Scotland. Guess that's because everything was destroyed? And let's face it...I'm living in an ancient civilization zone. Not much can beat the ruins I see on a daily basis...
But then we saw it!
What did you see Katie?
Thanks for asking.
On top of Calton Hill we saw several monuments. Apparently Edinburgh is known as the Athens of the North. I still don't fully understand this comparison, but as such apparently they needed their own parthenon. Well, a partially completed one. The National Monument of Scotland AKA Scotland's/Edinburgh's Disgrace was originally planned to commemorate the Scottish soldiers and sailors who fought in the Napoleonic Wars. That was the plan, until funding fell short and it was never finished. (Typical government project?!) Apparently proposals have been made to revamp the project on several historic events but again funding issues and lack of local enthusiasm have ended any plans.
The view from the hill was amazing providing a near 360 degree view of Edinburgh and the surrounding communities. The Royal Mile laid out beneath us and the ancient volcano (now seriously eroded after a glacier wiped out large portions of it) towered above just about everything. The water ways connected the surrounding pieces of land while reflecting the gray sky. It was absolutely stunning. Toss in a few little birds splashing around in rain puddles and make the air heavy with the scent of fresh fallen rain and well, I was ready to pack up my bags and relocate!
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