(no subject)
Thursday we walked over to the High Street, which is also known as the Royal Mile, since it extends from Edinburgh Castle at the top end to the Queen's Palace (Holyrood) at the bottom. It's full of tourists, shops to cater to tourists, and after midafternoon, quite a few bars doing good business. We toured the castle, admiring the chapel of St Margaret, and were overwhelmed by the War Memorial, which had lots of gilt lettering extolling the sacrifice of various regiments in the last few wars, with binders containing lists by name and date. Great views of the city and the many church spires from there, too. It seems that most of the churches are now theaters or other uses, which is kind of weird given how gothic they look. Of course, everything is built of stone here, adding to its historic ponderousness (ponderousity?).
We took a bus tour of the nearer part of the Highlands, which included a half-hour ride on the motorway to Glasgow, and we could see its downtown from the road, unlike Edinburgh, where it starts on the edge of the city. The guide said there were fewer expats and more 'real' Scotsman there, so we should try to get there if we could. Then, we visited various lochs and towns, and met a real Highland-type bull, who was mostly not interested in yet another set of tourists. The scenery was rounded off green hills/mountains, mostly no trees, though the ones we did see were evidently nonnative crop types. We heard lots of stories of the warfare, clans, and politics to give context.
After we got back we went to St Giles' Cathedral to hear a choir concert celebrating a CD release by the semi-famous choir, accompanied by an impressive organist. They were in great voice, and well-practiced. They are also having an acapella recital next Friday night, so we'll go to that. The cathedral is somewhat creepy, dark and dingy, but full of plaques commemorating various folks over the years, incredibly complex stained glass windows, and dark spaces.
Today we slept in and went food shopping with Ann, always an interesting experience, though it was a lot like Whole Foods in many ways, Then Susan and I hiked up Arthur's Seat, the volcanic hill near Holyrood Castle, for a great view of the city. It was pretty windy at the top, but an easy hike for the most part. Then we went to see 'Priceless' with Audrey Tatou, a somewhat forgettable romantic farce. The theater had it in its 'Gold Class' theater, which had plusher seats and free refills, but still had the 10 minutes of commercials before the movie. and cost £8.95 (~$18), what a rip.
Tonight after the movie, we had dinner at an Indian restaurant, which flew in the face of local culture by being BYOB; I guess it would have been impossible to last in business being totally dry. They had a sign at the door announcing that they could confiscate for later return any amounts of alcohol they deemed excessive; I'm sure it's happened.
Tomorrow, more tourist site visiting and maybe some gardening. Ahh, vacation!
We took a bus tour of the nearer part of the Highlands, which included a half-hour ride on the motorway to Glasgow, and we could see its downtown from the road, unlike Edinburgh, where it starts on the edge of the city. The guide said there were fewer expats and more 'real' Scotsman there, so we should try to get there if we could. Then, we visited various lochs and towns, and met a real Highland-type bull, who was mostly not interested in yet another set of tourists. The scenery was rounded off green hills/mountains, mostly no trees, though the ones we did see were evidently nonnative crop types. We heard lots of stories of the warfare, clans, and politics to give context.
After we got back we went to St Giles' Cathedral to hear a choir concert celebrating a CD release by the semi-famous choir, accompanied by an impressive organist. They were in great voice, and well-practiced. They are also having an acapella recital next Friday night, so we'll go to that. The cathedral is somewhat creepy, dark and dingy, but full of plaques commemorating various folks over the years, incredibly complex stained glass windows, and dark spaces.
Today we slept in and went food shopping with Ann, always an interesting experience, though it was a lot like Whole Foods in many ways, Then Susan and I hiked up Arthur's Seat, the volcanic hill near Holyrood Castle, for a great view of the city. It was pretty windy at the top, but an easy hike for the most part. Then we went to see 'Priceless' with Audrey Tatou, a somewhat forgettable romantic farce. The theater had it in its 'Gold Class' theater, which had plusher seats and free refills, but still had the 10 minutes of commercials before the movie. and cost £8.95 (~$18), what a rip.
Tonight after the movie, we had dinner at an Indian restaurant, which flew in the face of local culture by being BYOB; I guess it would have been impossible to last in business being totally dry. They had a sign at the door announcing that they could confiscate for later return any amounts of alcohol they deemed excessive; I'm sure it's happened.
Tomorrow, more tourist site visiting and maybe some gardening. Ahh, vacation!