Down day

Saturday we caught up on sleep, laundry and cleaned up a bit around the house. We also made plans to to go to a Highland Games tomorrow, which sounded very exciting.

Big plans

Today we had a plan.  We were going ot make the most of the Historical Passports we purchased by visiting at least two sites—Craigmillar Castle and Lilinthgow Castle.  We also wanted to go back to Edinburgh.  Now Lilinthgow is a bit outside of Edinburgh so this time we waited in the queue for the ticket counter to find out how to get there most economically.  It turns out that when you buy a ticket to a destination, it is also good for route.  So all we had to do is buy the same tickets we had been buying and get off at Lilinthgow.  Then, we could get back on the train and end up at Edinburgh.  What a deal.  Even better, we were just on time to get a train and we were off straight-away.
 
However, for some reason the train didn't “feel right” to either of us. This was probably because we have been reading, sleeping or talking, on the train and not looking out all that much.  It turned out that the train would take us to Edinburgh, but it did not stop at Lilinthgow.  We could have gotten off and gone back a couple of stations, but we would have spent some time doing that and we were worried about spending that much time so we just went on to Edinburgh.
 
When we arrived, we wanted around the train station a bit.  Laurie wanted to use the bathroom but we didn't have the proper change.  We went up to the tourist information center to find out how to get to Craigmillar Castle.  Turns out there were several buses to take and we found our way over to one after getting a bit lost first.
 
It wasn't for the worse however, first, we saw our second bag pipe player.  Next, we found the Tattoo store and decided to get the video for the Tattoo.  Unfortunately we will miss it because it sold out almost 2 months ago and it doesn't take place until after we leave.  The video is really good, but I am going ot try to exchange it because it seems to be somewhat damaged.   Sometime we will have to come back to see the Tattoo.  It looks like a really amazing event. 
 
We got an all day bus pass for £2 we could ride around as much as we liked in Edinburgh.  Now there are several bus companies and if we had been more thoughtful, we should have chosen First because it also runs here in Glasgow and we might have been able to use the all day pass to get home the same night—but we aren't certain it would have been honored in any case.  A side note, we later met some friends of our friend Franklin and they remarked that as good as the public transportation is, locals complain that there isn't a unified transportation system as there is on the continent so you can't take a bus to an underground, etc. Rather, each are separate and so a journey adds up sometimes.  Still, transportation is so much better than it is back in the US. 
 
We found the bus and after a short wait we were off to Craigmillar Castle.  We rode the bus in a direction we hadn't been previously.  Eventually a couple of locals realized we were looking for something and asked if we needed assistance.  They told us to be patient that the bus would get us there shortly.  Sure enough, a few miles up the road, the man said to get off at this stop and ask the people at the stop how to find the castle.  There were a couple of women there, who had very think accents and were obviously not wealthy.  We asked them where we would find Craigmillar Castle and they sort of just laughed.  This didn't exactly give us comfort, nor was it helpful.  On the apartment building other side of the road we saw a sign for “Craigmillar Court”.  This was obviously a low-income housing project of some sort ironically named after a castle.  There appeared to be something up on the hill that could be a castle so we headed on.  In a block o so we saw an entrance to “Craigmillar Gardens” and we entered thinking it might get us to the castle, or at least closer to.  We took a dirt road/hiking path to where it terminated at some kind of recycling plant.  Now this was very odd indeed!  We followed a path somewhat toward where we had come from, but up the hill for about half a mile.   This couldn't have been the way we were intended to go, but we were determined to see the castle.  Eventually we found Craigmillar Castle.
 
Like Dumbarton Castle, this is not one of the major spots to see.  Even in its heyday this wasn't a major locale.  As with most of the places we visited, the signage was good, although none of the castles or historical sites have included a brochure with the cost of admission.

Craigmillar is now somewhat in ruins.  If we had such a thing, I would like to think it would be preserved, but there are so many more significant historical sites that there is only so much appreciation and attention a minor site like this gets.  The castle had been remodeled a half a dozen times as its different owners chose.  Even in the ruins, you can see doors and windows filled in with stone and relocations of kitchens three of four times.   There was some precautions taken for safety but no where near as much as the threat of lawsuits would require in the US.

The Castle is treated almost as a local park would be in the US.  We met some kids who were having a great time protecting this castle from all manor of dragons and dangerous knights.
 
Seeing castles in varied condition gives an interesting perspective into how they are built.  For example, several Craigmillar bedrooms were outfitted with several “latrine closets”.  These were plumbing free because they emptied right onto the wall of the castle.  No doubt this, would be a security measure—who would scale this castle wall?
 
As we left we found our way to the bus the way we should have come in the first place.  It turns out that the well-meaning person on the bus had told us to get off a stop or two early.
 
Next we went to the ticket office to get tickets for the Tom Jones concert which will be held at Edinburgh Castle right where the Tattoo is held.  This should be a spectacular show next Friday.  Next, we intended to go back to the National Gallery as we had only seen the ground floor and there are at least three more to see.  However, it was getting late and we were tired again from all the walking.  We had a drink and wanted around Rose Street which is a nice pedestrian path.  Laurie found a ring she linked at a street vendor while I investigated an Internet cafe.  Apparently the rate is variable based on how busy they are.  When I popped in, it was like £1.50  for an hour.   Along the way we saw some interesting things.  There were a group of women celebrating a 40^th birthday .  You have to see for yourself.

We continued enjoyed more of downtown for a bit , grabbed dinner, and waited for a bit waiting for a comedy show just down the corner from the train station. 

The show was very interesting.  The food in the club/bar seemed pretty good, although we didn't try it since we had already eaten.  The comedians gave us a bit of a hard time for being American, but they gave some English a much worse time.  In fact, the only comedian to touch upon current events was a gay American comedian from San Francisco.  Unfortunately, we had to leave before the headliner finished his act because the last train was at 23:30.  We made it home fine, although we had to take a cab because the bus service had terminated for the evening.

Lord of the ring...

Today was another fun, busy day in Edinburgh.   As usual, we took a train from Queen's Street Station in Glasgow to the end of the line in Edinburgh.  We learned that we don't need to wait in line to buy tickets—they have ATM style machines that are much faster and great if you don't have any questions to ask.
 
We had coffee and muffins on the train and arrived about noon. After another brief stop in the tourist information, we set out along the Royal Mile and saw the old part of the city.  So many buildings have so much history.  One building had an interesting origin—the result of a golf game.
 
Eventually we reached the end of the Royal Mile at the Hollyrood Palace.  This is actually an official residence of the Queen when she visits Scotland.  It is very impressive, well kept, and has a great deal of history.  I was very taken with the fountain in the courtyard.
 

 
The one exception is the abbey next to the palace.  It was destroyed because it had been used as a Catholic church and I suspect that there was no motivation to restore it for that reason.
 
Again, pictures weren't allowed in some sections of the Palace, but we got some good ones and got another book.  I really enjoyed the palace.  We ran into an excellent tour guide who was giving a private tour.  We listened in on part of her talk and I was amazed at her detailed knowledge of the history of the Royal families, the art, furniture, and everything about the castle.  Those folks were getting their monies worth!
 
Next we headed back up the Royal Mile which runs from Hollyrood Palace to Edinburgh Castle and stopped at the base of the Mound at the National Portrait Museum.  The building was purpose built as a gallery and is another amazing building.  It houses a nice collection of art.
 
While I was admiring one picture, I noticed the ring the man was wearing and instinctively felt around for my wedding ring.  This is a pretty natural instinct, I think.  The problem was, my ring wasn't on my finger.  My mind started to race to remember when I had it last.  Now I should say that I have thought about taking it off several times, but had resisted because I didn't want to chance loosing it.   At home, I take it off often, but I thought it best to leave it on while here.   I said something to Laurie who got a panicked look on her face.   I remembered that earlier I had dropped a coin in the street and it made a noise.   I retrieved it and we went on our way.   Now I wondered if my ring had slipped off my finger at the same time.  I could not imagine why that would be so, my ring fits snugly—but fingers swell and shrink with temperature, humidity, etc. and I feared that the ring had come off and I hadn't noticed.   Since there was nothing to be done now about the ring, we finished our visit to the gallery and went on to other things but my mind was stuck on what might have happened to the ring.  I didn't remember taking it off, but I couldn't remember if I had it on when we left the house either.  I kept thinking about a time when I jumped into a pool and my class ring came off and I didn't notice for about 30 minutes.  Lucky for me, my friend Dave Bloom found the ring while playing water polo.

 

We were both really tired of walking and I was anxious to to take advantage of a sale at the Clark's shoe store we had passed the day before.  I found a couple of great deals on shoes and slipped on a pair for the rest of the day.  Just changing shoes made my feet feel much better. 
 
Next went on to the National Gallery  just accross the street which is open late on Thursdays.  Actually, many of the galleries are open late on Thursdays which is really handy.  They have a wonderful collection at the Scottish National Gallery.  We saw many paintings by both well known and lessor-known painters.  Many that are older than our country and yet displayed plainly without fan faire.  No ropes, no glass…just the occasional guard and humidity meter.
 
When they were closing we walked out to see "what was on" for dinner.  We checked our handy restaurant guide which is on loan to us from one of our neighbors.  We were really tired of walking and hungry so we weren't making a decision very fast.  A guard started towards us and I assumed he was going to ask us to leave.  But no, this is Scotland and people are friendly.  He spent 15 minutes or so giving us suggestions for dinner and then told us that he had to lock the closer gate (which went up some amazingly steep stairs) but we could get out the side gate which is actually closer to where we wanted to head anyway.   What a delightful man.
 
We walked a bit further—always finding new things like the fact that John Muir was born in Edinburgh.  Finally we found a middle eastern place that looked okay.  I had a roasted lamb with chicken liver and rice and Laurie had a delicious chic pea stew type dish.   She made the better choice I think—the lamb was good, but I was tired and kept thinking about my ring.  After dinner we decided to call it a night—we still had a 45 minute train ride back and a bus ride—about an hour's journey and we had been walking all day.  Everywhere you walk in Edinburgh and Glasgow is pretty much granite so after a while your feet hurt.
 
When we got home, I dashed up stairs to see if, by some chance I had taken my ring off before going to bed.  On the way home I had half convinced myself that I had…but it was equally possible it was lost on the street in Edinburgh that morning and I'd never see it again.   I looked around and didn't find it.  I called the insurance company to see if it was covered.  If it had been stolen, it would have been covered, but "mysterious loss" wasn't covered.  I wasn't surprised because I think I had decided that my ring could be replaced and so self-insurance was a better bet than the premium.  Laurie's ring is covered for "the works" because it is worth a lot more than mine.  I determined that the next day we'd stop by the Edinburgh police department and file a report in the unlikely event that someone was honest enough to turn it in.  Then, I spent some time registering for a Computer Forensics program I am planning on pursuing when I return home.   The SMCC registration site is pretty poor.  Several things don't work properly or require that you go back and forth between multiple web pages to complete a process.  In the end, I passed the first test—I am registered for 12 units that begin 3 days after I arrive back at home.  I am pretty excited about this, even though I haven't had time to research exactly what the job opportunities are after completing the program.  However, it involves law and computers which both interest me.  Although there were rumors that the market is up, the little bit of news I have read while gone is that there is more bad news.  I am not excited about the current prospects and want to find something new to pursue—even if it means starting over to some extent.

As I finished my registration, Laurie came downstairs to tell me that she was going to make my day.  Now every husband likes to hear those words, but they could mean a lot of things.  In this case, she meant something very specific— she had found my ring in the sheets of the bed.  Apparently I had slipped it off in my sleep the night before.  Even though the ring could have been replaced, I was very happy to have found it!

More on the castle...

Again, Laurie did a fantastic job on the blog so just a few notes...
 
The stained glass in the great hall was beautiful.  Very similar to Stirling Castle.  The Great Hall in Edinburgh has Victorian influence because it was remodeled several times.
 
The armaments in the Great Hall and the canon outside are all on loan from various places including the Tower of London.
 
One of the neat things was a small cemetery where the dogs that belong to the armies that have protected the castle were allowed to burry their dogs.  Royal treatment!
 
Much of the castle is devoted to various war memorials. The National War Museum of Scotland was a superb memorial to those Scotland has lost since WWI until today.  Every name is recorded.  No pictures are allowed out of respect to the dead.
 
Also very interesting were Honours of the Kingdom and the  Stone of Destiny which was taken to Westminster Abbey in 1296 and returned to Scotland 700 years later.  The Honours have a very interesting history as well, since they were hidden once in an abbey for 8 years and then walled up and stored in a giant shipping crate for 111 years!  After being saved from Cromwell, they became some of the oldest surviving regalia in Europe.
 
Edinburgh Castle is more touristy than Stirling.  In part it is because Edinburgh is more touristy...it is the city most foreigners come when they want to see "Scotland".  Many take a detour from London to see Edinburgh and maybe Loch Ness.  As nice as the Edinburgh is, there is so much more to Scotland and it is a shame to think you've seen the country from one city.
 
Pictures aren't allowed in many places in the castle for a range of reasons including security, and respect for the memorials so we got a really good book from the gift shop that supplements the visit nicely.

Dinner was really good. We had "pub food" on Rose Street. The men's toilet had all the essentials, including Whiskey flavoured condoms.
 
After dinner we had a nice hike up to the National Monument, the Observatory, and a great view of the castle.  Since this is where the observatory is, not surprisingly we had a stunning view of the city as well.