Over the next few days, I hope to share with you some of the experiences of our recent journey to Scotland. We did and saw so much that this will of necessity be a hit-or-miss set of postings.
The journey began in Marquette, Michigan where we loaded up our luggage and our dog and set out for our kids’ home near Milwaukee, Wisconsin. While we were away, we arranged for Reyna to spend the time with her three cousins, Dottie, Jazzie and Trixie and Terri fretted a bit about whether Reyna might not care to return with us at the end of the trip.
The trip to Scotland was smooth and uneventful (thank goodness!)—flight to Boston, change planes to cross the Atlantic, and land in Edinburgh. Including the long layovers, we were in transit for about 14 hours. Terri wanted to get to Scotland a couple of days before we would join our tour group because as a genuine expert on the subject of jetlag, she knew well what we would be experiencing, and of course she was right.
We have friends in Edinburgh, Norah and David, whom we hadn’t seen in almost 40 years. To visit them, we learned a bit about public transportation, and I have to say Google Maps worked well for us the entire way. Norah and David prepared a lovely meal for us in their home and we had a marvelous time reconnecting with them.
We arranged to check into our hotel a few days early so we’d be more acclimated when our tour began. And what a hotel it was! We’re pretty cheap when it comes to hotels, so it was a nice surprise to find that the tour was booked into true first-class accommodations, Sheraton Grand Hotel & Spa. It took us a half-hour just to figure out how to operate the lights in our room! <smile>
Our hotel was among the best in the country because it was part of our tour. We could exit the hotel and walk one of the best streets in the city for restaurants, pubs, coffee shops, and merchandise shops. Directly across the street was Usher Hall, which was in full swing for the many college graduations scheduled for early July. Among our first lessons is the correct pronunciation of the name of the town. It’s “Edin-Boro,” not “Edin-Burg!” Should be familiar to us New Yawkers given that we are a city of five burroughs, not burgs!
The following day, Norah provided us with a guided tour of her own design focused primarily on her career at the University of Edinburgh, one of the finest universities in the world. She is on the faculty of Medicine, so we spent much of the morning learning about that institution. Edinburgh University is similar to the University of Michigan in that it is an urban institution with buildings distributed around the city, not concentrated in a single campus. But the College of Medicine is located near a lovely park and we enjoyed a break in a coffee shop with outdoor seating.
From there we walked to the “Royal Mile” which is a storied street leading to Castle Edinburgh and lined with shops and tourist attractions. I have to say it is all done with great taste, the shops feature excellent quality merchandise at reasonable prices, so it was all great fun.
Norah also showed us the fabled cemetery where many of Edinburgh’s elites are interred. It was then that we first learned of Greyfriars Bobby, which perhaps you might know about owing to the many books and even movies about the subject. For those who don’t (that would have included me before this trip) Greyfriar’s Bobby was a dog belonging to a night watchman named John Gray who died while his dog, said to be a Skye Terrier, was still young. According to the legend, the dog followed his funeral procession and then stood over his grave for 14 years until he died on that spot. As a historian, I have to note that the story is almost certainly a great exaggeration. There really was a night watchman named John Gray, although there is at least one other viable candidate for the story. The cemetery was frequented by many dogs, so it’s not really possible to know that the same dog was at that grave for 14 years. And it was more likely a Dandie Dinmont Terrier, which is the Scottish version of a Dachshund, since the Skye Terrier is almost exclusively found on the Isle of Skye—which we were going to visit a few days hence!
Well, no matter, Greyfriar’s Bobby is the celebrated pooch and there is a lovely statue erected in his memory near the entrance to the cemetery. For reasons no one knows, the idea caught on that rubbing his nose would get one good luck, and if you look at the photo, you’ll see that people have rubbed the coating until the shiny base is revealed.
And this was our first introduction to the Scotts’ love of dogs—and they do love their dogs! Everywhere we went, we saw dogs. The Scotts bring them into pubs and restaurants, and if you’re on the street, chances are you’ll be seeing folks walking with their dogs
Norah continued our private tour with an exploration of Edinburgh University she called home for about 40 years. Norah was a professor in the College of Medicine and although now retired, still has access to her lab, so she was able to show us the facility. Edinburgh University reminded me of the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) in that it has no real main campus, rather, its buildings are situated in various places around the city. Her building was a combination of very old, yet state of the art. It’s a nineteenth century structure but contains the most modern laboratory facilities. It’s also designed to serve as a natural history museum containing exhibits of various animals in skeletal forms, with technology that digitally restores their flesh.
After that tour, Norah led us to a fine little bistro where we enjoyed a snack and some beverages. It was then time to bid a fond farewell—at least until our return to Edinburgh ten days later, as Terri and I were about to join our tour group.
Next Up: First day with our group!