Kelpies and a Giant Wheel

We said goodbye to Edinburgh on Tuesday morning to make our way over to Oban on the west coast of Scotland.  After picking up our van for the week, we loaded up and headed west.  We stopped along the way to take in various sites and two certainly qualify for off the beaten path and not on the typical itinerary.  Both are near the town of Falkirk.

First up -- giant metal horse heads.  Kelpies are shape-changing mythological Scottish creatures that often take the shape of a horse.  The artist used Clydesdales as the models for these sculptures.  They are located next to the Forth & Clyde Canal and were completed in October 2013.  They were pretty cool to see, but we didn't think it was worth it to take a guided tour and go inside of the sculptures.  We had our photo op.

Just down the road about four miles is the Falkirk Wheel.  To me, this was much more impressive.  The Wheel is a rotating boat lift that connects the Union and the Forth & Clyde Canals.  This replaces a stair step series of 11 locks that were previously used and took an entire day to traverse.  This canal system is important to the transport of goods between the east and west of Scotland, and the new wheel makes the journey much easier and faster.  Boats enter the top or bottom of the wheel, and while the wheel rotates, the chamber holding the boat also rotates so the boat always remains level.

The Wheel itself has become something of a tourist attraction and folks can ride on a boat and and experience the Wheel themselves.  It is over 100 feet tall, yet only uses 1.5kWh of electricity to rotate 1/2 turn -- the equivalent amount needed to boil 8 kettles of water.  The Falkirk Wheel opened in 2002.

Click here to see a video of how it works.  The pictures below show how the orange boat starts on top and as the wheel turns, moves to the bottom.

So, tell me how you really feel

The Palace at Holyroodhouse as seen from Calton Hill

Most of the buildings in Old Town Edinburgh and along the Royal Mile date back a few centuries and represent the classical architecture of its day.  What's referred to as New Town was built in the 1800s and has the classic Georgian style that you would see in Williamsburg.

The Palace at Holyroodhouse was built in the 17th Century and sits at one end of the Royal Mile.  It is grand and stately and what you would expect for a royal palace.  Across the street from the palace sits the new Scottish Parliament Building which opened October 2004.  It is modern design that architect Enric Miralles said was a building "growing out of the land."

Front of the Parliament Building

I was chatting with a local police officer about our travels and asked what he thought of the the building.  "Honestly," he said, "I don't like it.  It makes my eyes bleed."  Ok then.

View from the right side of the building

View along the Royal Mile

Edinburgh Castle

Edinburgh Castle sits at one end of the Royal Mile, on rock that is perched above the city with great views.  The castle has served as a focal point of Scottish and Edinburgh life for centuries -- as the home of kings and queens, and most recently as a military garrison.  It's actually a collection of buildings linked together with cobblestone walkways, all behind massive stonewalls with cannons strategically placed for protection.

St. Margaret's Chapel was the first

building constructed -- it dates to 1130 -- and is the oldest building in Edinburgh.  Parts of the Castle have also served as a jail including housing American prisoners during the Revolutionary War.

The esplanade leading to the the castle entrance has been temporarily transformed into a small stadium in preparation for the Edinburgh Tattoo that's held every August.  The Tattoo brings together the best pipes and drums groups from around the world.  This is frequently shown on PBS.  Every year they erect the stadium
seating for this event and then remove it in September once it's over.  Our apartment overlooks the esplanade and typically has great views of the castle.  Unfortunately for our stay, we see the underside of stadium seating.  We all agree that's a small price to pay for having such an awesome location for our Edinburgh stay.

Setting up for the Tattoo

Hallelujah!! The Luggage has Arrived!

Everyone traveled on their own to Edinburgh -- different flights, different days, etc. -- and we all met up on Saturday morning.  Teri, Wendy, Mona, and I traveled together from Dulles, flying on Aer Lingus with a change of planes in Dublin.  We arrived safely, but unfortunately our luggage did not.

It's been quite the saga --

Our flight left Dulles over an hour late -- the plane coming over from Ireland was late and then there were thunderstorms in New York and they had to change our route.  The strong tailwind helped make up some of the time, but we landed about 5:50am for a 6:40am departure.  Once we taxied to the gate, we stopped short and sat because they were waiting for the ground crew to arrive to direct the plane to the gate.  It's now 6:00am.

Once we got off the plane we had to walk and walk and walk the most circuitous route as the airport terminal was undergoing renovations.  We had to go through passport control before we could go to our connecting gate.  It's now 6:15am.

We got to the security officer and she started asking standard questions -- why are you traveling here, how long are you staying, which places are you visiting, etc.  It's now 6:20am.  Boarding started at 6:15am.

We're now running down the corridors looking for Gate 335.  It's down a set of stairs and as I started descending, I heard the final boarding announcement and that the gate would be closing.  I then went into full-on sprint--hurdling luggage, chairs, and the odd baby stroller to reach the gate where the agent somewhat sternly tells me that it's clearly printed on my boarding pass that boarding was at 6:15am.  I politely informed her that my plane just landed and we're all running to not miss the flight and she needs to let the three ladies running behind me on the plane.

Out of breath and jolted by the cold air as we boarded the bus to take us to our plane, we're thankful not to have missed our connection.  Unfortunately, our luggage didn't move as fast as we did and we arrived in Edinburgh and stared at the empty carousel where we had hoped to see our suitcases.

Now the fun really started.  While we all had a sweater and jacket to put on, pretty much all of our clothes, toiletries, etc., were in our checked luggage.  We went to the luggage counter and filed our claim and the very friendly lady behind the counter said we'll bring the luggage to you.  There were four more flights from Dublin to Edinburgh so we figured we'd have it by the end of day.  We're given our claim number with directions on how to check the status online and a phone number to call.

Mary, Ken and their girls arrived not long after we did and the eight of us caught the bus into Edinburgh and met up with David.  We settled into the apartment and patiently began the waiting game, assuming the phone would ring soon with news of our arriving luggage.  No such luck.

Sunday arrives and we see on line that one bag has made it although we don't know which one.  I called all of the numbers I have with no luck getting a real person.  We went to church.  We visited the castle.  We're still wearing the same clothes.  Sometime after 6:00pm, a suitcase showed up and it's Mona who won the lottery of clothes and toiletries.  The rest of us continued to wait.  Fortunately, the apartment does have a washer and dryer and we're able to wash the clothes we've been wearing.  It was now over 36 hours and 9 additional flights into Edinburgh and our luggage still hadn't shown up.

Monday arrives and we awoke to see on the computer that all the bags made it to Edinburgh and were given to the courier to deliver, we just didn't know when.  The ladies were able to borrow a few things to wear from each other, but with my height and size, I was out of luck.  I was still wearing the same purple shirt I had been wearing for three days.  It was 48 hours later and still no bags.  I finally reached the courier company on the phone and they informed me they can't give me a specific time, but they will call me so we can make sure someone was at the apartment.  We went on our way exploring Edinburgh -- Calton Hill, the Holyrood Palace, Parliament, the Royal Mile, National Museum of Scotland.  Lunchtime rolled around -- still no call.  About 2:30pm, David texted and said all three bags were at the apartment.  We never did get a call.  Fortunately, David and Teri decided to take a break from sightseeing and happened to be at the apartment when the courier showed up some 2 1/2 days after our plane landed.

So now we're rejoicing in the excitement of additional clothes, toiletries, and different shoes.  We managed ok, but Aer Lingus didn't do us any favors.  Fortunately, the bags arrived before we left Edinburgh and we're not being chased all over Scotland.  On the positive side, I don't need to pack to leave tomorrow -- I never got the chance to unpack.

St. Giles Cathedral

St. Giles Cathedral, or perhaps more appropriately the High Kirk of Edinburgh, is the mother church of Presbyterianism and our place for Sunday worship.  We attended the main service at 10:00am with choir, organ, and communion.  It was lovely hearing the minister's Scottish brogue while he preached.

Interestingly enough, the first hymn was the Battle Hymn of the Republic, which is apparently not even in the Presbyterian hymnal, so we felt right at home.  As it happens, the minister was at the Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago for a number of years before coming to St. Giles and a choir from Fourth Presbyterian was giving a concert that night as part of a tour of Scotland.  He wanted to recognize our American Independence Day knowing that so many Americans would be in attendance this morning.

The organist and choir were excellent and filled the cathedral with a glorious sound.  We took an extra long pause between each hymn verse due to the reverberation.  A bonus for me was the anthem was the Gloria in Excelsis from the Ralph Vaughn Williams Mass in G minor which I sang in college.  Communion was a new experience as we formed a circle in the middle of the church and passed the elements to one another around the circle, tearing a piece of bread and drinking wine from a very large chalice.  The choir sang while we were taking communion which greatly added to the experience.

David and I returned to hear the evening concert and heard more glorious music from the Chicago choir.  A great day, richly filled with word and music to get our trip off to a fabulous start.

A Deserted Royal Mile

The Royal Mile is the Center of Old Town Edinburgh and a daily hubbub of activity.  It stretches from Edinburgh Castle to the Palace of Holyroodhouse and is usually chockablock with people shopping, seeing the sights, eating, etc.  We haven't fully adjusted to the time zone change so I was up and out the door well before 6:00am.  I figured there wouldn't be much going on and would be a great time to explore and take

pictures.  I had no idea that I would have the place to myself.   I doubt this will last long.

Hello Scotland!!

We've embarked on a new travel adventure to Scotland, but without our usual partners in crime -- Mom and Pop.  Instead, we're traveling with a group of friends from the Wesley Foundation at William and Mary.  W&M and Wesley are where Mona and I first met and where we developed deep friendships that have lasted a lifetime.  Instead of our normal travel party of four, there are 13 of us that will be caravanning around Scotland for the next 10 days.

Our group spans in age from 10 to 65.  Cindy, Aaron and their two boys currently live in Inverness and nine of us traveled from various parts of Virginia to meet up with them.  Teri just retired on Thursday and left for this trip on Friday; her husband David was our campus minister and married us 22 years ago.  Wendy's traveling solo with us and was in Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity with us during college.  Mary, Ken and their girls round out our group, battling travel delays and bad weather to meet up with the rest of us.

We've arrived in Edinburgh and are staying in an apartment large enough for the nine of us -- Cindy's family joins up with us tomorrow.  The Queen was nice enough to be here and greet us with a parade -- I heard she might also be here for the opening of Scottish Parliament, but it was nice to feel the love.  We'll be here for three nights before beginning our journey west and north to the Highlands.

No big adventures today -- trying to acclimate to the time and rest up as we'll hit the ground running.