It was very foggy (apparently they call it haar here) the entire day. While I had wished for some sunlight, the grey background made for some interesting pictures. We walked as a group to the castle, where we were just in time to see the 21-gun salute. This doesn't happen every day, and it was in honor of someone, so there were a lot of military personnel and other dignitaries there. I got some pretty cool pictures of the rounds coming out of the guns. The individual rounds were huge! I have pictures of them too, but there were as long as the diameter of the wheels these huge cannons were housed on. They made quite a bang when they went off.
After getting to see the guns, we walked around the castle. It isn't like what I imagine most castles would be like - there are restaurants and cafes in it as well as parts that were turned into museums. We saw an exhibit on Prisoners of War held in the castle, which was pretty neat. The part I found most interesting was the chapel. I figured we would be walking into a pretty typical chapel, but I was very wrong. Though the structure looks like a gothic chapel from the outside, the inside is a huge war memorial. I have actually been struck by the number of war memorials we have seen so far in Scotland. They seem to be woven into the national landscape. In Edinburgh alone, I counted five different memorials for World War One, and we only managed to walk down two streets! So the inside of the chapel honored Scottish officers and men who fell in all of the wars Scotland has fought. There were engraved parts of the wall explaining what regiment was being honored and how many people were lost. Then, at waist level, there were books with the names of those who had been killed. The books for WWI were probably the largest. There was also an entire wing of the memorial dedicated to women who served in the armed forces. I thought that was particularly striking. We unfortunately weren't allowed to take pictures of the memorial.
As we were about to leave the castle, we saw a sign in one of the shops advertising whiskey tasting. While I am not a big drinker, I have decided that it is worth it to at least try everything once. We went in and were given a small glass of Columba Cream Scottish liqueur. The man said it was a little bit like Bailey's. I actually liked the taste a lot better than Bailey's. Our second taste testing was of a honey whiskey. He said it was good because they honey made you feel good and made for a sweet taste. I did not like that one at all. After learning that the cream version was made by a local family and hard to find, I bought a small bottle to bring back with me. So Mom and Dad, there is whiskey in my room. Aren't you proud?
After that adventure, we set out to find the Elephant House, where Harry Potter was written. Most of the group wanted to go to the Elephant House, and we traveled like a large pack. The Elephant was a lot smaller than I had imagined, and we ended up splitting up for lunch. I ate in the Elephant and thought it was very good.
Not wanting to waste any of our time in Edinburgh, we headed out to see two large cathedrals. One cathedral ended up having a cafe in it. We couldn't figure out if there was actually a church part and didn't want to spend too much time in the rain trying to get in. We then set out for St. Giles' cathedral, which you also cannot take pictures in. I think the ceiling of the cathedral most impressed me. It had these huge arches all over that were very artistically lit. The shadows on the ceiling made it appear large and ominous. But it was a pretty neat cathedral to walk around in. There was a man practicing the organ while we were there, too. The organ sounded very warm and echoed through the entire space.
After the cathedral, we went back to the Elephant House for coffee before meeting the rest of our group for dinner and a play at the Lyceum. Dinner was good, a very generous three course meal! The play was Arthur Miller's "The Price." I knew nothing about Miller going in to the play and really enjoyed it. It seemed to have just the right combination of levity and seriousness.
And now for the midnight train part... We had to take the very last train going back to Dundee. Normally I don't think this would be a problem, but it was also the day of a rugby game, and all of the drunk fans wanted to go home as well. To say the train was packed is an understatement. One kid, Brad, got sat on and then was offered to sit on some strange man's leg. He ran away...
I ended standing for basically the entire ride with two other girls. We kept getting bumped into by this group of rowdy guys who thought it would be funny to try and throw each other off the train at EVERY stop. Very annoying. They all seemed to be holding beer cans. One girl behind us even brought her glass of wine on the train. (Though that is nothing compared to the women on the train in the morning who were alternating between bottles of Stella and a very large bottle of Bailey's). So it was an experience, for sure.
Being in Edinburgh with the whole group reminded me a lot of the high school band trips I took - in a good way. It was fun to already have the day planned out and be able to hang out with the other people on the study group. We've all kind of decided we never would have hung out together at Colgate, so this is a neat opportunity for us. Our group leader, Georgia Frank, is planning a trip to Stirling castle in two weeks. I'm excited not only to see the castle, but also to travel with all, or most, of the group again. And I really love traveling when transportation costs are covered by someone other than me!
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