Day 17 Searching for my Scottish Roots

On day 17 we had a few hours to kill before we needed to get to the Glasgow airport which was a little more than a one hour drive from our B&B in Edinburgh, so we drove to the nearby town of Musselburgh, which is really a suburb of Edinburgh.  My sister, who loves researching our family history, discovered that we do have Scottish roots, and she traced them to Musselburgh.  I decided to find the oldest church in Musselburgh, and we would then just browse through the graveyard, hoping to find the graves of my kin.  

This is St. Michael's Parish church in Musselburgh, built in 1805.  It replaced the original church which is dated back to 1547. My relatives, Marjorie Lambert and her husband, Sir James Hoge. In 1682 they were on board a ship to America.  Marjorie died on the ship, but Sir James made it to Frederick, Virginia, where he died that same year. 

They had two sons, George and William. Both survived the crossing, and settled in Virginia and Delaware. 

Unfortunately I didn’t find the graves of any Hoges or Lamberts, and it was impossible to read any of the grave stones older than 1800.  The church was locked so we couldn't talk to anyone inside.  Wish we had more time to further explore our Scottish connection.

From the graveyard surrounding the church you could see the Firth of Forth 

Our flight was late in leaving Glasgow, but fortunately they held up the connecting flight in Iceland.

 Iceland

We arrived in Boston around 7 PM, EST, took the 9:25 PM bus to Concord, NH, where our car was parked, and arrived in Concord around midnight.  We still had an 85 mile drive to Sugar Hill, but we were too exhausted, and to our bodies it was really 5 AM, so we got a room at the Comfort Inn.

We were on the road by 7 AM, and in Sugar Hill by 9 AM where the iris were finally blooming,  I was very glad to be home.

Day 16 Last Full Day in Scotland

This is our last full day in Scotland.  It's been a great trip, but I'm ready to go home.  After so many days of wonderful food, wonderful scenery, wonderful people, and fascinating history, I'm ready to go home.  As Dorothy says, "There's no place like home."

We made the most of our last day.  After a delicious breakfast of eggs benedict at our B&B we returned via taxi to Edinburgh Castle where we followed Rick Steeves' audio tour of the Royal Mile.  His audio tours are very informative and witty too.  His travel books are the best.

As you'll notice in many of these pix, it was a beautiful day with plenty of sun.   Without question this was the nicest weather we've had in the past 16 days.

Robert the Bruce

The good weather probably made the crowds even larger than yesterday, but fortunately our walk down the Royal Mile would take us away from the masses.  The Royal Mile itself is lined with tacky souvenir shops, all selling fine tartans...made in China.  However, the Rick Steeves audio tour is filled with great anecdotes so it's definitely worth seeing, if for only once in your lifetime.

Scottish schools don't go on summer vacation 'til July.

Deacon Brodie was a successful business man by day, but a scoundrel at night who robbed many to feed his gambling habit.  He was the inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson's "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde"

Princes Street Gardens

Holyrood Park, which is adjacent to Holyrood Castle

At the end of the Royal Mile are Scotland's new Parliament building and the Royal Family's official residence in Scotland, Holyrood Castle.

This modern building is Parliament.  After being dissolved in the late 1700's, Scotland did not have its own governing body until late in the 1990's when this was built.  

The debating chamber.

Day 15 Edinburgh Castle

Edinburgh is known for many things, but did you know fried Snickers bars are high on that list?  I have tried fried Twinkies and fried corn dogs at the Brooklyn County fair in Connecticut.  They were terrible, but the fried Snickers was delicious.  It must be the batter!

Anyway, we started the day with a delightful breakfast and very enjoyable conversation with fellow guests from Danvers, Mass.,  at the "23 Mayfield" B&B.

Took a taxi to Edinburgh Castle arriving at 10 PM.  Our breakfast companions warned us that the crowds at the Castle were immense yesterday, but we figure they would be less on a Monday.  We were wrong, but we endured and thoroughly enjoyed our visit.  We encountered the longest and slowest lines while waiting to see Scotland's Crown Jewels, but it was a thrill to see them.  Photos weren't allowed.

Like Sterling, Edinburgh Castle is situated on highest point in the city.  It dominates the landscape and presents a most formidable challenge for an attacking foe.

William Wallace guards the castle entrance

Along the far horizon you can see a number of cranes lining the harbor on the River Forth in Leith

St. Mary's Chapel, built in 1170, Scotland's Oldest building.  Still hosts weddings and baptisms.

Mary, Queen of Scots

A pub sign along the Royal Mile

Tolbooth Church, tallest church spire in Edinburgh

Leaving the Castle we headed for a lunch spot, Birties, where we enjoyed fish and chips, fish chowder, a half pint of IPA, and the yummy fried Snickers.

My camera battery died right after the Snickers photo, so I have nothing to share from our visit to the National Museum of Scotland.  The exhibits were extensive; this is Scotland's version of the Smithsonian, so we just concentrated on those that focused on Scotlands contributions to science and technology, and Scottish life.

After spending many hours on our feet, mostly walking on stone floors, we were ready for a rest, so we headed back to our B&B via a bus.

Tonight's dinner was at the Old Bell Pub, which was less than a ten minute walk from our B&B.  The Old Bell really had a traditional British pub feel from decor, to menu, to patrons.   It was trivia night so we were entertained as we dined on beer, steak & ale pie, roast pork filet, and sticky toffee pudding. Very tasty, and very convenient.

It's still very light out, but it's early to bed for me tonight, I didn't get much sleep last night, so I'm exhausted.

Day 14 Stirling to Falkirk to Edinburgh

Started the day driving to a few sights in Stirling that we wanted to see:  the Stirling Bridge where William Wallace defeated the English in 1257, the statue of Rob Roy McGregor, and a view of the castle that shows how it dominates the landscape.

From Stirling we moved on to "The Kelpies",  the world's largest equine statues; two steel horse heads that are over 30 meters tall.  They were very impressive and were located in a recently completed park that includes the Glasgow-Edinburgh canal, and a variety of walking paths and other family activities.

hand operated locks

 Leaving "The Kelpies", we had a short drive to the Wheel of Falkirk, which is an engineering marvel; a rotating boat lift that replaces 11 locks along the canal that connects Glasgow with Edinburgh.  It too was impressive.

Leaving Falkirk we drove straight to a French restaurant in Leith, just outside of Edinburgh, as appears to be the working port of Edinburgh.   The food was delicious, very authentic French classic dishes.  Joni had crepes and I moules/frites (mussels and fries).

We then we walked to the Royal Britannia, which is docked in Leith.  The Britannia served Queen Elizabeth from 1953 to 1997.  It is now open for the public and it was a fascinating look at the personal living space of the Queen and the life she lives.  By many decorating standards, the interior spaces of the ship used by the royal family were very modest, certainly not what you would think world's richest woman might choose. The ship is over 400 feet long, required a crew of 240, and served as the honeymoon yacht for most of the Queen's family.  There were hundreds of family photos spread throughout the ship, clearly emphasizing the importance of family to her.

The Queen's Bedroom

State Dining Room with places for 57

Family sitting room where they would gather before dinner

The Queen's Rolls Royce which was carried to every port.

The Queen's Land Rover which was carried to every port.

The Royal Barge, the boat used to ferry the Queen off the Britannia and into port.

"23 Mayfield", our B&B for the next 3 nights