Edinburgh Monday 3/31/2025

 Woke at 4 am to birdsong - so nice but drifted back to sleep until 6:40 when the clang and clatter of city life got me up. 

Headed out for much needed coffee and found a new to me pastry - apple oat flapjack. Oats being very traditional had to try it - verdict pretty good but tomorrow think I’m going for the almond croissant instead.

 

Forgot to mention last night how safe Edinburgh feels - and how friendly and kind people are.  

I’m in the Old City and on my walk to breakfast, saw man in a kilt!!! Was dying to take a pic but refrained.

Sitting in cafe and hearing sea gulls - from the North Sea.  For perspective, Edinburgh is at 55.95 N latitude - about the same as Moscow.

Some posts will be more linear as the days progress - and some will be more random.

And “interesting” is a word I will use frequently!

Here’s a random interesting bit.

My room key has an attachment to turn on power AND the outlets also have on/off switches.

Most of my days will be directed for me so I decided that today would simply be a wander day - seeing whatever I happened to see.

First stop, less than a 3 minute walk, was HM General Register House, national archive of family records.  Thought I would see about the McCutchon family, as the furthest back we know is Captain Samuel McCutchon, 1773-1840.  National records began in the late 1700s; prior to that, records were in local churches.

Found this spelling and history.

Another block brought me to one of the largest monuments in the world for an author (or so they say) for Sir Walter Scott.  

Looking through you can see a clock in a tower - enlarged below

I learned that it’s the clock for the Balmoral Hotel, and has been kept fast for over 100 years so that people are on time for their trains.

Then a quick stop at the National Gallery - magnificent art, but the day is too beautiful to be indoors.

Looking around, I saw what could only be Edinburgh Castle so decided to go and would up spending the day there. Check the link above for Wikipedia and this one for the official castle site.

Absolutely fascinating.  Will do my best to give you a sense of it.

It is not a fairy tale castle, rather one built for defense.

The crowds in the picture are tour groups, getting orientation.  

First up is the Portcullis Gate.

Without being here, it’s really hard to get a sense of how massive and historic the castle is.  It is like a city in itself, and you could spend days there.

I had some very basic Scottish history but learned much more, and could have learned even more if I had more days here.

Castle Rock (site of the castle) is 443 ft above sea level - you can get a sense of that as you look over the Old Town, and out to the Firth of Forth. I felt it climbing up and heading back down.

Castle Rock has sheer faces to the north and south, and very steep terrain on the west. So  only the west side needs defending

Waited for about 10 minutes to see the Honours of Scotland, the Scottish Crown Jewels.  Learned that originally the kings were crowned with open crowns, but when the Pope recognized Scotland as a country, the crown was then closed, signifying that kings were second only to God.

The Great Hall came next on my self guided tour.  Built by King James IV to show his wealth. Sadly he was killed at the Battle of Flodden, by the English troops of his brother in law, Henry VIII.  

The Hall bristles with weapons:

The mighty claymore, requiring two hands and considerable strength.

 While all swords started (approximately) the same length, they shortened as they were sharpened.

Loren would be fascinated by the different edges created in the sharpening process.

Spears decorate the room.

And there were “mobile” cannons, weighing almost 100 pounds, but fortunately, with carrying handle

And armor - yes, it’s real.

Getting close to 1 pm so headed over to watch the One O’Clock Gun.  Its name is Mons Meg. You don’t really watch the gun fire but you certainly hear it. Sound on!

And that is only a quarter charge. The Ministry of Defense (in London) decided several years ago that a full charge was problematic.  How was it not problematic for 100 years before today?

The hill below is Arthur’s Seat - will hike when I’m back!

As you can see, the weather today has been wonderful with clear sunny skies and a high of 62, and a very light breeze.

Radom interesting fact - there are virtually no buildings with exposed brick in Edinburgh.  Brick is porous, and with an annual rainfall of 27” combined with heavy winds, brick would soon deteriorate. Instead, stone is used everywhere.

Walking back to my hotel, found this.

As part of trip prep, I read a wide variety of books about Scotland. One of them was “How the Scots Invented the Modern World”.

Pasting a review rather than rekeying

Who formed the first literate society? Who invented our modern ideas of democracy and free market capitalism? The Scots. As historian and author Arthur Herman reveals, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries Scotland made crucial contributions to science, philosophy, literature, education, medicine, commerce, and politics—contributions that have formed and nurtured the modern West ever since.

Herman has charted a fascinating journey across the centuries of Scottish history. Here is the untold story of how John Knox and the Church of Scotland laid the foundation for our modern idea of democracy; how the Scottish Enlightenment helped to inspire both the American Revolution and the U.S. Constitution; and how thousands of Scottish immigrants left their homes to create the American frontier, the Australian outback, and the British Empire in India and Hong Kong.

How the Scots Invented the Modern World reveals how Scottish genius for creating the basic ideas and institutions of modern life stamped the lives of a series of remarkable historical figures, from James Watt and Adam Smith to Andrew Carnegie and Arthur Conan Doyle, and how Scottish heroes continue to inspire our contemporary culture, from William “Braveheart” Wallace to James Bond.

Highly recommend this book.

Early dinner tonight - tired after being on my feet for 6 hours, and covering 5 miles. 

Started with a nice Viogner

Ordered 2 starters (appetizers) - smoked salmon and “vegetarian haggis” with neeps (turnips) and tatties (potatoes).

The salmon was incredible - and very filling, so the veggie haggis didn’t get much attention.

Then back to hotel to finish this post.

And so to bed.