A Mad God's Dream. Edinburgh

We were in Holyrood Palace...the Summer Home of Queen Eliazabeth when she comes to Scotland...that is, when she is not at her estate at Balmoral which is somewhere north in the Scottish Highlands.

We paid for the audio tour...and wandered through the palace. It was quite nice to get a picture of just where the Queen actually lives and works when she is passing through her realm.

On the wall of one room was a portrait of the Queen, I assumed it was in her younger years, and thought it looked a bit more like her daughter Princess Ann.

An English woman turned to a guide and asked, "Who is that woman in the portrait?"

"That is the current Queen," responded the guide.

"No, that can't be!" countered the English woman.

"Yes, that is the current Queen." Said the guide.

"No! Surely not...who is that woman in the portrait?"

"It's the current Queen ma'am."

"I am talking about the portrait over the fireplace there there!"

I quietly left the room as the guide kept her cool...... 

            

We had been cautioned about rain and sunshine and more rain while in the British Isles and today is case in point....rain and shine and rain and more shine. 

                  

But it also gave us the opportunity to see Edinburgh with the crowds thinned a bit. The Royal Mile is supposedly the most exciting walk in the UK. (Though I would make a case for a walk in the Scottish Highlands.)

                        

I'd say it has its moments of grandeur and moments of pure touristy fabrications but it was a never boring and always colorful.

                          

                      (Our apartment stairs)

                     

Across the ravine and across the RR tracks there was a wonderful promenade framed by stately buildings several blocks over from the busy Royal Mile. The iconic monument to Sir Walter Scott is impressive if not overly grandiose. But next to it was what I was seeking.

                    

The statue honoring Dr. David Livingston...the Scottish missionary to Africa and explorer who was the first European to see Victoria Falls on the Zambia/Zimbabwe border. He died while seeking the source of the Nile and was a tireless fighter against slavery. 

He is a Blantyre native and since he trekked in the 1800's near the school where we taught in Zambia and because his legacy was still revered in that part of the world....I felt a need to at least see the statue dedicated to this native son.

                    

I didn't realize that the Queen would pass through Edinburgh each year and that the key to the city was offered to her and that she held court (so to speak) at Holyrood Palace but a couple blocks from our apartment.

It was a rainy day and the palace could be toured and so we went. No pictures were allowed of the interior but the audio tour and the walk thru were enlightening. Like all palaces, much (all?) of it is for show. Visiting dignitaries are to be impressed by the sumptuous rooms and the sense of history.

   

Indeed, there were wall after wall of portraits of the Kings and Queens who had come before. There were stories of palace intrigue and of simple ceremonies that cemented bonds between nations.

In one room was a diamond studded broach that was owed by King George V...within the design were the words...."No one attacks me with impunity." And within that was a likeness of St. Andrew, Patron Saint of Scotland.

I suppose only a preacher would note the inconsistencies of linking one of the Apostles with the notion of payback for any attacks. 

           

The most striking of the palace tour were the final moments in the Holyrood Abbey. This was part of the original reason that the palace was in this spot. An Augustinian Monestary was originally in this place and it fell into disrepair during the Reformation as the castle and resulting palace were added to over the centuries. Today there is no roof and the walls and windows offer the viewer an eerie silence.

                 

Edinburgh's rain made the place seem even more like something out of the mists of time.

           

We joked that Edinburgh seemed more like London than London. Perhaps it is the ups and downs of the streets and the regal yet ancient quality of the stone buildings. London is rather flat and Edinburgh is a workout for your legs...and your mind and your heart.

Peace,  Bob