The Best of Britain and Ireland -- Day Six

The following is my journal entry (with pictures and movies added) for Day 6 of my vacation to Britain and Ireland.

We had our typical British morning of wake-up, breakfast, and departure on our way to Edinburgh, Scotland. On our way out of Newcastle, we spotted a Costco on the other side of the river. Costco is EVERYWHERE! Even in England. :o)

We stopped at a part of Hadrian's Wall called Heddon on the Wall. This 2000 year old Roman Empire wall used to separate England and the savage country of Scotland. When it was full, it was 75 miles in length, 12-15 feet high and 7 feet wide. There were forts along the wall, and the guards would spend two weeks on shift. That is where we got the term "fortnight". The Roman's left England in 410BC and since then, people used the stones of the wall for resources, such as for gardens or building material. A church is built entirely out of the rocks of the wall. Today, most of the wall has disappeared. There are only small sections left, like at Heddon on the Wall. We were able to make a quick photo stop.

Hadrian's Wall at Heddon on the Wall

Next we continued through beautiful English countryside with rolling hills, green grass, occasional huge mansions or huge country homes, lots and lots of sheep and lambs, and small towns.

English countryside

We stopped at the English/Scottish border and took pictures of the huge rock monument that is displayed at the border.

England / Scotland Border

We were taking pictures when a car raced up by the rock and a man in a kilt got out, got his bag pipe, and started playing for us. It was a nice welcome to Scotland.

Bag piper to welcome us to Scotland

We arrived there about 9:50am, and he said coaches don't normally start arriving until 10am, so he is usually already there to welcome. Our tour group really is early to almost everything. :o) I took a movie of him talking to get his Scottish brogue accent.

We continued through Scotland and passed by the only surviving tree from the Jedforest. It is said to be over 2000 years old. It is called the Capon Tree.

Capon Tree

And of course we traveled through more beautiful country side.

Scottish Countryside

We stopped for a photo opportunity in Jedburgh. The 12th century abbey was destroyed (or as Christina says...ruined) by Henry VIII, but this time for different reasons. Mary, Queen of Scots' house was in Jedburgh. At age 9 months, she became queen of Scotland. At age 5, King Henry VIII tried to marry his son to her. When the Scottish government refused, Henry retaliated by destroying the abbey.

The ruins of Jedburgh Abbey

Near Jedburgh Abbey

Jedburgh is also know for it's rocks. Here are pictures of a rock structure and the display describing it (click to enlarge):

We drove by her house and I was able to take a quick picture through the window.

Mary Queen of Scots house

About five minutes up the road, we stopped again at a rest stop/store for a comfort break. We bought some cashmere scarves for 50% off!

We continued our trip to Edinburgh by stopping at Melrose for lunch. There is another 12th century abbey here. It was also ruined/destroyed by Henry VIII. This one was really large with a beautiful cemetery surrounding it. It cost a lot to enter the gates, so Kelli and I just walked around the outside taking pictures through the bars (we were getting good at that).

Melrose Abbey

Funny story about this picture. We were taking these pictures and another couple on the tour joined us. It was the first time we really talked with anyone else on the tour (except for the traditional "where are you from? who do you know"). At this point along the fence we kept hearing whistling. We couldn't figure out where it was coming from. Then later, another couple came running from the abbey and asked if we had heard them from the top of the abbey. We told them we heard something, but we didn't see them. I got home and saw this picture. If you look carefully, you can see them waving to us from the top left above the largest window.

We walked around the small town to shop and have lunch. We found a shop that sold pretty earrings, so now I can say I bought something at Melrose (a la "Clueless").

For lunch, we ate in a little bakery. I asked the person behind the counter what she suggested and she said I should try a Scotch Pie. I was unsure, but she said "You're in Scotland. You need to try it. When are you coming back?" Good argument! Also, a Scottish lady in line helped me by describing the pie to me. I bought it for lunch and while I was waiting for Kelli to buy her lunch, the same lady in line bought a Scotch Pie and said I inspired her. Haha! And then both ladies wanted me to try it in the store so they could see if I liked it. It was good, but not as good as a Cornish pasty. The Scotch Pie is a round pie filled with beef sausage stuff. It reminded me of hamburger stroganoff flavor. We finished eating in a small square in the middle of town.

Melrose

We boarded the coach again and finished our trip to Edinburgh. We were dropped off in the middle of town to wander for two hours. Edinburgh is a beautiful city called the "Prince of Cities". This city has a New Town which is 200 years old, and an Old Town which is much, much older.

Edinburgh


New Town


Old Town

Kelli and I decided to find the Royal Mile, the narrow shopping street between Holyrood Palace (the royal residence of the queen when she visits Scotland) and the old Edinburgh Castle (situated on a dead volcanic hill). The elevation from the palace to the castle rises about one mile, hence the name of the street...The Royal Mile. We did some shopping, took pictures of cool buildings and churches, and walked a lot.

On the Royal Mile

We also saw a tour sign for Edinburgh's underground. It was to tour the haunted parts of Edinburgh. We took the information because we wanted to see the underground, though we did not have time right then. We continued walking down the street and we saw a person in period costume near something called Mary King's Close. We asked what that was, and the person told us it's an hour tour of an underground street where real people once lived. This one was more reputable than the other we saw signs for. We took their flyer and decided we wanted to do this tomorrow when we had more time to explore this city. We are staying two days here.

We crossed back over the old bridge (over the train station) and walked around some more waiting for the bus. We still had a time to spare, so we went inside a free art museum. It was okay, but not great. Kelli was pretty bored, so I ran around looking really quickly for the Monets, but they one had one small one. I was not enjoying the museum either, so we left pretty soon after we arrived.

We met our coach up the street from the Hard Rock Cafe (we didn't go get a t-shirt). It brought us to our hotel where we got ready for our first excursion of the official tour....A Scottish Evening. This dinner consisted of dinner and entertainment of singers, dancers, bag piper, and an accordion band. And no Scottish evening would be complete without the Celebration of the Haggis.

Arriving for our Scottish Evening. Greeted by the Master Bag Piper himself.

Tonight's menu:

Starter: Potato Leek Soup
Main Dish: Chicken or Beef
Dessert: Mousse with Raspberry sauce

During the entertainment part of the evening, we heard an amazing master doodle piper (or bag piper), watched some Scottish dancers (two girls and one young man), listed to the funny master of ceremonies, and enjoyed an incredible accordion player, and watched a jaw-drop-worthy fiddler player from Shetland (way north). The entertainment was a lot of fun.

Entertainment during the Scottish Evening

But the evening was highlighted with the Ceremony of the Haggis. The haggis was brought in to the room while being lead by the master bag piper. It was on a plate with antlers and other traditional ornaments. After it was paraded by us, the master of ceremony recited a poem of gibberish and cut into the haggis by stabbing it with a dagger. Then they served us all some haggis with mash potatoes and turnips. Kelli and I both tried it.

Ceremony of the Haggis

We didn't think about what was in it...we couldn't or we probably would have chickened out and not tried it. It was actually pretty good. It had a lot of spices and it seemed a little fried up after being taken out of the casing. We took before / during / after pictures of the taste test. I'm proud that we were both brave enough to try.

Eating haggis

On the bus ride back, all tour members were a little more animated because of all the wine they had at dinner. They were cracking Kelli and I up! But when the music of "Loch Lomond" came on, I started singing it along with another man on the tour. Soon it spread and the whole bus was singing! Kelli even recorded it. Haha! It was really funny how all of us broke out in song. I knew the song because of the movie Cranford. :o)

It was a very fun evening; probably the best night so far on the official tour.

Tomorrow we spend the whole day in Edinburgh...the first half spending some of the time with a local guide and some of it on our own, and the other half exploring the Royal Britannia (the ship home of the queen --- decommissioned and open for public tours).