In less than a week I will be standing right where this picture, one of my favorites, was taken. I took this from the entrance to St. Cuthbert's Kirk looking up at Edinburgh Castle, which towers above it. I plan to worship in St. Cuthbert's next Sunday morning, May 5, 2019. This picture was from a quick trip that David and I took to Edinburgh in fall 2017.
A wonderful travel opportunity came up for me for this spring. I'll be leaving Friday - in other words, immediately after exams are given (and, hopefully, graded)! Instead of choosing someplace I'd never been such as glorious Vienna, sacred Jerusalem, exotic Fiji, or romantic Venice, I chose to go back to a place I have already been twice. That place, Edinburgh, has stolen my heart entirely! I would rather go here than anywhere else in the world! And I'm going to!!
I first went in spring 2016 while on sabbatical, studying the history of mathematics. I had only planned to spend two days in Edinburgh. It wasn't a draw for me; I was going solely because one of the mathematicians I was studying had lived there. But the more I prepared for my sabbatical studies, the more I realized how many prominent mathematicians were associated with Edinburgh, so I ended up with six days there in 2016 instead of two. Once I got there, I fell in love! So I 'm going to share some pictures from previous trips now, as an introduction to my upcoming trip, and also to allow myself to dream - in order to survive the coming week of finals and grading!
I fell in love with Edinburgh for so many reasons, one of which is that there were things that brought back memories from childhood. Below is a picture of Edinburgh Castle, fronted by its esplanade. As a child I had seen either a picture or a TV show in which colorfully-dressed soldiers were marching along this esplanade, and it captured my imagination all those years ago. I've never lost that childhood attraction to pageantry, royalty and castles!
Edinburgh Castle
While walking in the New Town, I kept feeling a childhood memory creep up on me as well, but it didn't come to me right away. Eventually I realized that these rooftops were reminding me of the movie Mary Poppins and Dick Van Dyke's chimney sweep song. From then on, I just wanted to sing as I walked along! "Chim chiminey, chim chiminey chim, chim cher-oo . . ."
New Town, Edinburgh
Even when I was walking outside in the Old Town, I felt like I was inside a castle or a cathedral - my two favorite things in the world! It was like living in a fairy tale!
Along the Royal Mile, Edinburgh - Tollbooth Tavern
It's just beautiful everywhere!
Ramsay Garden
I have pictures that look to me more like painting than photographs. I wanted to stop and watch the changing light over this scene rather than walking on.
Dean Village
I absolutely adore Edinburgh's atmospheric cemeteries and kirkyards.
Old Calton Burial Ground
Greyfriar's Kirkyard
Greyfriar's Kirkyard
St. Cuthbert's Kirkyard
I love the architecture, which seems to me unique in the world.
Edinburgh University, New College
Lauriston Castle
St. James Walkway
The Forth Bridges
I love the landscape. This is Arthur's Seat in Holyrood Park, which is in the heart of the city!
Arthur's Seat, Holyrood Park, Edinburgh
I also love what a fantastic job they do in Edinburgh of incorporating the old, the very old, into the modern.
This post kept growing and growing, and these are merely old pictures in anticipation of this new trip! It was everything I could do to restrain myself and stop here!
The pictures just above and below are reminders to self.
Though I've been here twice I am a little nervous about this solo trip. I'll be staying in an airbnb for my first time. What didn't feel weird when I booked it in October feels weird now - arriving late at night, having a male host, being on my own. I'm sure it'll be fine and that lots of people do this every day, but it's my first time. There's also a very isolated ruin I'd like to get to, and arrangements for getting there are complex - at the very least involving a bus, a taxi, walking across farmland, uncertainty about cell service in that remote location, and hopes for the return of a taxi down an old farm road.
But, as they say on Modern 1, "Everything is going to be alright!"
Modern 1
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At the risk of ruining my "elegant" ending to this post, I want to share a YouTube video I came across on May 1 of a traveler to Fast Castle. I think it gives at least some idea of what I've described above. First I'll post a map of the location. Fast Castle is about 50 miles east of Edinburgh and is indicated by the arrow I've inserted into the map - an arrow inserted because Fast Castle doesn't register on Google Maps:
And here is YouTube video of the area. If you get motion sickness, you might not want to watch this, as the videographer moves the camera around pretty fast! The long-term weather forecast shows rain daily for my whole trip; I'd rather not be here in the rain, but, you take what you get, I guess. I want to get out here because it relates to some writing I'm doing, and there's just no substitute for actually being there. It's just that this "there" poses a few challenges!
