The First of Many!

This was the weekend of my first outing. Scotland was the destination, beginning in Edinburgh, making a day trip to Stirling and the Wallace Monument, then home for a C.S. Lewis Literary Society meeting. The account is as follows:

I was to leave Oxford by bus to Victoria Station in London to catch the 9:00 bus, and I didn't wake up. I left Oxford at 7:50, arriving in London at 9:45. This required me to buy a new ticket and wait until 11:00pm before the next bus left. The trip didn't start well. Getting to Edinburgh at 7:30 on Sunday morning, I was dead tired from minimal sleep on the way up, but still met with my friend Chris Kies, who is over here for four weeks touring the Isles. We made our way to the Greek church there for Matins and Liturgy, and I must say, it was very nice to venerate an icon and receive a blessing from a priest again. After Liturgy we were introduced to a guy named Chris who is from Alabama and getting his PhD at Edinburgh University in Religious Studies, more specifically Orthodox Prayer. That was nice meeting somebody from home and getting contact for when I go again. We then proceeded to the Scottish National Gallery and enjoyed some William Blake prints, as well as Monet, Degas, Van Gogh and Raphael works. I'm not a lover of art and only certain works will do something to me, but I did enjoy the series of prints by Blake: The Story of Job, which is based on the account of Job and his time of desolation. Neat interpretations.

From there we found the pub Greyfriar's Bobby, which happens to be one of the most famous in Scotland, and had a Scotch. Oddly enough, everybody in the room we were sitting in was from America, mostly west coast. From there we found another pub and enjoyed some ales. The next morning we headed to Stirling. Stirling Castle provided amazing scenery and an extremely interesting history, which I'm afraid, you'll have to look up for yourself. The Wallace Monument followed. The Wallace Statue in front is based on Mel Gibson in Braveheart, but still a good remembrance. In the monument itself was Wallace's Sword and a good history of how Wallace grew up, got involved with the resistance of Edward the I, defeated armies, was tortured and killed and became the country of Scotland's greatest hero.

This is the view atop the Wallace Monument in Stirling, Scotland. From this perch, with the wind clapping your face, you can see a great deal of central Scotland. The War for Scottish Independence and the rule of William Wallace took place here. The foothills of the Highlands are behind me in the photo. To my right - where you can't see - is Stirling University. A little further west of the University is the actual town of Stirling, where Stirling Castle sits on a hill, overlooking the city. Between the Monument and Stirling Castle is the field where the Battle of Stirling Bridge took place, where the blood of a few Scots and many an Englishman seeped into the soil. I walked up Abbey Craig, where the Monument is, which happens to be the same crag where Sir William his partner Sir Robert Moray watched the English cross the plains, and from whence the Scottish guerrillas ran down to crush the oncoming army of Edward the Longshanks. From my spot on top of the mountain I could see where the Battle of Bannockburn, Falkirk, and Stirling Bridge all took place, and just knowing that 700 years ago, men fought and won their freedom here... really neat...

As for Edinburgh, I kind of wish I was living there. Granted, I would like to live everywhere and I'll say that after every trip, but Scotland really is a great place. The city itself is clean, and the fact that there's a castle and a nice crag that holds it like bookends as well as the Scottish accent coming from most lips, well, all the better! I enjoyed my first real Scotch, Craggenmore, and it certainly tasted like Scotch. I don't have the palate for Scotch, and I won't become a lover or connoisseur, but I'm sure I will have more in my lifetime. The ale, however was a much different story. I tried six different kinds in the pub of choice, The Bow Bar, and each of them was better than your average beer. Now, don't think me a lush, this was over two nights and four of those were half pints. I didn't get to see all I wanted, like Edinburgh Castle for example, but that just means that now I HAVE to go back to Edinburgh. So, all in all, the trip to Edinburgh was a success in all ways but one: NOBODY had Scotch eggs. For those of you who don't know what that is, a Scotch Egg is basically a hardboiled egg wrapped in sausage and deep fried. Chris and I asked several store owners, bartenders and patrons of the pubs if they knew where we could find them. Some people hadn't even heard of them let alone where to find them. So apparently, I will have to wait until I get home to have a good Scotch egg. Hmph.

I'll upload the pictures onto Flickr later, and perhaps give some more elaborative insights. Until then, cheers!