My Celtic Adventures

I've been very neglectful of this blog. This summer I was gardening and as the outdoor season wound down, I was busy planning for a trip to Scotland and Ireland with my daughter. We left on September 27, a day later than planned due to all the flights through Chicago being canceled. Unfortunately, our luggage somehow managed to catch a flight there and would not catch up with us for three more days. After being rerouted through Newark, we arrived in Edinburgh a day late.

The thing about Edinburgh is that you are constantly reminded how old the city is. Fabulous buildings that would have you gawking in any American city, are, ho hum, everywhere. This splendid edifice is actually a department store, where we went to get an adaptor to make my European voltage converter work in the UK.

Of all the magnificent buildings, none is more impressive than Edinburgh Castle. Built on the crest of an extinct volcano, it towers over the city centre (English spellings always look prettier) austere and grand. Due to lack of time (and a disinclination to stand in line) we didn't tour the castle, but chose instead to visit the National Museum of Scotland.

My favorite display there was the carved effigy of Mary Queen of Scots (She's actually buried in Westminster Abbey only a short distance from her famous sister Elizabeth.) If the effigy is to scale, she was a tiny woman with dainty features and hands.

Although I didn't tour the castle, I very much enjoyed walking through the gardens around the base of it, admiring the lush foliage and the amount of work that must go into maintaining it. Especially the immaculately tended floral clock that actually keeps time.

As one of those people who takes more pleasure from details than massive structures, I found plenty of delightful images in this storied city.

Too soon (of course) we had to bid goodbye to Edinburgh to begin our journey to the highlands. Traveling fortune finally smiled on us as our luggage arrived at the airport a few hours before we were to pick our rental car there.

TO BE CONTINUED