We are still traveling in Scotland. Since last postcard we returned to civilization in Edinburgh for a week, and a few days in Glasgow before heading north again for Oban. In a word, Edinburgh is very touristy; probably because it is lovely. So of course we did all the touristy things: visited the castle and palace and the royal yacht Britannia. We day tripped out to see Hadrian’s Wall and Roselyn chapel (Davinci code fame). There is a lot of eerie history at the little chapel, and it was a nice departure to focus on a book other than Harry Potter. We are still inundated by Harry Potter trivia, especially in Edinburgh which is where JK Rowling lives. There is also a famous dog associated with Greyfriar’s cemetery. Evidently when his policeman owner died, he sat by the grave every day until he finally died 14 years later. He was buried in the catholic cemetery garden (dogs not allowed in the regular cemetery) and people leave sticks for him every day. For more on Bobby. He also has a statue in town. Another similar dog has a statue here too. This one from San Diego named Bum. Bum, also from the 1800’s was a street dog, adopted and cared for by the city. For more on Bum.
Glasgow is edgy, less touristy and people actually live and work there. I personally like edgy. Glasgow still has beautiful old buildings and pretty parks. It has a large university and a college vibe in that part of the town.
Then on to Oban, home of Oban distillery. It is a tiny town on the water. I think it is the sea, but is difficult to tell the difference between lochs and sea around here. The coastline is so craggy that you can see land all around the water, little islands or peninsulas, all sparsely inhabited. The harbor has some large sail boats and a big ferry that comes and goes to shuttle people to the nearby islands of Islay, Mull, and Iona. It is absolutely beautiful. We splurged on a suite in a hotel on the waterfront. Good thing too, because I have gotten sick and am spending a lot of time in the room taking in the scenery.
We are still having really good weather. That is maddening, where is the wet, cold UK weather we have been promised? We do have short days though. It gets light after 7am and is dark well before 4 pm. In the USA, you get the sun in our eyes if you look west in the afternoon, or east in the morning. Here it is in your eyes if you look south, at any time of the day. The sun is always south. And the light from the sun on the clouds is always pink. It is just gorgeous…for the almost 8 hours, we have it.
A funny thing I wanted to mention. Of course there is no Thanksgiving here. But, they still have Black Friday, on the same day – the day after our Thanksgiving. I think that is comical. And without Thanksgiving in the way, Christmas is in full force already. Glasgow had a big Christmas market already open. We have been to a couple Christmas craft fairs too. They are hokier (more hokey) than ours. People here are so accustomed to homemade goods and so much more casual and homey. All the houses we have been in are just stuffed with homey nik naks and homemade things.
Tomorrow we head back to Glasgow for 3 days and then leave Scotland for England to trek out to Keswick in the Lake District. We may be isolated out there without a car and wifi may not be the best. We’ll see.