Travels with Mom: Scotland Part 1

This year my mother passed a years-lived milestone that ends in zero, and to celebrate her birthday we took a mother-daughter trip to a destination of her choice. She selected the Scottish Highlands as the focus of the trip, and the high latitudes (comparable to Labrador in North America) made it prudent to travel somewhat later than her actual birthday in March. So in late April we were off to Edinburgh! The main body of the trip was a 5-day guided tour through the Highlands, with short stays in Edinburgh before and after the tour. If I had to name one theme for the trip, it’s that I was very pleasantly surprised at virtually every turn. So many little things were better than I expected, and it made the whole experience shine.

Edinburgh City Sights

We had two primary destinations in Edinburgh, and we purchased advance tickets to both to ensure that we would make it to these spots. As it turns out, this was a smart idea because seemingly all of Scotland is obsessed with reservations.

Holyrood Palace

The Palace of Holyroodhouse is the official residence in Scotland for the British monarch, and it operates somewhat like the White House: hosting state dinners and important functions, while also allowing visitors to see some of those public meeting areas. Guests use an informative audio tour, available in a dozen languages, to listen to descriptions of the rooms and artwork on display while working their way around the first floor (the one above ground level) of the building. After visiting the palace, we were also free to wander around the lovely gardens, so long as we heeded the polite requests to remain on the gravel paths.

 

 

Photos are not allowed inside, so you’ll just have to rely on my description of the interiors. The pleasant surprise here at Holyroodhouse is that the rooms open to the public are more than just displays of fancy furniture, silverware, and decorative objects. Rather, the rooms are curated with selections from the extensive holdings of the Royal Collection to highlight the different purposes and occupants of the rooms. The grand staircase up to the original royal reception room is flanked by precious tapestries, while various reception chambers contain portraits and other artifacts relating to different Stuart monarchs who ruled from the palace in the 16th and 17th centuries. There is special attention given to the colorful life of Mary, Queen of Scots. Strangely absent: any mention whatsoever of Oliver Cromwell, the execution of Charles I, or the restoration of the Stuart line to the throne. I guess they take seriously the conceit of Charles II making 1649 his regnal year for all official documents instead of 1660. In any case, the experience felt more like a history museum than a mansion tour.

 

 

I was a little surprised to see a dilapidated ruin adjoining the palace, but I’ve come to believe that’s a fairly standard practice in the UK. The original structure on the site was an abbey established in 1128 by King David I, and the abbey’s guest house was the favored lodging location for Scottish monarchs. King James IV built a proper palace at Holyrood between 1501 and 1505, and a defensive tower built by James V around 1530 was connected to the abbey and later integrated into a much enlarged palace in the 1670s. Meanwhile, the abbey church was plundered multiple times in 16th and 17th centuries, leading to portions of it being closed off and the remaining smaller section used as a parish church, but the real problem came from a failed “update.” Replacing the timber roof with stone vaults in 1760 led to a disastrous collapse in 1768, and for the following 250+ years the fully functioning palace has been connected to a pile of rubble.

Edinburgh Castle

Our other ticketed destination was Edinburgh Castle, which was and still is primarily a military fort. Its location perched on a rocky crag 250 feet above the surrounding landscape makes for excellent natural defenses but also windy, cold conditions. This, plus the relatively spartan lodgings and the steep uphill climb to access the castle meant that the monarchs of Scotland only occupied the castle in times of extreme vulnerability, such as when Mary sequestered herself in the castle to give birth to James VI of Scotland (later James I of England).

 

 

Edinburgh Castle has been occupied since the Iron Age, and today consists of a confusing jumble of different buildings added over the course of centuries, making a guided tour a must. Our 1.5 hour tour included a timed-entry ticket, plus an informative and fun walk through the major areas of the castle. Along the way, our guide Sonia shared a wealth of information about the history and purpose of each of the structures, as well as a comprehensive overview of the different museums and exhibits at the Castle (including three separate military museums, the Scottish crown jewels, royal apartments, and several chapels and national memorials). After the tour, we were free to spend as long as we wished exploring the exhibits in more detail. We are not huge fans of military history, so we moved swiftly through the exhibits and spent time soaking in the grand vistas.

And More

Between the Castle and Holyroodhouse, we wandered down the famous Royal Mile. This stretch has the unmistakable aura of a tourist trap, except that instead of an overwhelming number of fudge shops there are more stores selling wool goods than I ever imagined possible. The few shops that are not hawking woolen-wear and/or whisky are devoted to Harry Potter paraphernalia. But all these tokens of modern consumer culture are located in stylish 18th- and 19th-century buildings fronting cobblestone streets, making the old city a charming place to wander. And in between the tourist-oriented shops are plenty of monuments, churches, and other points of historic and architectural interest.

 

 

We made a brief but enjoyable visit to the imposing St. Giles’ Cathedral, which dates its origins to the 12th century but is probably most famous as the workplace of John Knox, leader of the Scottish Reformation. The building has an appealing blend of medieval and newer elements, with soaring gothic vaults and plenty of stained glass. The jaw-dropping chapel dedicated to the Order of the Thistle mimics the gothic style but is actually a masterwork of the early 20th century Arts and Crafts movement.

 

We made sure to stop at the Canongate Kirkyard to pay our respects at the grave of Adam Smith, the intellectual father of capitalism, while also snapping photos of his statue on the Royal Mile near St. Giles. Just down the block is the statue of a weirdly shirtless David Hume, philosopher and close friend of Adam Smith. Finally, we dropped by the National Museum of Scotland specifically to look at their exhibits on the history of Scotland. Unfortunately the exhibits were organized in a confusing non-chronological manner, with (artifact-protecting) dim light and tiny print on the signs. We gave up quickly, which was fine considering museum entry is free. Our best experience at the museum was surprisingly excellent soup at the cafe.

 

Where We Stayed

Our Hilton credit card rewards and points led me to The Caledonian, a historic property that was the perfect splurge for a big celebration. The iconic red sandstone facade first welcomed visitors arriving via the integrated railway station in 1903, and the impressive interiors retain many elegant features. The atrium created with a glass roof over the original courtyard was a lovely spot for meals and relaxing, and the mind-bogglingly extensive breakfast buffet gave us a hearty start to each day. I was particularly thrilled that using a standard room reward netted us a room with a stunning view of Edinburgh Castle and the historic area for our first stay. For our second stay, our double-queen room was the size of a large apartment, complete with an office and seating area and the largest bathroom I’ve ever seen in a hotel room.

Miscellany

We arrived at EDI around 8 a.m. local time, and taking the tram from the airport to the city center put us in the middle of rush hour. Walking on the sidewalks, I had the distinct feeling of a salmon swimming upstream. Then I realized that’s because we were walking along the right side of the sidewalk, while standard practice in this left-side-driving country is to walk on the left. When I implemented the practice of walking on the left in the old city, I once again was walking against the flow of tourists from the US and the continent. My solution? Weave back and forth like a person who just spent half a day at a “Whisky Experience.” Problem solved! Oh, and you can tell where the tourists are found in Edinburgh because the city has helpfully painted instructions on the roads.

We were surprised to discover that Edinburgh is a vertically-oriented city. At many points we were walking along at “ground level” only to find ourselves on a bridge looking down at a roadway several levels below. This makes for plenty of unexpected vistas but also a proliferation of staircases. We quickly recognized the value in finding the sloped roads to make connections instead of endless flights of stairs.

 

 

While this was not meant to be primarily a culinary journey, we were extremely pleased with the excellent food we ate throughout Scotland. Our first day in Edinburgh we ate at Makar’s Mash Bar — because how could we not eat at a highly-rated restaurant with a menu built around 9 different types of mash (mostly mashed potato)? Mom enjoyed the lion’s mane mushrooms while I went full-on Scot and tried the haggis. Verdict: both delicious! It was fortunate that we rolled in at an odd hour (2 pm) because otherwise we likely would have had a multi-hour wait for the few non-reserved tables. Another night we visited an Indian restaurant close to our hotel, where once again our strange jet-lagged timing got us in without reservations, and the food was truly excellent.

 

 

Next: Our 5-day tour of the Highlands.