Happy Christmas Eve (if you celebrate Christmas). I have to confess that it has never felt less like Christmas to me, but I assume that is because I am in London and not with my family doing our usual Christmas traditions. It also doesn't help that it is rather warm (all things considered) here in London so it doesn't feel like December at all! Hopefully going to the Christmas Eve services at St. Martin in the Fields will help.
Well, I had an amazing six days last week traveling around Great Britain and I wanted to share it with you! So this could be a bit of a long post, but I hope you will enjoy it. I think I will organize it by day. To be fair, my adventure included places in England as well as Scotland (I'll get to that), but for some reason, in my head I started calling it my Scottish adventure and the name kind of stuck! So without further ado (is that how you spell that??)...
Day 1 (Monday December 17):
On the first Monday of my Christmas break, I left Northumberland house on my grand adventure. I took the tube (actually the first time I have had occasion to do this since I arrived in London in September-I've been walking everywhere) to Kings Cross Station. I was super early (still getting used to traveling by train and not plane where one doesn't need to be hours early), but eventually boarded a train to Edinburgh. It was a rather long train ride (~4-5 hours), but very enjoyable. The scenery was very nice. And I saw the North Sea for the first time!
Finally, I arrived in Edinburgh at about 2:15 pm. So I made my way to the hostel where I had booked a private room (I'm not that keen on sharing rooms period, so sharing with 5 or 6 strangers is not particularly appealing to me). After I dropped my stuff off, I went out exploring in the fading light. At which point, I immediately realized I had traveled rather farther north as it was about 3:30 and getting dark. Because of the dark, I didn't explore that much. But I did walk up and down the Royal Mile (a slightly more than mile-long (one way) walk/road that goes from Edinburgh Castle at the top of the hill to the Palace of Holyroodhouse and the Scottish Parliament at the bottom of the hill). Then I had dinner at a pub called the World's End (so called because it was right at the corner where the old city wall was, so for all intents and purposes, the world ended there for those that lived in the city).
Day 2:
This was an absolutely exhausting day! I tried to pack everything in Edinburgh into one day (which was rather successful, although some sights will have to wait until another trip)! I started out (when it was still dark) at about 8:30 and went up to Edinburgh Castle. I got there about 9 and while I knew the Castle didn't open until 9:30, this was perfect as I got to look around a bit and see the view over the city. In fact, I got to see a beautiful "sunrise." Technically the sun was already above the horizon, but thanks to some clouds, it looked like it was just coming up and it was beautiful! Here's a picture:
When I was able to go into the castle, I looked around on my own (with the help of my trusty Rick Steve's guide book) before eventually going on a short (free) tour that was also quite good. Some highlights of things I saw: St. Margaret's Chapel, which I think (according to Steves) is the oldest building in Edinburgh. A very moving (and huge) memorial to those Scots who died in WWI and the subsequent wars (up to the present day). The room where Mary Queen of Scots gave birth to James VI of Scotland who eventually became James I of England as well. And the Honours or the Scottish Crown Jewels. In terms of jewels, they weren't as good as the English ones in the Tower of London (sorry Scotland), but I also didn't care all that much about the jewels (in either country). What I found truly interesting was a big rectangular rock that was with the (Scottish) Jewels. This is the Stone of Scone or the Stone of Destiny. This is the rock on which Kings of Scotland have been crowned for a really, really long time. But in 1296 (I think) the English took the stone and put it in London in a specially designed coronation chair (still used today) in Westminster Abbey. Finally, in 1996, the Queen allowed the Stone to return to Scotland, but only on the condition that it travel to London for all future coronations. I thought that history was pretty cool.
After I left the Castle I took a taxi (a bit more expensive, but faster than a bus and time was of the essence with everything I was trying to see) to the harbor to see the Royal Yacht Britannia. This was one of the highlights of my day-so cool! This was the ship (because let's face it, it is way to big to call it a boat), that the Queen traveled the world on for nearly 40 or 50 years! It was decommissioned in the 90s, but had been spectacularly maintained and the audio-guided tour allowed one to go all over the ship (or at least it seemed). I got to see the bridge (and sit in the Admiral's chair), the crew quarters, the royal family's quarters, and the engine room. I don't quite know why I had such a good time there, but I highly recommend it! One of the fun things is that the Queen and Prince Philip decorated the place themselves (rather unlike their palaces where they inherited things from previous monarchs) and so one gets an interesting insight into their tastes (rather like an average Brit for the time). Here's a picture of me on the bridge:
After Britannia, I took another taxi back up to the city and toured the Palace of Holyroodhouse. This is the official residence of the Queen in Edinburgh. It was pretty cool, but not as exciting as the Britannia or Edinburgh Castle. The included audio guide made a big difference in helping to understand what one was seeing.
Next I went across the street to the Scottish Parliament building opened after devolution in 1997. I didn't see much inside, but it was cool too! You know, I like Parliaments. But I find the British Parliament much more interesting, in terms of history and architecture, so I didn't stay that long. The funny thing was the taxi driver on the way back from Britannia (I had asked to be taken to the Scottish Parliament) was clearly not in favor of Scottish independence and wanted me to tell Alex Salmond (the First Minister of Scotland) so when I saw him (I didn't). This became more amusing the next day when my tour guide was clearly very much in favor of independence and spoke of it as all but certain! (Something to keep an eye on as it gets closer.)
After that I was exhausted, but found I still had time so I went up to the National Museum of Scotland. I only went into the sections about the history of Scotland. The Museum was great, but at that point, I was so tired and my feet and legs were hurting from walking around all day (and the day before, and walking up- and down-hill constantly) so I didn't really enjoy it that much. The best part was the view of Edinburgh Castle from the rooftop terrace. Here's the picture:
After that I just didn't have the energy for any more sightseeing so I went back to the hostel. I also knew the next morning was going to be an early one and a long day.
Day 3:
On this day I went on a bus tour of the Scottish Highlands! Best money I spent the entire trip! It was so amazing! Unfortunately, I can't share all the sights with you because it was nearly impossible to get any decent pictures on the moving bus so I mostly only got pictures where we stopped (also really cool). But the tour guide was great, and the scenery was absolutely stunning! Seriously, I was thinking all day how this has to be one of the most beautiful places in the entire world (that's right, I said it, the world, not just Britain)! We went up through Glencoe, to Lock Ness and Urquhart Castle, and saw the tallest mountain in the British Isles (Ben Nevis; Ben means mountain). I really just can't say enough how gorgeous everything was!
Our time at Urquhart Castle and Loch Ness was absolutely wonderful! We had time to walk around the castle and explore the ruins (the last owners, in a rather long line, had blown up part of it so that no one else could use it). It was a lot of fun! Then we went on a little cruise on the lake at dusk. It was beautiful! But no sign of Nessie. We did see some Nessie stuffed animals in a gift shop and I did contemplate buying one, throwing it in the water, and taking a picture "proving" it's existence, but didn't bother. :) (To be honest, I'm rather agnostic about the existence of the Loch Ness Monster. As the tour guide pointed out, it has been around, supposedly, for so long, there really must be more than one so that they could reproduce.) Anyway, here are some pictures from that awesome trip. The castle is Urquhart Castle, the lake is Loch Ness and the other picture is just some beautiful scenery I managed to capture on the bus:
Day 4:
On this day, I traveled by train from Edinburgh to Penrith which is in the Lake District. Then I got rather wet and cold waiting for a bus to Keswick (pronounced Kez-ick) where I would stay for two nights as I explored a bit of the Lake District. I explored a bit that afternoon/evening but just the town (cute and small). I stayed in a lovely B&B that was inexpensive, but very nice! Not too much to say about this day...
Day 5:
This was another beautiful, amazing day. It was overcast, but mercifully dry so I went on a walk for a few hours along Derwentwater Lake (the lake by Keswick). I was so happy to be there at this time of year! There were few people around, no one on the lake at all, and the overcast day just added to the mystique! The lake was still as glass and it was just so beautiful! At times, it seemed hard to tell where the lake ended and the land began! And the reflection of the mountains in the water was perfect! Really, like the highlands, I just ran out of words...So here are some pictures:
That night I saw the Hobbit in the little movie theater in Keswick. The movie felt very appropriate to see on this adventure of mine. My favorite line was something along the lines of "home is behind you, the world is ahead." It really resonated with me as I traveled and more generally as I am here in Britain following my dreams...
Day 6:
I left Keswick by bus and took a train from Penrith to London. Luckily, I had no trouble on the trip (another train to London before mine was cancelled and there was flooding the southwest that was messing people up, but luckily I avoided all of this). Finally I was back in my room in London.
So, that was my adventure in a nutshell. I hope you enjoyed reading about it and the pictures (there are a lot more on Facebook if you are interested...).
Tonight I plan to go to St. Martin in the Fields for two Christmas Eve services (their carol service and the midnight service). I was going to go to Westminster Abbey for the carol service, but it turns out you need tickets which are of course gone. And I thought briefly about going to St. Paul's Cathedral, but I would have to wait outside in line for a really long time and may not get in anyway (somehow that just didn't seem like Christmas to me...). So hopefully I'll get a seat in St. Martin's (it will be full, but hopefully not as packed as St Paul's or Westminster Abbey). Then tomorrow, I am looking forward to going to a Christmas Day service at St. Martin's and then skyping with my parents.
I hope you all have a wonderful holiday!
Love,
Abbey
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