Dear Readers,
Let me start by saying “thank you” to all of you who have already responded to the first edition of my Scotland blog. I hope to hear from the rest of you as well. Please reply directly to me via email; NOT thru the blog.
As most of you know, today is Marty’s birthday. There was gorgeous looking Scottish salmon at the hotel’s breakfast buffet so the birthday boy asked if there were any bagels. The waiter couldn’t find any, BUT he has promised us that the chef will have some tomorrow morning. Stay tuned!
Speaking of the hotel, I’ve encountered 2 things here that I’ve never encountered before. 1. Instead of chocolate on our pillows, we get a small packet of hibiscus night cream. It’s a brilliant idea; feels wonderful on my face. I’m taking Marty’s along for the next hotel. 2. Besides leaving us bottles of still water every day, they also leave sparkling water. Tyler & Aidan (who only drink seltzer) would be thrilled (& I have been enjoying it as well). This is clearly a great hotel!! FYI: As I am writing this (in the late afternoon) they came by with a small tin of amazing Scottish shortbread cookies.
Today we walked 11,000 steps. We started at Holyrood Palace (which is at the other end of the Royal Mile from Edinburgh Castle). The oldest surviving section is from the time of Mary, Queen of Scots, in the 1500’s. The palace is now the official residence of the British monarchy when they visit Scotland so this is where King Charles stays when he goes to Scotland. When he’s not there, the public can visit and they have an excellent audio guide that takes you through each room. Unfortunately, no photography is allowed inside; phooey! Here are 2 photos of the outside.
As we were walking through the palace, there was a sign that in a small alcove there was a painting by Artemesia Gentileschi. She was one of the very few female artists during the Renaissance. I had seen a play about her last year which was quite fascinating and there was an exhibit of her paintings in Paris when we were there in July, but I knew that it was definitely not something that 2 teenage boys would care about. Anyway, we went and we were the only ones in the small alcove so I snapped a photo of her self portrait. Oh & I learned that she had worked at the court of Charles I from 1638-40.
The palace came into existence originally as a guest house for the Abbey of Holyrood which was founded in 1128 by Scottish king David I (in the 1100’s). Here’s what’s left of the abbey.
Across the street from the palace is the relatively new Scottish Parliament which you can visit but, alas, not on Sundays.
Next on my agenda was the Burns’ monument. Robert Burns is considered Scotland’s national poet. To reach it we walked through a rather steep cemetery. Can you hear the groaning?!
From there we walked to the National Portrait Gallery. By the way, all of the museums we went to in Edinburgh have been free. There were 3 paintings I enjoyed most. The first was by Judah Passow (no, I never heard of him before) from a series entitled: Scots Jews: Identity, Belonging & the Future.
The second one was of Dame Muriel Spark whose most famous novel was “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie”. I never read it, but I loved the play on Broadway many years ago.
And the third portrait was of King Charles.
On our way to our last stop of the day we passed the following store. I wonder why they changed the name/initial in Scotland.
Our last stop today was the National Gallery. The first painting I encountered which struck me was of Niagara Falls by Frederic Edwin Church. It seemed funny to see it in Scotland.
I had read that there was a Gainesborough painting in the National Portrait Gallery. We couldn’t find it, even with the help of several employees. BUT I did find one here.
I loved these 2 paintings:
Lastly, I loved this painting. It’s called Waverly Bridge, Edinburgh by Telemaco Signirini from 1881. I had never heard of him. The Waverly Bridge is right next to our hotel.
Then we went back to the hotel for a nap before dinner. I had originally picked a Michelin starred restaurant for Marty’s birthday, but he decided he wanted to eat at the restaurant in the hotel. Good choice. The meal was truly wonderful. 7 unique courses with an amuse bouche and an extra dessert and a great Bordeaux wine. I neglected to take a photo of the first course which was a crab dish.
A truly memorable meal.
I believe Marty enjoyed his birthday.
Tomorrow we are going on a road trip. Ride with us.
❤️
Irene