Julia & Linda: Edinburgh

On the last weekend in April, I received my first visitors from Oh, Canada!

My dearest Julia-bean and her equally delightful sister Linda-chan stopped by for the weekend on their way to join their parents in Holland. 

It was the definition of a whirl-wind weekend.

I met them in Edinburgh on Friday evening, and Saturday was split between Edinburgh and Stirling.

We didn't get back to Holly Cottage until after midnight.

On Sunday, we were in St. Andrews for church and to show them all my favourite places.

Needless to say, we were absolutely POOPED, so we spent a relaxing evening babysitting Tom (playing Mario Kart on the wii with him) and then giggling hysterically over Harry Potter 6 in between arguing over which characters we should actually be cheering for. 

"Poor, darling Draco!"

The pictures below are from our adventures in the beautiful capital of Scotland - Edinburgh!

(Pronounce it "EdinburAH," not "EdinberG.")

Stirling will follow shortly.

Promise.

A building over-looking Waverley Train Station.
I think it's a hotel.

The view from our hostel room.

Linda outside our very nice hostel. 

We were out bright and early on Saturday morning to explore this beautiful city.

Edinburgh Castle, in all its glory.
At one end of the Royal Mile.

My beautiful friend :)

A "real" Scotsman.

In front of the amazing St. Giles Cathedral.

Aren't the carvings amazing?
John Knox preached in this church.
He was the first Protestant Minister in St. Giles.

The Thistle Chapel.
I have never seen such a heavily decorated ceiling in my life!
You had to pay to go in, so I just sneaked a picture from the doorway.

The pulpit.

A detail from the pulpit.
Nearly everything in the Cathedral was carved within an inch of its life.
So much amazing craftsmanship everywhere you look!

This chappie had a wee chapel all to himself.
The red plaque beneath him reads:
"Scatter my ashes, strew them in the air,
Lord, since Thou knowest where all these atoms are,
I'm hopeful Thou'lt recover once my dust
And confident Thou'lt raise me with the Just."
Amen, sir!

A detail from one of many fantastic stain-glass windows.
I think it's the Apostle Paul preaching to the Greeks in Athens.
(Acts 17:16-18)

With John Knox himself!

Back on the street:

"Bagels with bagpipes?! That's a funny name!"
"...It's Angels with Bagpipes..."
Only marginally better, if you ask me.
Both conjure strange mental images, especially since the angels in mine are wearing kilts.

The Scottish are terribly proud of their Mr. Burns.
As I may have mentioned before, they even devote a holiday to him and his "Ode to a Haggis."

I love both outfits!
The kilt is one of the most dashing I've ever seen, and the dress is just plain cool and pretty. 

We went inside John Knox's house.

He was not the most tactful man... 

Perhaps that was why he was so successful a preacher; he wasn't afraid to tell it the way it was.

However, he did sometimes cross waaaaay over the line.

He was really quite rude in the manner in which he spoke about Mary, Queen of Scots!

One of many very old books on display.

The house was also the home of the Queen's goldsmith.
These are some of his tools. 

J. Knox, hard at work.

Outside again.

A random towery-castley thing?
No big deal.
I mean, we see those all the time.

The gates of the Palace of Holyroodhouse.
The British monarch's official residence in Scotland, and  other end of the Royal Mile. 

About as close as we actually got.
We didn't have time to go in.

Where J. K. Rowling started writing the Harry Potter series!
They're fans, kind of :)

On the train to the next adventure in our day:
Stirling!