British Isles Explorer: Edinburgh, Scotland (4/4/2022)

Monday, April 4, 2022

View from our stateroom; once again we were anchored
outside a harbor, and had to be tendered into port

View toward the Bridges of the Firth of Forth (the Firth/
estuary of the River Forth), which include the 1890
red railway bridge and the new 2017 Queensferry Crossing,
the longest three-tower cable-stayed bridge in the world at
2.7 km/1.7 miles; between them is a 1958 Forth Road Bridge

The tender pilot had to contend with rough
seas today, making the trip nearly 30 minutes

Waves splashed over the front of the boat and
streaked down our side windows

We came into the tiny Newhaven Harbour ...

... and were welcomed by a bagpiper

Now for our two-hour included motorcoach shore excursion that has been shortened from four hours. Maybe they didn't want germs in Edinburgh, as we did not have any stops at all. We saw Edinburgh through dirty bus windows!

Posh Stewart's Melville College, a "public" school for boys
in the 1st through 5th years, and co-ed in 6th; in the United
Kingdom, what we call private schools are public schools,
and what we call public schools are state schools

The athletic field stands at Stewart's Melville College
were used in the movie Chariots of Fire (KSS)

Scottish Gallery of Modern Art's second building Modern Two
is located in the former Dean Orphanage (1831-1834, by
Thomas Hamilton, in English Baroque style)

The Scottish Gallery of Modern Art - Modern One is across the street in the former John Watson's Institution (1825, by Willam Burn) that was a refuge for fatherless children.

The Meadows was historically common land for grazing

The Breakfast Bothy offers coffee, tea,
and hot rolls for the homeless

The Meadows is lined with new and old tenement buildings;
tenements are buildings with flats/apartments

Lion holding shield atop a pillar
(1880-1881, by John Lessels)

Within the city is Holyrood Park; here are the Salisbury Crags;
the cliffs were a source of street cobble stones until
citizens complained that the landmark was disappearing

Part of the jumble that is the Scottish Parliament Building
(1999-2004, by Enric Miralles in post-modern style)

Old Royal High School (1826-1829, by Thomas Hamilton,
in Neoclassical Doric Greek style) was vacated in 1968;
the building is also called New Parliament House because
it was proposed to house the Scottish Parliament, but a
new purpose-built Parliament was constructed instead (KSS)

Nelson Monument (1807-1816, by
Robert Brun, in the shape of an upturned
telescope) commemorates Admiral
Horatio Nelson's victory at Trafalgar (KSS)

St Andrew's House (1935-1939, by Thomas S Tait,
in Art Deco and Streamline Moderne styles) serves as
offices of the Scottish government

The Balmoral Hotel (1896-1902, by
William Hamilton Beattie as the North
British Railway Station Hotel) is where
J K Rowling stayed to srite the last
book of the Harry Potter series

HM Register House (1774-1778, by Robert Adam) was
a purpose-built for the National Archives of Scotland (KSS)

Statue (1852, by John Steell) of the
Duke of Wellington, known for his
victory at Waterloo (KSS)

On The Mound are two art museums; on the left is the
Scottish National Gallery (1850-1859, by William Henry
Playfair, in Neoclassical style) and on the right is the
Royal Scottish Academy (1822-1826, also by Playfair)

All these institutions in classically styled buildings led to Edinburgh being refered to as the "Athens of the North."

Former Commercial Bank (1938-1940, by
Sydney Mitchell & Wilson in Edwardian Baroque
style with touches of Art Nouveau)

We circled around below Edinburgh Castle (the oldest still
standing section is dated 12C) that is built on volcanic rock

We came up to the levl of the Esplanade, the beginning
of the Royal Mile: a Scottish mile was longer than
an English mile, and in 1685 Scottish units of
measurement were replaced by English units

The Royal Miles runs down to Holyrood Palace;
the center building seen here is Gladstone's
Land (c 1620) is a tenement house

Former Martyrs Free Church (1859, by
Charles Leadbetter in Gothic style) is
now a Frankenstein-themed bar (KSS)

Archer's Hall (1776-1777, by Alexander Laing)
of the Royal Company of Archers,
the Sovereign's Bodyguard when in Scotland

Old Medical School (est 1726, building
1888, by Sir Robert Rowand Anderson,
in 'Cinquecento' Italian Renaissance style)

Greyfriars Bobby Fountain (1872, by
William Brodie) memorializes a Skye
terrier who spent 14 years guarding
the grave of his owner, and was
buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard as well

Deacon Brodie's Tavern, a pub named for
cabinetmaker William Brodie who was a
good citizen and businessman by day, but
at night gambled and had to turn to burglary
to pay his debts; he was caught and hanged in
1788, and may have been the inspiration for
Robert Louis Stevenson's novel
about Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

St Giles Cathedral (founded 12C, church 14-16C)
ia a parish church of the Church of Scotland
(essentially Calvinist Presbyterian) (KSS)

Statue (1831, by Sir Francis Chantry) of
George IV to commemorate his visit
to Edinburgh in 1822 (KSS)

Terraced houses on Queen Street did not have gardens ...

... instead they had keys to the garden across the street (KSS)

Pawn shop on Queen Street with the traditional symbol
of three gold balls hanging at the far right; such symbols are
from a time when most people were not literate

#17 Heriot Row (1802-1806 Georgian house)
was the childhood home of
Robert Louis Stevenson

Our tour guide wanted to be sure we
remembered the leafy streets of the Edinburgh suburbs

The motorcoach dropped us back in Newhaven.

Next: Newhaven and Leith, Scotland.