Recap: Scotland, Day 3

My last full day in Scotland can pretty much be summed up thusly: I had no plan and walked all over creation. I had a couple of things I wanted to do, and even though they didn't quite work out it was still a lovely day.

True to form, I got up early and, feeling spry, started walking. It was a bit brisk, but still sunny and pleasant. When I got to the Royal Mile, I took a right and headed downhill toward Holyrood Palace. I passed a bunch of coffee shops, all closed. On the way, I passed a beautiful church and a couple of museums that were, unfortunately, closed on Sundays. I also passed by the "new" parliament building and frankly, I think it's hideous. My brother is in school to become an architect (he graduates with a double master's in May!) and I'm curious to get his opinion, but I thought the building was too busy and didn't fit in with any of its surroundings whatsoever. It stood out in a bad way. (Update: while searching for images of the building, I found views from a lot more angles, including aerial, and now I don't hate it quite as much. I simply think it's unusual and still doesn't fit in with its surroundings.) I also passed a cute little tea shop and made a mental note to come back later, when it opened up.

Scottish Parliament Building, photo from http://www.edinburgharchitecture.co.uk

I spent a few minutes poking around the Palace and its gift shop, but decided I didn't feel like paying to go in. Instead, I continued walking toward Arthur's Seat in Holyrood Park. There were a few people already coming down the hill, and a few other souls like me starting to venture up. I didn't really plan on hiking to the top, so even though for once in my life I had appropriate footwear, I didn't have any water or snacks. Not knowing how long it would take me to reach any of the peaks, I just decided to start walking up until I got a) bored (not likely) b) injured (fairly likely, because rocks and gravity, yo) or c) thirsty (extremely likely, because no breakfast or snacks). Almost right away, I skidded on a patch of frozen water, commonly referred to as "ice" but fortunately I didn't fall and I didn't torque my back or twist a knee or ankle, so I kept on going. This is where I also witnessed one of the cuter moments of the vacation: a little girl, about 2- or 3-years old, was walking with her dad. She was wearing a little skirt and leggings and pink and purple flowery boots. She stopped to stomp in one of the frozen puddles and said, in her wee little Scottish brogue, "Daddae, Elsa has been here!" Adorbs.

St. Anthony's Chapel Ruins, photo from undiscoveredscotland.co.uk 

Even though Arthur's Seat s part of a long-defunct volcano, the walk was actually pretty easy, and I was impressed at the number of people out and about. I guess since I got lucky with another sunny day, everybody had the same idea to get out and enjoy it. Plus, "hillwalking" is a very popular activity in Scotland and Arthur's Seat is very accessible and popular. I walked to St. Anthony's Chapel Ruins, which overlook St. Margaret's Loch and a vast open space which, when I was looking at it, was being used for a very agile herding dog to play fetch with a frisbee. The chapel ruins are, well, ruins. There were two walls at a 90-degree angle and some arches for doors and windows. I continued up the path a little ways, and then decided to turn around and find food and rehydrate myself.

Not Madam Puddifoot's

My next stop was a little tea shop that reminded me of Madam Puddifoot's from the Harry Potter books. It was tiny and charming, with a flower and lace aesthetic going on. I asked for a pot of Scottish breakfast tea, a plain scone, and a "bacon-filled roll." The tea and scone were delicious, but the bacon roll was just a boring hamburger-type bun with bacon on it. It was very dry and boring. I sat in the warmth and read my Kindle while I savored the tea, and then trekked back uphill. I next ventured to the Writer's Museum, which I had really been looking forward to visiting. It was one of the places we passed during the free walking tour, and I thought I remembered the sign saying it was open on Sundays. Unfortunately, I didn't read the fine print that said it was open on Sundays during festival season (aka August), so I was very disappointed to find it was closed. Instead, I popped into a few shops and perused some cute clothes, beautiful woolen accessories, whisky, and chocolates. I also followed my nose to the St. Giles Cathedral Cafe, and made notes of its hours, since the curry smelled delicious. I went into the Cathedral and bought a photography permit for 2GBP. I think that's a genius way for churches and other historical sites to get donations without charging an entry fee. After poking around in the church for a while, I went back to the cafe and had some of the curry, which was just as delicious as it smelled.

Mmm, scone and tea

Happy Valentine's Day to Me!

I continued up the Royal Mile and stopped to listen first to a bagpiper and then to a violin player. Both were very talented and I made sure to chuck some money into their instrument cases. Next, I went to the Scotch Whisky Experience near the very top of the Royal Mile, and paid for a Gold Tour. That included the basic tour experience and tasting, plus four additional tastes of single malt whiskies from each region. The little tour was pretty hokey, but still fun and informative. We did get to view the world's largest whisky collection, which was beautiful. I also thought the group tasting part of the tour was pretty phenomenal, and not just because it included scratch-and-sniff cards! Our guide gave us some interesting history about the four whisky-producing regions of Scottland, and told us some of the traditional scents and flavors one can expect from whiskies typical of each region. I was most intrigued by the scents and descriptions from the Lowlands and Highlands, and knew immediately from smelling the Islay card that I would hate (or at least strongly dislike) a typical whisky from that region. During the group tasting, I elected to taste a blended whisky that sounded good, simply because I knew I'd get to sample single malts later. I discovered I liked it better with a few drops of water added, which was unexpected. After the group tasting, we moved into the tasting room, which had a fantastic view. I plopped down at the bar for my four VERY GENEROUS tastes. Surprisingly, my favorite smell (Highlands) led to a disappointing whisky, and the whisky from Speyside was pretty darn delicious. I think I could turn into a whisky drinker after all. And my tasting notes from the Islay whisky? "A leathery, salty, smoked fish, and not in a good way. Blech." If a whisky description includes the words "peat" or "smoke," I guarantee I will not like it. So there you have it. This tour was definitely worth the money, and to boot I am now a member of their whisky appreciation members' club! I think mostly that means I am entitled to some discounts for the next year, including a 2-for-1 tasting at a later date. I told Tony, "Forget Rome. Let's go to Edinburgh!" I really only tasted each drink, and felt a little guilty about leaving so much scotch on the table, but I also didn't want to finish my last day buzzed. I think a proper whisky tasting deserves a lot more time than I was willing to spend, and the drinks should really be savored, so I'm confident I made the right call.

You had me at "scratch and sniff"

Exterior of the Royal Castle

Next, I went another couple hundred yards to the very top of the Royal Mile and decided to spring for entry to the Edinburgh Castle. It was 16.50GBP to enter, and I had just exactly 2 hours until closing - exactly the recommended length of time. In hindsight, I wish I had 3-4 hours, because two hours wasn't enough time, and some of the museums started closing their doors well before closing to manage flow. Before I went, I didn't realize the castle was really a compound. There were many buildings and museums, and it's also home to the Scottish National War Museum. Honestly, I could probably write an entire blog post just about my two hours inside the castle. The highlights for me were climbing the walls and taking in the view, and also the Crown Room - which contains The Honours of Scotland, aka the crown jewels. There were also some really fascinating exhibits on prisoners-of-war, including some old doors with grafiti and etchings from as far back as the 1700s. From start to finish, I thought the castle experience was pretty fantastic and incredibly well-thought out, though I was annoyed that I didn't get a chance to go into the regimental dragoon museum because of the aforementioned closing time. Other than that, I give this one a big thumbs up. There were several cafes and tea shops, plus of course the requisite gift shop, but since I was still full of scotch and curry I didn't bother to stop so I don't have any particular feedback.

The Honours of Scotland

View from the Mills Mount Battery

  (All three of the pictures from the Edinburgh Castle were taken from its official website gallery: Castle Gallery)

St. Giles Cathedral, aka the High Kirk of St. Giles

Pretty much my last stop of the day was St. Giles Cathedral. "But Elaine," you might say, "didn't you already go there once? Why go back?" To which I would excitedly reply, "Because there's a free choral concert!" After the sun went down, the church was FREEZING, so I was happy to have my scarf and coat. I was early enough that I didn't get stuck directly behind a column, but late enough that I still had to sit at a funny angle to see anything, and about half of the group wasn't visible to me because there was still a column in the way. The church was pretty packed, and I could tell that most people were locals rather than tourists. I was really surprised when about 80 people trooped out and took their positions. The director said we'd be going on an around-the-world tour, and they kicked it off with three songs. Meh. One soprano kept going WAY sharp and it hurt my ears, and I wasn't so impressed overall, to be honest. I think the acoustics were probably a bit challenging, too. But then most of those folks took their seats and left a group of 12-20 people behind to sing a few more songs (I'm not sure how many because, again, COLUMN) and they really blew me away. They had great energy and the dynamic was just really fantastic. The rest of the chorale came back to finish up with a few more songs, and one of my favorites was an Ave Maria I'd never heard before. I think maybe they just needed to warm up a bit, because I thought their performance was much more unified for the second half of the evening. We heard songs from Scotland and Ireland, the U.S., New Zealand, France, and I think Ecuador, all in different styles. The entire concert lasted a little over an hour and I'm so glad I went. I think the cathedral does a weekly concert on Sunday evenings, but I can't swear to that. Anyway, if you're ever there on a Sunday, I recommend you at least swing by to check out their calendar. The regular church choir sings at two services on Sundays, and I'd venture to guess they're worth a listen, too.

Inside St. Giles Cathedral

(Both photos of St. Giles Cathedral came from sacred-destinations.coml.)

After the concert I more or less headed back to my hotel to pack and sleep. I only made one pit stop at a local market to grab some fresh fruit for dinner and breakfast. I'd intended to have dinner out, but I was still pretty full from the curry. I got up Monday morning and caught the bus to Waverly Station, and then transferred to the airport shuttle. It was a really easy process and everything went smoothly at the airport, too. Edinburgh gets an A+ from me in terms of access and attractions, and I can't wait to go back.

Malta: Part 4

I really do have a lot to say about Malta, which is impressive since it's a very tiny island and we were only there for 7 days. The people were very friendly and the locals were always happy to give directions and suggestions.

We flew in on Friday and had luggage issues, and went to bed early. Saturday was consumed with the bus tour, so Sunday we wanted a lazy and relaxing day. We went for a walk on the beach, and the water was exceptionally cold, but it was beautiful! Our hotel had a dive and water sports shop, and we visited it to get the scoop on potential snorkeling and scuba diving trips. Ultimately, we didn't do anything water-based, but I would love to go back for some of those opportunities. There's a marked "snorkeling path" from the hotel beach, lots of shipwrecks, and some good shore dives. Malta law requires all visitors go diving with a guide, and the going rate is usually 40Euro per dive, with all equipment included. I really think that's a good deal.

After lunch on Sunday, we took a cab to Julian's Bay and visited the casino. I played roulette for about two hours and lost 12Euro. Tony scoped out the poker scene but I don't think he wound up playing very much. Frankly, it was kind of disappointing, but I always enjoy me some roulette! We walked around and had drinks and tapas, and then went to the movies. In English! We saw the third Hunger Games film. Then we had more drinks and Tony got kissed at a bar/club. You should ask him about it sometime - it was hilarious! We walked around some more, kind of looking for food and/or drinks, but by then I was pretty tired and my stomach was mad at me, so we caught a cab back to the hotel and called it a night.

On Monday we rented mountain bikes from our hotel and hit the trails in the National Park adjacent to Golden Bay. My bike was a little big for me, which was a bit of a struggle, and the park was a) hilly and b) rocky, which was not the best combination. I whined a bit and we definitely walked the bikes up the worst of the trails. The park is called Il-Majjistral Nature & History Park, and it was starkly beautiful and had amazing views of the water. It had some old historical and archeological sites, which we didn't really explore, though I got a nice picture of Tony in his bike helmet with the cliffs and ocean as a backdrop.

Hail the conquering hero

Maybe I should have led off with this, but we rented the bikes to ride to a destination, not just through the park. Any guesses where we were headed? I'll give you a hint: there's a song about it...No? Sweethaven! Still not familiar? That's the fictional town where the 1980 Robin Williams movie 'Popeye' was filmed! After we rode through the park, we were at the top of a hill (I am not exaggerating how hilly that place was. And I'm not ashamed to admit I pushed my bike up the scariest and rockiest paths) and basically got to coast downhill all the way to the village. I'm not crazy about high velocities on a bicycle, so Tony went shredding ahead of me while I zig-zagged and rode the brakes most of the way down. I counted three dead hedgehogs in the road. Frowny face! Malta is blessed with breathtaking views, and much like my first view of our hotel, I was in awe when I first glimpsed the Popeye village. It has been painted in the years since the film, and is far more colorful now. It sits on the water of Anchor Bay (so named because it used to be a disposal location for old ship anchors) and consists of something like 20 wooden buildings. Most of the construction materials were brought in from overseas, and the film team employed a group of ceramics-makers and seamstresses to create the majority of the set decorations and costumes. While I really enjoyed our tour, it was also a little sad, in the same way that state fairs are both wonderful and shabby, best viewed at dusk and not the harsh light of day.

Sweethaven, aka Popeye Village

Real boat in the harbor!

Some of the highlights of our excursion to Sweethaven were the wooden character cutouts (because everybody who knows me knows I love cheesy photo opportunities) and the watch tower. Less impressive was Santa's village, which is naturally seasonal and was filled with some truly creepy and scary elves, and smelled faintly of mildew. I also appreciated getting to go inside the buildings and get a closer look at all the props, and there was even a mini-museum with all sorts of old comic books, Popeye toys, and photographs. We also got to watch a 20-minute documentary on the filming of the movie, which was educational and entertaining! The walls of the theater were plastered with stills from the video, and it was really fun to see pictures of the cast and crew, so young! It was a little difficult to ignore the cobwebs and fading paint, but we were really happy we took the time to visit.

Cheeeeeese!

Popeye, Olive, and Sweet Pea figurines in the museum

Watch Tower in Sweethaven, overlooking Anchor Bay

We rode our bikes mostly up the giant hill, and wisely took the roads back to our hotel instead of biking through the park again. It took a little longer than we planned, and we missed lunch. So when we got back to the hotel we showered and headed down to one of the restaurants to have tea for two. It was fantastic! We got a pot of black tea and got a tiered stack of assorted sliders and desserts. Everything was pretty and delicious! I don't know that I've ever had a proper tea before, unless you count Irish breakfast tea - wait for it - for breakfast in Ireland, so it was a great way to spend an hour with my handsome husband, who is now a tea convert. After tea, we played several rounds of air hockey, and I am pleased to say that I was able to hold my own against Tony, who is a very fearsome competitor. I think we played 5 games, and time ran out on us on the fifth game because our battle was so even. Tony was ahead when the table shut off, so the tiebreaker goes to him. I'm not ashamed to admit it. :) We cooked dinner in the hotel room and that was the end of Sunday.