Books and Tea

Trip to Scotland, Days 5 and 6: Glasgow Green, Edinburgh Castle and the Royal Mile

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Christina

After the excitement and energy of climbing Arthur’s Seat on Saturday, we chose to spend Sunday in Glasgow in a more low-key way.

We started by visiting Barras Market, where I bought a necklace from a local craft person, and moved on to Glasgow Green, a large park to the east of our hotel.

Like the Necropolis a few days ago, Glasgow Green had surprisingly few people in it. Maybe it was the grey, rainy weather. But the brightness and softness of the grass, the swans on the nearby river, and the clarity of the air made me feel that they’re missing out on something special. The Green was quiet and soothing. In places like the People’s Palace and the Doulton Fountain, the overall aspect of disrepair and paused renovations reinforced that feeling of sombreness.

Glasgow Green and the Nelson monument.
Up close to the Nelson monument.
Swans on the river. There were also ducks on the opposite shore.
The People’s Palace, fenced off and requiring funds for renovation. It’s definitely in a state of disrepair.
Apparently, the Doulton Fountain is the world’s largest fountain made out of terra cotta.

Today was spent in Edinburgh where it was considerably brighter, both figuratively and literally. We seem to have a knack for visiting on days that are sunny and breezy. This is what we started with, even:

A busy Edinburgh street.
In Edinburgh, even the goddamed stairwells are picturesque.

We started the morning by visiting the Writer’s Museum, chronicling the lives of Robert Louis Stevenson, Robert Burns and Sir Walter Scott. We then visited multiple smaller venues in close succession, each taking less than an hour:

  • Canongate Kirk and its associated graveyard (including the resting place of Adam Smith!)
  • The Scottish Poetry Library
  • The Museum of Childhood
  • The People’s Story

Bonus: every single one of these places was free to enter. It’s the small things like this that make it abundantly clear how small and miserly the Toronto cultural landscape seems in comparison.

In any event, all of this was a prelude to today’s main event: Edinburgh Castle. Like Arthur’s Seat, it’s high and windswept, craggy and austere. However, the scale of human presence was mind-boggling. There were just so. Many. People. It was an absolute zoo. And considering that the Fringe Festival hasn’t even started yet, I can’t possibly imagine how much busier the castle and the Royal Mile will be later on this week.

This crowd was only a smidgen of how many people were actually there.

The views are pretty spellbinding, though.

A pretty bog-standard majestic outcropping looming over the city.
As with Arthur’s Seat, Edinburgh Castle entailed a lot of climbing.
Yet another majestic outcropping

We’re going back to Edinburgh one more time to see a live preview for the Fringe. After that, I don’t know if we’ll return; while seeing the Edinburgh Fringe Festival is a once in a lifetime event, I can’t stomach the idea there being even more people who haven’t arrived yet.