Dumfries, Day One

As hard as it was to leave wonderful Edinburgh, when we hit the countryside of Dumfries and Galloway, I thought, "Who needs the big city?"  It is so pretty and picturesque here. 

Dumfries itself has some very pretty patches. 

The River Nith runs through it, and there are several bridges that cross it through town. 

Lance tells me he rode his bike over all of them. We've driven around town a bit to get some context in order to picture him as a young lad cycling to and from his house, named Kiltearn by his father. Here it is!

He was born in the upper left bedroom in 1929. Neat, huh?

We couldn't get into our first choice restaurant last night (called Hullabaloo), but we're so glad we ended up eating at The Indian Palm. As Scott wrote, it was one of those friendly and delicious dinners that just hits the spot. 

A-1 day 1!

Hard way to start the day

You can tell you're out of an urban centre when your coffee looks and tastes like hot brown water. NO CREAM, EITHER!

Edits

That was, in fact, my 5th time time in Edinburgh, not my 4th as previously stated.  10/10 to you if you caught that. 

The temperature at the Laggan Outdoor place was 5+ degrees Celsius on a DECEMBER day, not yesterday.  Some of their data was mixed up.  We will give you today's weather report on our return. Here's how it's looking from our hotel room:

Promising. 

Goodbye Edinburgh. Hello Dumfries.

Our week in Edinburgh came to what seems like an abrupt end. We could easily have spent another week there. Nancy and girls didn't have time enough to see the National Gallery or the National Portrait Gallery. None of us got to see the Moderns, nor did we see the Museum of Childhood, or John Knox House, or Gladstones Land, and the list goes on. But we've left lots on the table for next time. Would love to see the Festival when here again.

A great country drive down the A701 brought us to Moffat at midday. Something like Comox, catering to the silver haired set, but quaint. Retail, cafes, bakeries, and a substantial sweets shop. Can you guess where we landed? It was an overnight destination for Nance and I on honeymoon 22 yrs ago, so nice to travel down memory lane for a bit.

Then on to Dumfries, birthplace of the Donald (our Donald, not the loudmouth, comb-over, Republican). The Cairndale Hotel and Leisure Club (fancy for hotel has a pool and gym) is our comfy old school hotel. Actual room keys. No plastic cards. 3 lb. brass balls (ball, really) for key fob so you don't run off. Excellent personal security device or child beater. Refreshing dip and sauna and steam, laughs and antics with my girlies and nice confabs with locals while doing it. We are quickly and easily identified as Canadian despite tourism here being decidedly more local than in Edinburgh. A lovely woman suggests a speedboat tour on the Thames whilst themes from James Bond are played on the stereo, an experience to which her son had apparently treated her grandchildren with much success. Sounds great to me. Indian food for sup at the Indian Palm. Delicious grub and friendly staff making us feel very welcome. Perfect day.

Tomorrow's plan is a few hours at Laggan Outdoor (http://www.lagganoutdoor.co.uk/) for zip lining, archery, trap shooting, and possibly downhill sledging. We are advised (thankfully) that the mountain ball suffered mortal injury today so we won't be challenging our gag reflexes at that. A little concerned with weather, though. Afternoon high there today (it's closer to the sea and has some elevation) was 5.5* C.

Homage to Sister Wendy

I bought this at the NV City library for $3. It is my new favourite book. If you aren't familiar with Sister Wendy, PLEASE google her and, better yet, watch her on YouTube. She hosted a number of PBS specials about art and makes it very accessible for everyone, especially philistines like me (special reference to Adrian Mole there).

I was very eager to see two of Sister Wendy's favourite things that are in Edinburgh: the Lewis chessmen, and the Raeburn painting of The Skating Minister. 

The Lewis chessmen are in the National Museum, and they are extraordinary. 

They are carved of walrus ivory and whales' teeth, and they were carved IN THE 12TH CENTURY. Holy cow. They're called the Lewis chessmen because they were found on the Isle of Lewis in 1831. They're believed to have been made in Norway.  Isn't that incredible?!

Now, as you may know, the skating minister holds a special place in my dad's house as well as ours (if you can't remember where he is at our place, you'd better familiarize yourself and revere him on your next visit).  Sister Wendy writes about him on pp 106-107. 

Well, dammit all, he's in Texas or somewhere like that, not in the National Gallery as we'd hoped. 

Maybe he can hook up with a bagpipe-playing rooster like the one Lance and Alison got me at the Dallas airport a few years ago.  (It broke, like my heart when I learned The Reverend wasn't in town.)

Other highlights of week 1

This is my fourth time in Edinburgh (1981, 1987, 1993, 1997). I think it gets better with time (as do we). Noticeable and notable improvements:

1) Wicked good transit. This machine is at our local stop and tells us which bus is coming and when. The Lothian Buses app is brilliant; Scott was our fearless techie who got us on the right bus every time. You can track where you are on your route and everything!

2) Crazy good assortment of things to see and do, and everything is WELL-STAFFED WITH SMILING, KNOWLEDGEABLE PEOPLE. 

Awesome hop on/hop off tours. 

Deck looking at tearoom of the Brittania. 

We had a delicious lunch there. 

Detail of a doorway in St. Margaret's Chapel at Edinburgh Castle. 12th century!!!

Centuries-old prison at the castle. They had to expand the space over the years. 

The beautiful open gallery at the National Museum. There are vast rooms off this with more than you can see in one day. It's designed for all ages, so there are many interactive exhibits. 

We also went and toured the underground vaults at "The Real Mary King's Close", which was a guided tour led by an actor in the role of a 16th century timber merchant by day/bailey by night. Alas, no photos were allowed, so you have to trust that it was VERY COOL  and spooky and fascinating. 

3) Way improved mod cons:

In Mary King's Close, we saw the pride and joy of a member of the wealthier class--his THUNDER BOX, aka his biffy. Basically it was a wooden box with a hole  on the top.  

Here's a thunder box in Jamie Oliver's restaurant. That's the handle to flush in the middle of the tank. 

Of course the brand of toilet delighted us. 

4) Food quality and variety--delicious and nutritious!  There's a good effort underway to educate people about what they're eating. Makes it way better for this diabetic. 

5) General beauty at every turn. 

In the words of our cousin Hester White, "Oh Edinburgh, you are so beautiful!  I do love you so!"

But wait, there's more...

We were full-on touristing since it was our last full day, so after Holyrood, we headed over to Our Dynamic Earth, sort of a cross between Science World and The Ecology Centre. 

There were multi-sensory experiences inside (eg ice berg to touch, getting snowed on, the smell of Hawaii in the tropical rainforest, tectonic floor plates jostling us). We followed up with a timely cup of tea/ice cream/slushie. 

I loved my mini Milky Way bar; it's hard to tell, but it's wee!

So many good things to say about this city

It's 2:25 am and I'm wide awake, thinking about how wonderful Edinburgh is and how we're not done here, but we leave in a few short hours. We have to leave such gorgeous sights as these:

Yesterday struck me as especially beautiful. It was sunny and warm (mostly), so we walked to Holyrood Palace, at the bottom of the Royal Mile. HP is the Queen's official residence when she comes to Scotland. I had a really good royal fix--HP is full of OLD portraiture, furniture, tapestries, and the stories to go with them. There are connections with the 20th century generations, too, such as slide shows and films of royal childhoods, and past ceremonies in The Great Hall (eg chef Gordon Ramsay getting acknowledged as a member of the Order of the British Empire). The oldest part of the palace is from the 16th century, and its walls were over a meter thick.  We weren't allowed to take photos inside, so I made up for it outside:

This is the oldest section from the 1500s. 

Detail of the fountain in the courtyard. They turn the water on when Liz and Phil & co. are there. 

The gardens were EXQUISITE. I could have spent all day there. 

Abbey remains. 

The palace from the back. 

I mean, come on!  So gorgeous!