Rule Brittania

It is with very mixed emotions that Rita and I leave Edinburgh for Kassel as our experiences in Britain have really impressed us.  We are very much looking forward to seeing Rita’s parents but it means the adventure through Great Britain is over.  England and Scotland have definitely exceeded   expectations.  We knew there would be a lot of history to see and we were not disappointed.  Windsor, Cambridge, Bath, Blenheim Palace, York and Edinburgh were all historic gems.  But for such a small Island (you can put 4.5 Great Britain's into BC) with a population of 60 million (BC would need to have a population of 250 million to match its density) we were amazed at the amount of unspoilt terrain and scenery we experienced. The majestic white cliffs of Beachy Head; quaint, hidden harbours in Cornwall; fairy-tale villages in the Cotswolds; nature’s lush, green playground in The Lake District along with the rugged, isolated and moody countryside of Scotland all managed to inspire and amaze us.  There was also so much more we wanted to see and do, including spending more than an afternoon in Wales and touring Ireland, that we will definitely return to the wonderfully diverse British Isles.

A Little East Neuk

 The fishing village of Anstruther stretches out along its harbour

 Crossing causeway of a small cove during low tide with retaing seawall and houses in the background

Old house encrusted with thousands of seashells in intricate designs

New section of tiny Cellardyke Harbour with the original older section on the right

A few kilometers south of St. Andrews lies East Neuk (pronounced "nook"), a collection of small fishing villages hugging the coast.  We did not have a lot of time so we focussed on the main village of Anstruther.  We parked at the top of a hill and walked down to the village that stretches along and around its harbour.  It was low tide when we arrived and so we were able to cross a small cove via a stone pathway that lead to some of the older houses in the village.  Unfortunately, we had eaten lunch in St. Andrews as Anstruther's main claim to fame these days is its fish and chips.  The village "chippies" are regularly awarded the prestigious "UK Fish and Chip Shop of the Year" award.  People have definitaly taken notice as all the Fish and Chip shops we saw had long lineups.  After strolling through the main part of the village we followed a narrow street that paralled the ocean for a couple of kilometers and ended up at tiny Cellardyke harbour originally built in 1452 by a group of Dutch dyke builders.  You can clearly see the original section of the harbour's retaining wall as the Dutch laid the stones horizontally instead of vertically, the tradional way in the UK.  We headed back to our car as we needed to get back to Edinburgh and start packing for our noon flight to Germany in the morning.

The Home of Golf

 Putting out on The Old Course 18th hole with Clubhouse and West Sands beach in the background

With a minimum handicap of 24 required, 130 pounds ($200 Cdn) plus caddie to play and a tee time lottery system, this could be my only chance to cross over the Swilken Burn Bridge at The Old Course

This tranquilspot has a very grissly past as it used to be called "Witches Lake" due to all the people that were pushed off the cliffs to a horrible death on suspicion of being witches

St. Salvator's College and Chapel (dating from 1450) with it's grass "quad" is the heart of St. Andrews University where graduation ceremonies are held every July

St. Andrews Castle was built in the late 12th century as a home for the powerful Cardinals of St. Andrews Cathedral and destroyed by Protestants during the Scottish Reformation

It was the arrival of the bones of St. Andrew the Apostle that gave the town it`s name and created large pilgrimages.  St. Andrew`s Cathedral, the largest in Scotland, was built to accommodate the increasing numbers of pilgrims.  It took 150 years to build and was consecrated in 1318  



After snapping pictures of Edinburgh showered in sunshine we headed out for St. Andrews, a 90 minute drive north of here.  It has an interesting history.  In the middle ages St. Andrews was the religious capital of the country and one of the most important pilgrimage sights in all Christondom.  In 1553 the first recorded game of golf was played on the Old Course and is now one of the most desirable pilgrimages a golfer can make. But first and foremost St. Andrews is a university town as it is home to  Scotlands most prestigious university, founded in 141, and attended by Prince William and Kate Middleton which generates the current mass pilgramage of Royal watchers we see today.  St. Andrews is a very pleasant, compact town that still retains is medieval street plan (all roads lead to the Cathedral) allowing all the sights to be within an easy walk of each other.  The Old Course and the 2 mile (3km) long West Sands beach are at one end of town with the Cathedral ruins at the other end leaving the charming village and university in the middle.  Being a golfer, we had to start our tour of St. Andrews at the Old Course.  Along with many other tourists we watched as the golfers teed-off from the 1st hole.    I could imagine the pressure these golfers must be under just before they hit their first drive onto the fabled Old Course not only because of its history but also due to all of us tourists watching them.  We waited between foursomes to cross the 1st and 18th fairways and watched as golfers chipped onto the green and then putted out to end their round on the Old Course.  I even managed to walk over the famous Swilken Burn Bridge halfway down the 18th fairway.  It was great to see and walk a tiny bit of the course that started it all.  One day it would be wonderful to come back and play it.  This took quite a bit of our time as we walked around quite a bit and I was taking lot's of pictures.  I was very impressed and thankful that Rita, who has absolutely no interest in golf, was so patient with me.  We finally moved onto touring the many other interesting sights that make up St. Andrews (including the dormitory where Prince William stayed during his university days).  As the hot temperatures and sunshine were staying with us, we decided to check out a little fishing village we had read about.

Edinburgh in Sunshine

Rita woke me up around 7:00am to take a look outside.  It was a beautiful sunny morning without a cloud in the sky.  What a difference from yesterday.  Quickly got dressed and headed out the door with my camera to recapture the images of the Old City in a better light.  Another reason why Edinburgh is such a great tourist town, most of the attractions are within easy walking distance of each other.

 Fortified Edinburgh Castle sits atop a protective rock as seen from the beautiful Princess St. Gardens

 Old Town Edinburgh skyline as seen from New Town

 Victoria Street shops steeply bend up from Grassmarket and connects to the Royal Mile

Last Drop Pub is named after the location where hundreds of public hangings took place up to 1784.    People would rent out the windows for the best views of the hangings.  The building itself is one of the oldest in Edinburgh as it was built from castle rubble

Edinburgh Hiking

Heading up into the mist on the trail to the top of Crow Hill

 Standing at the top of Crow Hill enveloped by fog

 Heading down from Crow Hill and looking through the mist at Edinburgh below

Looking down at Arthur's Seat and Edinburgh from the top of Nether Hill

Rita is about to enjoy her first taste of Haggis at the Witchery Restaurant

The weather was not good today as it rained for most of the day.  We were still determined to get out and go for a hike up two of the larger hills that we saw when we went up Arthur's Seat yesterday.  Our first hike took us to the top of Crow Hill, the highest in the Edinburgh area.  The weather closed in on us as we got to the top but not enough to stop us from hiking up another trail that took us to the top of Nether Hill.  We were quite wet so we headed home for a hot shower and a glass of wine before heading out for what we hoped would be a very nice dinner at The Witchery Restaurant.  It's located  in a 16th century building and the interior decor reflects that era.  We arrived and were escorted to our table and started reading the menus.  The maitre d' came over and asked if we would do him a favour by moving to another table as he had a party of three just arriving and our table was larger than their normal two person table.  I liked where we were sitting and was a bit slow in responding and I think my body language also was implying I was not happy moving.  But Rita was ever so accommodating and immediately said "no problem, of course we would not mind moving".  We moved to our new, smaller table and a few minutes later the maitre d' returned with two glasses of champagne as a thank you for moving.  He then explained that the party had left as the process had taken too long.  I asked if our original table was free again and if it was could we move back as I preferred that table.  It was and so we ended up where we started but with two glasses of complimentary champagne.  A great start to the evening and it just got better as the food was delicious.  Rita and I had promised ourselves that we would try the Scottish delicacy haggis before we left Scotland and we ordered it as our appetizer.  We both admitted that it tasted better than expected but not something we would order on a regular basis. We ended the meal with a couple of very nice single malt scotch's that we had not tasted before.    The maitre d' came over again and asked where we were from and he told us he was also Canadian and came over to Edinburgh 10 years ago following his girlfriend and stayed.  We had a very nice chat about Canada, love and how he had picked up a very good Scottish accent.  It was the perfect end to a great day all around and it just goes to show that you can have a good time even if the sun does not shine.

Rita Speaks II

Working the computer in the drawing room at the MacKinnon Country House in the Isle of Skye



Our trip is winding down, it has to be, as we ran out of our two boxes of "Costco imported healthy Granola bars" in Inverness. That means I have to scramble for a snack between breakfast and lunch. Lunch most of the time happens either too late for my blood sugar or not at all, so I really relied on those granola bars. The trip is not completely over yet, but since I have the chance, here is my second  "Rita speaks".  It's funny, when hitting the last week of a trip, no matter where we are, I start thinking of packing up and going home. But it's also a time to reflect back to the fabulous time we have had and are still having in England and Scotland. We stayed in twelve different accommodations and were pleased with all our selections. I had to figure out eight different types of washing machine's, some were washer/dryer combinations and in two cases made no sense at all but we ended up with clean laundry. I really enjoyed the long, beautiful walks in the different countrysides and along the coasts. Geoff has driven us from down south all the way up north, on highways, motorways and most exiting single lane roads - a total of over 5,000 km. We both celebrated our birthdays, mine in England, Geoff's in Scotland, with wonderful meals. I have to say....."enough of the myth that food in the UK is bad", we have had many really wonderful meals and of course great Fish & Chips. I tried haggis for the first time in Edinburgh, various types of local beer, cider and of course we had tastings of Single Malt Scotch. The challenge I am faced with now is to reduce our luggage to accommodate the various bottles of Scotch that Geoff bought. Good opportunity to get rid of clothes that I am tired off after eight weeks of wearing and buy new when back in Canada - Fantastic! If asked what was the best part of the trip? It would be a real hard question because I am in awe of this beautiful and versatile country. I loved Beachy Head, Cornwall, The Lake District and of course beautiful Scotland. Maybe I was so fascinated by it all because I really did not know what to expect and was completely taken by a very, very positive surprise.

Before heading home to Vancouver, we  have one last stop. Tomorrow we are leaving for Kassel to spend a week with my parents. My Mom is looking forward to spoiling Geoff and I am all over that as I can do with the break!

At the sumit of Arthur's Seat just outside Edinburgh

Birthday Boy

Celebrating number 64 with Champagne High Tea at the Balmoral Hotel with my wonderful partner


Rita really looked after me today and showed that someone still loved me and needed me when I'm 64.  After a great day of touring Edinburgh and going for a wonderful walk up Arthur's Seat we headed back home to change.  Rita had made a reservation at one of the most prestigious hotels in Edinburgh, The Balmoral, for Champagne High Tea.  As it states, we started off with a glass of champagne and then the three tier high tea tray arrives with finger sandwiches, scones and petit fours all washed down with tea served from a silver tea pot.  To add to the calorie count I was presented with a raspberry/chocolate tart with a candle in the centre.  Very posh, very high calorie and very filling.  We made our way home and before going to bed I had the pleasure of reading several happy birthday emails from family and friends.  It was a day to remember. Thank You, my darling Rita.