Black Madge and the Edinburgh Visit!

We're back home! Well, home is now Bristol, so when we got off the train after spending 3 days in Edinburgh, Emma said, 'Wow, Mom, when do you ever get to go on a trip when you are on a trip?' True enough!

Let me start by saying that perhaps you can judge a city's fun factor by the amount of barf outside of pubs. Yes, Old town Edinburgh must be a great place to flex you beer drinking muscles because we found out the'Bonnie' way that there was vomit for everyone. My dear Bonnie! Even in the heart of Scotland she is not immune to disaster for as she skipped down the brick sidewalks, she slipped in a pile, of well, puke and wiped out. I swear that child's Guardian Angel is getting paid over time!

Otherwise, our trip to Edinburgh was fantastic. Here is a city of history and beauty that I have never come across before.

It all started when we left on the train Tuesday morning. Now, the train ride was very gentle and went through the country sides. I don't care how many sheep I see, they are all still so CUTE!!!

We arrived in Edinburgh at about 3 p.m. and checked into B and B. Then we headed out toward the harbour. I even asked for a repeat of directions 'just in case' Brian didn't quite understand. Well, after walking for a few kilometres and only seeing a rather industrial side of Edinburgh, we finally stopped some Scottish beer drinking punks and got proper directions! We ended up having a superb Italian dinner, one in which both girls were filled to pasta capacity! Good thing because we got supremely lost on the way home and ended up walking for at least 2 hours in many directions.

One thing I love about 'trying out' new cities, is getting my mental compass established. Well, I was having a hell of a time doing this--mainly due to lack of sleep and a shared bottle of house red.

So, we played a game. Girl children are always up for this! We would stop at a corner and the next brave person would get to choose which direction we would turn. But, of course, you would have to pay the price of being wrong and be lambasted until the next person saw a recognizable landmark. "I'm sure this is the way! I remember that Tesco Express! (a.k.a. the ubiqutious convience store)" Yeah, right. Thank God for those cab drivers that just take side streets once in a while. We finally flagged one down. After we got to the B and B he gave each girl a keychain with the taxi's phone number and said, 'Keep this in case your parents get lost again!' Hmmph.

The next day we ventured out to the Old Town of Edinburgh. This was a remarkable area of Edinburgh. The old 'Royal Mile' road of cobblestone, the Edinburgh Castle at one end and the Holyrood Palace at the other. The many little shops, museums and cafes along the way enticed us to stop and compare tartan prices! Bonnie was so impressed because she has never been able to find her name on things like pens and Christmas ornaments, but her name appeared everywhere! The best item was a thermometer with Nessie, the Loch Ness monster on it and Bonnie's name next to it.

Then, we walked the mile to the castle and had a splendid day learning about the history of Scotland. The girls were once again, most impressed by the Crown Jewels. The displays there were very informative and engaging. I didn't know that these jewels were hidden in the ground under a medieval latrine in WWII. They were sneakily placed to avoid theft and damage.

This castle sits atop an extinct volcano and at 400 ft. above the city and the Firth of Forth, it is a formidable structure. As we walked through with our audio phones listening to stories of the past, we saw a crowd gathereing. And in visitor style, we joined the fun only to find out that in a mere 32 minutes, a very loud gun would go off signaling 1:00 p.m.

Now, I'm going to tell you this even though Brian will get mad. At one, every afternoon, for the last 200 or so years, a gun has been fired atop of the castle to set the time for sea merchants, trains, etc. So, Brian approaches the officer and asks what time the gun will go off! AHHHHH!!!! I really don' t think that they are going to change the time after 20o years! We were given that look that is reserved only for the misled few.

After spending the rest of the day touring around, we had a pub dinner and then did the scariest thing of all. We took a tour of the underground bridge vaults.

Before I tell you what it is, I must describe the bridge first. As you can see from the picture, the bridge for the most part, is now underground. It spans 7 hills worth of rock. It's best if you do your own research on it if you want to know more. Check out this site: http://www.historic-uk.com/DestinationsUK/EdinburghVaults.htm

Underneath the South Bridge is called the Vaults. Now, these became the homes of very poor people during 18th century and it is reportedly the most haunted place in Britian. So, we decided to take Emma and Bonnie on a night tour of these vaults. Our tour guide arrived to find a group of Starbucks drinking visitors. We stood there rubbing hands and pacing back and forth to warm up and to diffuse our anxiousness.

She swished up in a black long cloak, old hat with net veil and captivated us instantaneoulsy with stories of the past. We were led through small 'closes'--little alley ways, and as we went along, she explained what it would have been like to be living there in the early days of Edinburgh. I would love to share some of the stories with you, but because they were so delightfully horrid in description, I just can't repeat them. She was a professional at her job though and as she watched the junior faces in the audience she realized when to 'put a lid' on the blood and gore stories. Thank goodness for those kids because I really don't think I could slept through the night after that!

Then, we ventured down damp, dark stairs to the vaults. OOOOO!!! Creepy!! Each seperate room came equipped with it's own resident ghost and subsequent stories of encounters. The guide has us all glancing over our shoulders. Black Madge, her name was, left a deep and dark impression on us all.

Now, onto cheerier things. The funny thing is that we didn't see any cats anywhere! Not one! But, we kept alluding to this fact and then we approached the Edinburgh Playhouse and stood out front saying 'Hey, finally there's Cats!' Well, this was our surprise to the girls. We took them to see the musical CATS. They simply adored it.


Grizabella singing 'Memory' brought me to private tears. I know that was one of my mom's favorite songs.


And you know you live with cat lovers when your children can name a cat in their own lives that reminds them of each of the characters in the play!


I just have to tell this funny story. We were sitting in this cafe having tea and this little boy, or should I say, rather rotund little boy walked up with his mom to the cafe. I noticed that he was carrying a bulging green bag, much like that of the Body Shop and I said, Ahh, that's nice. I bet he bought a nice gift for his mom at that store. Emma looked a little closer and then said, Mom, that is a bag from Fudge Kitchen! We giggled and went there after tea.


The girls loved the train ride home. Funny though because it seems like everytime we come home from somewhere, something happens.

Competing with University students returning home can be like shopping for underwear on Sale Day at Walmarts. And because it's a bank holiday on Monday, many students were travelling.




There we were waiting at Platform 3 and 1/2 in York to change trains, fairly oblivious to the crowds of ipod wearing laptop carrying students, when suddenly the train pulls in. Well, as a family of four + 2 suitcases, we didn't have a hope in hell. Needless to say, I think we got the better deal as we had a metal cargo car to ourselves, with one other young man who fell asleep. With his ipod on of course. So, B, E and I had a rousing game of balloon football whilst Brian pulled up some greasy metal to snooze against.


About half way through the trip, the young man's cell phone went off. Us four, stopped and waited for him to wake up and answer it. Especially because the ring tone was playing some dirty rap music! Well, he didn't wake. Nor, at the next stop, or the next.


As a mom, I'm thinking...someone is waiting to pick this exhausted lad up after his first few weeks at University, at some train station that he probably slept through, and now is phoning on his cell to demand to know 'Where the HELL are you?' and he's finally getting the best snooze he's had since leaving home. Right here at the end of the train. On the floor, with us playing Balloon Football.


When he does finally open his eyes, he looks at us as if we're aliens from another time zone. I smile and reassure him that, yes, you are still on the earth, but you have missed 2 urgent calls and probably slept through your stop. He did. He gets off at the next stop and smiles gratefully.


Gosh, you know you're getting on in years, when you are nuturing to a young handsome English university student, and not wanting his phone number. When did that happen??


On to other things...3 stories from Dundry school that left me laughing. First off, a few weeks back, there is a church tower which is directly behind our lovely school. Like I've said before, Edmontonians would travel miles to see something like this.


It was a Monday, rather subdued, when suddenly the church bells started to ring. At first, I thought what a strange day for a wedding. Then I thought, oh, must be a funeral. And, they were rather loud! So, the class and I listened momentarily, and decided that it was probably the latter. But, after a few minutes which turned into an hour, I thought about who would have died that needed bells to toll for a whole hour? Finally it stopped and we could hear ourselves once again.


The next day I brought up the subject in the staff room. Without wanting to offend anyone, I simply stated that the funeral must have been an important one.


But, it was the bell ringing club actually that was trying out the different bell tower for practice. This is a club we definitely don't have in Edmonton.


Then, this lovely church is surrounded by a cemetary. I was chatting with our school administrator whilst delivering the Harvest food collection. I noticed that many of the gravestones were knocked down. This made me sad. These are century old head stones, tall, thin and beautiful. In Edmonton, when you see markers pushed over, you know that some stupid drunk heads were on the premises.


But, to my surprise, Julie told me that the Health and Safety People--a curious group I am sure, came by and pushed them all over. It was a hazard, they decided, to have these upright stones. People could get hurt if those headstones were to tumble upon them. Oh, dear.


Then, this most precious scene. We ring the playtime bell. This is a handheld brass bell that we shake the sheesh out of! I love it!!


Anyway, all little children dressed in blue and white, rushed as word spread, to see under the upper classroom. The upper building, where my class is located and is raised up 2 or so feet. Underneath was a cat. Silly feline...what was she thinking?


I wish I had a picture of this! All of these little blue legs and black shoes laying down, peering and screaming under the building. I imagine that if I were that cat, I'd be thinking that this was an apocalyptic event. No getting out of. But, she risked one life and ran for it.


Being the teacher supervisor on duty, I watched as this stampede of 40 or so children in blue, ran down the stone steps, across the pavement and after this poor kitty. I have not laughed that hard in a loooonnng time. The cat escaped, unscathed. She jumped the enclosure to leap into the cemetary, only to be squished by a fallen headstone! Ok, I'm kidding about the headstone. Oh the sheer joy of it all.

Well, back to work on Tuesday. I'm thinking of trying out some of my Canadian teaching stuff now that I know the students better. Actually, I've talked my dear husband into coming to volunteer in some capacity at Dundry. We'll see how it goes.

And, I must say that the winner of last time's question was my dear friend Kim...all the way from Chilliwack, BC! Flytipping is emptying garbage on the run into some place that is not acceptable.

This week's question: What are the public bus seats all covered with in Edinburgh? (hint: it's NOT barf!)

Not too many pictures this time as the blog site is having a problem downloading them. I'll make a catchup picture site soon of Edinburgh photos!
cheers!
beth

Ps. A special 'HI' to my neice Lizzie from B,B,B and E! And Mousse of course, who is doing much better by the way!