Scottish soul

We're off!

Here I am flying over layer after layer of shifting-colored clouds: I'm so excited! I'm about to land in romantic Scotland! With a comfortable Rayair flight we land in Edinburgh on a beautiful summer morning: I've always dreamed of coming to these northern lands and I've nourished myself quite a bit with books that told their stories, describing their spaces and the characters, hot-blooded!, of the people. With my husband and my children we duly line up for a taxi and jump into a black one, beautiful, the classic english cab!, which in a flash takes us to 92 Pilrig Street, where our hotel is, the "Edinburgh House", a characteristic stone building with a small garden in front and another in the back, with beautiful flowered bay windows overlooking the street. Just the time to settle in and we're back on the street looking for a red bus to take us downtown.

We head to Princes Street, where there's a very efficient tourist information center, with delightful girls who try to interpret even the most awkward English and are an inexhaustible source of useful information on places, transport, various treasures.

The weather is typically Scottish with frequent drizzles, more or less heavy, so our first purchases are...two umbrellas! J The souvenir shops are beautiful with salespeople strictly in kilts and the music of bagpipes in the background! Naturally I find a bookstore and I certainly can't let it slip away! It's love at first sight between me and Waterstone's Bookstore: shiny wooden floors, mountains of well-ordered books, practical shelves and a children's section where I find my beloved Gruffalo! There's an entire section dedicated to its creator, the Scottish Julia Donaldson, so I have quite a bit to do! J Still in the same bookstore there's a Starbucks with a fantastic view right on the highlight of the city: The Castle! I would never leave this place: excellent tea, scones at will, a vast choice of books, colorful notebooks, a magnificent view, comfortable little sofas...but it's time t

o head back to base! We head to the bus stop, where everyone is strictly in line!, and take the 11 which takes us directly below our hotel.

I had heard that the cost of living is quite expensive, especially because of the unfavorable exchange rate with the pound, but I must say I didn't have this impression at all, perhaps because everything is functional and practical, starting with the transport - always clean and on time! - so it's even a pleasure to spend a little more!, or perhaps because of the various possibilities to spend less even on eating: there are several bakeries that offer excellent sandwiches and pastries, fast food places, supermarkets - open until 11 pm! - with a wide choice of ready-made food... Even pubs and various venues didn't seem particularly expensive to us, with at most 15 pounds each we always managed.

At 11 pm there's still light outside and it's nice to look at the sky with its shifting clouds from the big window of our room!

The Old City

The day dawns gloomy, even if full of light. We get ready quickly: I can't wait to have breakfast! I love breakfast at the hotel! J At one time I missed Italian coffee a lot, but I must say I've learned to appreciate English coffee quite a bit, which I drink willingly and in abundance dipping toasted bread with jam, cheddar, honey...in a sweet-savory mix that I indulge in only on vacation! With a nice full belly, we head to our first stop of today: the Scottish National Gallery. We opt for the day ticket, which allows you to go around all day - £ 3.20 pounds for adults and £ 2.0 for children - In a short time we're there and we enjoy this art gallery - whose entrance is FREE! - which is truly remarkable for care and variety.

Local painters are proudly displayed, telling the story of this likeable people, but also sections with my beloved impressionists and others with the most famous Italians: Leonardo, Raphael, Titian... I feel very proud of being Italian, in these cases! As I was saying, the exhibition is very well cared for and it's truly pleasant to go around the various rooms, stopping every now and then to admire the paintings settling on strategic little sofas.

At the exit there's a nice bookshop, a room available for workshops for children and a beautiful bar where you can refresh yourself while admiring the very green park that joins the newer part of the city center with the older one, where the Castle and the Royal Mile are, the mile-long street that is one of the symbols of Edinburgh and that joins the castle to the ancient Palace of Holyrood, the current residence of the English royal family when they come to these parts. After crossing the park, strewn with romantic wooden benches with love dedications, we walk up a spectacular climb that offers an equally spectacular view and takes us to the Castle.

They're setting up bleachers in view of a parade to which the Scots are very attached...this adds spectacle to the spectacle: it feels like being in the Quidditch stadium of Harry Potter! The castle is a real medieval village, with many buildings gathered in a spiral around the tower with the king's apartments, where there's the mythical crown jewels, complete with the "Stone of Destiny", a big boulder with a fascinating history: it was, from time immemorial, the throne of the first kings of Scotland and later set into richer and more elaborate thrones. It was "used" for the coronation of all kings, including the English ones who, when England definitively conquered Scotland, transported it to London, to Westminster Abbey. Only in 1996 did Queen Elizabeth II decide to return it to the Scots, on condition that they "lend" it to the English on the occasion of new coronations.

Truly a beautiful story, of the kind I like!! Within the castle walls there's a continuous coming and going of guys in little skirts, so much so that you don't even notice it anymore. What stands out is the care with which this place is kept, as well as the Gallery we visited in the morning. Not only is there attention and cleanliness, but also explanatory panels, thematic exhibitions, reconstructions, with the aim of telling the history in many different ways, all valid, so that everyone can choose and delve into what they prefer.

Even as a teacher I appreciated it a lot and it reminded me a bit of the historical museum of Dublin, which we visited last year, attached to Christ Church cathedral, it's a museum mentality that we should try to copy, given our historical-artistic riches! We take a lunch break in the restaurant located in the main square: there's a cannon that fires at one o'clock sharp! The one at the Granicolo fires at noon! Who copied whom?!? There are many places to see and to take refuge in between one rain and another: the chapel of Queen Margaret, the prisons, the king's apartment, the shrine of the soldiers who died during the First and Second World War... We leave after several hours and head toward the Royal Mile, the royal mile that crosses the old city leading straight to Holyrood.

The street is truly beautiful, with its intact medieval style and lots of souvenir shops, some - alas! L - with real junk...but it seems to be inevitable: if I think of the shops near our home in the area of St. Peter's Square, I get the shivers! Walking along this beautiful street we discover St Giles' Cathedral, the heart of Midlothian - on which it seems spitting brings good luck... - which was once the place of capital executions, a shop with the scent of cinnamon where it's always Christmas, and also the Catholic church of St Patrick. It's now late afternoon, but the sun is still high! We try to get closer to the New Town to find a place to eat something before returning to the hotel.

We take bus 35, strong with our day tickets and cross the bridge that takes us to the beautiful Princes Street gardens: how green they are! All this rain must be good for something! On Hanover Street we find the Italian restaurant "Bella Italia" and decide to venture in...the kids miss pasta! And indeed we can't complain, apart from the background music with Gigi D'Alessio, evidently considered a typical Italian singer... With bus no. 11, which this time really seems like Harry Potter's, we finally reach our hotel! What a tiredness! On TV there's a special about Harry and Katy in Canada: how cute! J

On the trail of the Da Vinci Code

It's the day of the Templars, we can't wait any longer! So mega breakfast, bus no. 11 then no. 15 on Princes Street and...Rosslyn here we are! It's about an hour's journey to get there, through very green meadows - did I already say that?!... - and stone houses with slate roofs and large windows with bay windows...it really feels like being in Rosamunde Pilcher's books! I love her novels! Our destination is a bit of a construction site, we imagine that since the release of The Da Vinci Code there's been an unthinkable influx of people to these parts! The chapel truly has an unreal atmosphere; it's full of the most diverse symbols, some clearly religious, others hard to interpret like monsters and exotic plants: there's even the bas-relief of aloe vera! There are, in fact, several knights buried there and on the tomb of a templar there's a very fresh red rose...

There's everywhere an atmosphere of reflection and recollection. Outside the clouds chase each other without rest and we barely manage to take refuge in the only restaurant/hotel in the area before a real hurricane complete with hail breaks out! We eat very well - in spite of those who denigrate the cuisine of these parts! - and in a truly warm and welcoming environment! At the prearranged time, read on the timetable at the bus stop, with Swiss precision, we take the 35 for the return. Meanwhile the sky unleashes itself again, but it doesn't disturb, indeed it makes you enter even more into the romantic atmosphere of these parts; on the emerald pastures black-faced sheep and horses with very thick manes wander around...

In the heart of the real Scotland

The sky is still moving, but there's a novelty: from the window, early in the morning, I saw a gray squirrel pop out of the trees! What a nice surprise, a true, unexpected gift! It seems like a good omen for today's adventure: we have planned a day trip by bus to Loch Ness and the Highlands! The driver - naturally super punctual! (this punctuality thing keeps surprising me, who knows why?!) - comes to pick us up at the hotel and, while picking up the others, gives us a nice tour of the city, showing us and telling us things we would otherwise never have seen and known. He has a very expressive English and tries to speak slowly to be followed by everyone. The scenery, leaving the city, is a true spectacle, always different, but with an internal harmony at times moving.

The hills give way to mountains, high and mighty, but with a gently rounded shape and covered with moss and grass, naturally very green. Green is the predominant color with dozens and dozens of shades, with tones that border on brown, ochre, red...it's an endless spectacle, exalted then by the many elements that compose it, it's a continuum of beauty that diversifies into little waterfalls, dry stone walls that border pastures with sheep with twisted horns, placid rivers and impetuous streams, stone bridges, little houses with large windows that let you peek inside, peaceful brown or spotted cows...

All under a sky in continuous movement, changing without rest shape, color, direction...I taste again all the flavors of Rosamunde Pilcher! The driver continues to tell of battles for independence, of struggles between clans and in this regard we stop at Glencoe, the scene of a fierce battle as well as a naturally spectacular landscape. By one o'clock we're at Loch Ness, ready for our cruise on the lake, hunting for the mythical monster! We set off again to reach the capital of the Highlands, Inverness, but we can't get off, time is short, we do stop though in a small Victorian town, famous for salmon fishing, Pitlochry. The final stretch is accompanied by sweet music and some information about typical Scottish clothing. The rain comes and goes, but fortunately in Edinburgh there's sun!

Towards the sea

This morning we take it a bit easier: yesterday was an exciting day, but also demanding! We decide to go toward the sea, to Leith, the port of Edinburgh. The weather seems nice and the sun is really warm: it's nice to stroll along the sea and watch gulls and cormorants diving and surfacing. The Firth of Forth is a fjord that stretches out to the open sea and really gives the idea of adventure and travel.

I think of Stevenson and his Treasure Island...not by chance he was from these parts! At the port the historic ship Britannia is docked, which is a real attraction: all members of the Royal Family have been on it!! Unfortunately the changeable weather brings us a bit more rain, so we take refuge in a mega shopping center, the Ocean Terminal: what a disaster! There are too many opportunities to spend! The Britannia Navy shop is a real spectacle: there are Harry and Kate everywhere! A real piece of England here in Scotland! Very fascinating! On the way back we treat ourselves to a long tour around our tree area, full of interesting things, like the park and the cemetery.

I'm fascinated by Celtic cemeteries, with the simple tombstones, sometimes bent by the cold and time, the green lawns, the serene and not at all grim atmosphere...maybe that's why one of the places in Rome I love most is the non-Catholic cemetery in Testaccio, who knows? We want to enjoy once more the atmosphere of the Waterstone's bookstore and so we head to Princes Street. This bookstore is truly a dream! J...and we don't miss another bit of wild shopping at the souvenir shops to stock up on scottish gadgets!

Departure

Off we go again… Let's get everything ready and book the taxi that will take us to the airport at noon. That way we can still enjoy one more morning exploring "our" neighbourhood and observe a bit of everyday life: the primary school, the police station, the Tesco supermarket – how many times have I come across it in books and films! Our mood is a little melancholy, but not sad: we really loved Scotland, and who knows, we might come back one day!