The Feast of St. Andrew

The Relic Shrine of St. Andrew at St. Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh

Happy Feast of St. Andrew! This year I’m really celebrating this feast since I actually got to hang out with him when I was in Edinburgh. Let’s talk about his relics, prayers, and FOOD…

The relics of St. Andrew. On the right is a portion of St. Andrew’s shoulder.

The relics actually have an interesting story: (From the shrine’s website)

The bones of the martyred Saint were buried in Patras and remained there until 357 AD, when most were removed to Constantinople at the command of the emperor Constantine. From this time devotion to St Andrew spread throughout the western Church. In the eastern Church St Andrew also gained a devoted following, becoming the patron saint of both Greece and Russia.

In 1204, French and Venetian Crusaders sacked Constantinople. The French removed many relics (including the Shroud), to Western Europe. To protect the relics of the Apostle, Cardinal Peter of Capua, the Papal Legate to the East, brought the body of St Andrew to his home town, Amalfi, in southern Italy.　…

Legend has it that relics of St Andrew were brought to Scotland by St Rule from Patras. What probably happened was that the relics were brought from Rome by St Augustine in 597AD as part of his great mission to bring the Word to the Anglo-Saxons. In 732 they were brought from Hexham to Fife by Bishop Acca, who was seeking asylum with the Pictish King Oengus (Angus). The relics were held at Kilrymont, which was later renamed St Andrews. From this time, the remains of the first-called Apostle became a major focus of European pilgrimage, second only to Compostella. Numbers coming to venerate the relics of the Saint grew quickly.

In the 11th century St Margaret, Queen of Scotland, endowed a ferry service across the river Forth and hostels, at North and South Queensferry, for pilgrims. The relics were initially housed in St Rule’s Church and eventually in the great medieval Cathedral of St Andrews. Twice a year the relics were carried in procession around the town. Masters and scholars from the colleges, Greyfriars, Blackfriars and Augustinian canons of the metropolitan church and trade guilds all participated. Cathedral and church bells rang and in the evening there were bonfires and fireworks

Through the dark ages, and medieval period of Scottish history, the Apostle played a major role in the creation and defining of the Scottish nation. It was commonly believed that the Apostle Andrew had chosen the Scottish people to care for and honour his relics. And so the patron saint, the Saltire flag, the relics and the See of St Andrew became crucial symbols of nationhood.　

On 14 June 1559 the interior of St Andrews Cathedral, including the shrine and relics, was destroyed by reformers who had accompanied John Knox to the city.　

The three centuries that followed were difficult for Catholicism in Scotland. Catholic worship was outlawed. The traditions were kept alive in a few outlying glens and islands. Catholics in cities and towns had to rely on visiting priests, trained overseas. Priests like the Jesuit martyr St John Ogilvie operated underground and were put to death if discovered.

It wasn’t until 1878, when the Catholic hierarchy in Scotland was restored, that the shrine was re-created after Edinburgh had been named the Metropolitan See of Scotland. (ie, the chief diocese of Scotland) Originally housing the portion of St. Andrew’s shoulder, in 1969 Pope Paul VI gave another relic to the newly created Scottish cardinal, Gordon Joseph Gray—the first Scottish cardinal in 400 years!

Both relics are now placed in the altar as you see above, in reliquaries. In May 1982, Pope St. John Paul II visited the shrine.

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One of my favorite Advent devotions is the St. Andrew novena, which begins today and ends on Christmas Eve. The novena consists of saying this prayer 15 times a day:

Hail and blessed be the hour and moment in which the Son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in the piercing cold. In that hour vouchsafe, I beseech Thee, O my God, to hear my prayer and grant my desires, [here mention your request] through the merits of Our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of His blessed Mother. Amen.

Unlike a lot of novenas, this one isn’t prayers for St. Andrew’s intercession; it just starts on his feast day, which is usually in the beginning of Advent (not this year!) .

There is also this prayer of St. Andrew:

O good Cross,

Made beautiful by the body of The Lord:

Long have I desired you,

Ardently have I loved you,

Unceasingly have I sought you out;

And now you are ready for my eager soul.

Receive me from among men and restore me to my Master,

So that He — who by means of You, in dying redeemed me —

May receive me. Amen.

If you’re looking for some Scottish recipes, here are some to try. I personally love to make Cock-A-Leekie soup, Scotch broth, and shortbread.

If, like me, you’re an Outlander fan, then definitely check out the Outlander Cookbooks, Vol. 1 and 2!* (These would make great Christmas gifts as well.)

A really big yarn along!

Hanks of yarn at Ginger Twist Studios in Edinburgh

So I owe you a HUGE yarn along, featuring Edinburgh yarn! So let’s get cracking.

The first thing I’m making is a Saturday Shrug:

There are a TON of ways to make this. In the shop, the lace weight yarn (the yarn at the bottom in the above photo) was used to make thin stripes:

I decided to do it with both yarns held together:

isn’t it pretty?

This is pure comfort knitting. If you want to use these yarns (which I recommend!), they are Ginger’s Cumulus Humilis Aran and Leading Lady Lace. Jess, the lovely shop owner, ships to the USA!

The other yarns I got from her shop are:

Masham Mayhem in Lallybroch, Hocus Pocus, and Au Naturel, which will be used to make a Drachenfels shawl.

I HAD TO (yes, had to) grab two skeins of the yarn on the left (above)—that color! And the name—Voyager is the title of the third Outlander novel. This is Yakety-Yak 4 ply, which is merino, yak, and silk. It’s so squishy! I haven’t decided on a project for this yet….any suggestions?

Another thing I did was purchase one of the mystery bags they sell. Once I was home, I knew I wanted more yarn (space constraints limited me!), so thought this was a great way to get a mix of gorgeous yarns. Jess will send you yarns based on one word you give her, and she’ll also send patterns! I mean how fun is that?

I got:

Victoria DK in Breakfast with Ginger (below) and the pattern BRU by Amanda B. Collins

Halo Honey Aran (currently unavailable!) in Ginger, a lovely warm ginger (obviously) red color, with the pattern Little Squirrel Socks by Tin Can Knits. This has inspired me to conquer socks! Halo Honey is 100% British Wensleydale Wool and I have no doubt it will make wonderfully cozy socks. (Or I could use it for something else but I REALLY want to try a pair of baby socks with it, especially since I have many babies and toddlers in my life!)

Finally I received the Hipster Hat pattern by Alexa Ludeman, the co-founder of Tin Can Kits. This also comes in a variety of sizes, so….baby hats! :-D And the yarn, St. Magnus DK in Gold, will definitely make for a happy hat!

So that is the Great Scotland Yarn Round Up! I am really exited to use all of these beautiful yarns!

Scotland: How I planned the trip

Market Street, Edinburgh

How did I even decide on Edinburgh?

Well, it was because of the Queen’s funeral, funny enough. We were watching the procession to St. Giles on TV (My parents and I) and we all thought, wow, that’s a pretty city! And we are Scottish, on my mother’s side. Dad also said that the city looked very “doable” for a first European visit, and Edinburgh is less expensive than London (true story).

So that’s how Edinburgh was selected.

The first thing I had to figure out was when to go to Edinburgh.

I knew I didn’t want to go in August—that’s festival season, and prices are insane, and the city is also insanely crowed. No, thank you. I knew I didn’t want to go in the winter or late fall, because it would be quite dark (remember how far north Edinburgh is—think Moscow, Copenhagen, southern Sweden, etc.). That left spring and early and late summer. September seemed liked a good time to me, and it was a good time. It wasn’t really crowded, prices were reasonable, and we could get around the city without being mobbed by tourists. The weather was also amazing—quite unusually, according to locals!—but the average temperatures are around the low to mid 60s, which is comfortable for me, personally. (It was in the low 70s for most of our trip.)

As I wrote in my accessibility post, choosing a hotel required two things: elevators and air conditioning. I knew I wanted to be on the Royal Mile, but not in a chain hotel (ie, a Hilton) if possible. The Scotsman Hotel checked all the boxes. If you want to book, book direct on their website, where they have lots of deals and offers! We stayed in a City View Feature Suite. We also added breakfast to our bill and had breakfast at the hotel every day. (They are not paying me to say any of this, btw.)

The reason for the suite? One, I had heard about the smallness of European hotel rooms. Two, I love Amilia and she loves me, but extra space is always good. This room was much bigger than we anticipated!

City view, check.

Flight:

There are no direct flights to Edinburgh from Columbus, so I narrowed it down to two carriers that I’ve flown and like—Delta and United. Delta won, because they routed us through Boston (which I like better than the NYC airports that United was going to use), and it was much cheaper for some reason, even in Delta Comfort (which is what we booked). With Delta Comfort you get more legroom, more food, and a free checked bag. Our flight was from Columbus to Boston to Edinburgh Airport (EDI), and the same on the way back. There were also a variety of times to choose from, which was nice.

Both the flight and the room were refundable. That was important to us! Yes, this meant we paid more, but having the peace of mind that the refundable prices gave us was worth it.

Where to go, what to see:

I used the Visit Scotland site extensively. Just poking around will give you a bunch of ideas of where to go, what to see, and what to eat. There are only a few things I’m not allowed to eat, and neither of us had food allergies or intolerances, which made our food planning easy. Both of us like tea, so afternoon teas were very often our lunches, because, as you saw, you get a lot of food in an afternoon tea!

Food, glorious food.

Most people eat dinner later in Edinburgh, but some places offered early deals, like Howie’s on Victoria Street.

I made reservations via Open Table before we left. I really don’t like hemming and hawing around food choices, and being diabetic I know that I have to eat at certain times or the body gets CRANKY. So reservations were really helpful. It was also really easy to cancel if needed (which we did the first night, since I was so tired!)

Places where we ate:

Howie’s Victoria Street

Ensign Ewart Pub on the Royal Mile

The Grand Cafe, Scotsman Hotel (afternoon tea and lunch)

Mowgli Edinburgh

Eteaket Tea Room

Cafe at the Palace (of Holyroodhouse)

Mimi’s Bakehouse (don’t take reservations but we popped in several times for drinks and snacks)

Ivy on the Square

Badger and Co.

The Scran and Scallie

Royal Deck Tearoom, Britannia (they don’t take reservations so if you want to eat there, head there first when you get on the yacht!)

Some afternoon teas require pre-booking: the Grand Cafe, the Cafe at the Palace, and Eteaket all needed to be pre-booked (and in the case of the Grand Cafe, pre-paid).

Booking Attractions:

We did this months out, so that we one, saved money, and two, had things booked and pre-paid, so we could spread out the cost of the trip. Britannia, Edinburgh Castle, and the Palace of Holyroodhouse were pre-booked. The National Gallery, and all the National Museums, are free in Scotland and don’t require any advance booking.

Shopping:

Edinburgh is famous for its bookstores, so I made a list of stores for us to check out. We only ended up visiting two—Waterstones and Golden Hare Books. I also knew I wanted to visit at least one yarn shop, which was Ginger Twist Studio. If you like to shop, Edinburgh will not disappoint you.

Making it all work:

On the itinerary, there was generally what I called a big “rock” every day—one “big” thing we were doing, along with any meal reservations. This worked well and gave us a lot of free time; we didn’t feel like we were being rushed around to get to places or do things, but ensured we saw and did everything we wanted. The only things that changed from the itinerary were cancelling dinner the first night, and having to scramble for dinner on Sunday night because the hotel cafe was booked (I got room service and Amilia went out to find some food).

Scotland: Accessibility

Our hotel lobby—there is an elevator to the left of this photo, as well as one a few steps away.

When I was planning the trip (and more on this tomorrow), one of the things I realized quickly was that not all hotels in Scotland have elevators. I was expecting to have to look for a place with air conditioning, but not elevators

There is no Americans with Disabilities Act equivalent in the UK. Many historic buildings (you’ll see this as “Grade 1” or “Grade 2” on websites) can’t be adapted to have elevators.

There was no way I was booking a hotel without an elevator.

The Scotsman Hotel, where we stayed, did have an elevator (two!) and air conditioning. It checked all our boxes in terms of accessibility.

(Air conditioning was necessary because one of the things that can stress out blood glucose is temperature changes. Since it ended up being unseasonably warm, and since most buildings in Edinburgh do not have air conditioning, it was very nice to get back to the room and cool down a bit.)

The elevators did tend to be smaller than American elevators, so if you use a wheelchair, you’ll want to call and check elevator dimensions. But if you use a walker, cane, crutches, etc., I think you’ll be fine.

Restaurants/Stores/Attractions

Most websites will say if they are accessible—either a lift, a ramp, or something they can bring out (like a portable ramp.) Some places are not accessible, and they may or may not say that. (Eteaket’s website, for example, doesn’t note that this is how you enter the tea room.)

The entrance to Eteaket is down this small flight of stairs. The website does not note this.

Some places might have no stairs, but it’s a tiny entrance—Ginger Twist Yarns was that way. (The entire shop is tiny!)

As I noted in the Edinburgh Castle entry, you may or may not have access to the mobility vehicle at the castle. Decide if the risk of not having it is worth pre-booking tickets, or if you just want to take your chances and visit without reserved tickets.

At the Palace of Holyroodhouse, there is the secret elevator, and it’s easily accessible by asking a staff member to escort you there. I’m guessing that to get out of the castle you’d also take this elevator back down—I took another staircase out.

Britannia is highly accessible. There is an elevator (two, in fact). You can ride like the Queen Mother!

There are audio guides at Britannia and the Palace of Holyroodhouse. At the Palace of Holyroodhouse, there are ones with British Sign Language (BSL) interpretation. Here are all of Britannia’s accessibility notes—they even have ASL guides in addition to the BSL ones! I did not know that! They also include dimensions which I think is really helpful.

The National Gallery had elevators, which was very helpful. Here’s the accessibility info for all the National Galleries of Scotland (the National Gallery, Portrait Gallery, and Modern One and Two.)

And some things are just flat out not accessible, like Camera Obscura (A very popular tourist attraction). There’s no elevator, and it’s not wheelchair accessible.

Cabs:

I noticed that many of the City Cabs we used had a telecoil function—fabulous! I didn’t have to use it because I was with Amilia, but I loved that. I’m not sure what there is in terms of wheelchair accessible cabs—their website says all cabs are wheelchair accessible, but I didn’t actually have to test this.

One of the reasons we took so many cabs is that, while things seem close on the map, the topography of Edinburgh is very hilly. If you’ve been to Pittsburgh, imagine Pittsburgh on steroids, and you’re close. I had good shoes, so when we did walk, my muscles didn’t complain and I never felt sore or painful, foot or leg wise, when I was in Scotland (win!). But I also know my own limitations and so taxis were the way to go, most of the time. Yes, we had a cabby comment on this: “Oh, you can just walk this!” I do not care. Take my money, cabby.

(For example, to get to the National Gallery, which was quite close to our hotel, one would have to walk up Market Street, which becomes rather steep, and then down it to reach the National Gallery’s main entrance—then repeat this, on the way back. Not a far walk, but a demanding one.)

Airport:

Edinburgh Airport is small. It’s different than American airports in that it’s not quite as “direct”—you don’t walk in and see the check in desks, you don’t walk out and see a taxi stand right away. But there are lots of places to sit, there is a telecoil system in the airport, and they even have these lovely things….

These are staffed—so helpful—and have comfortable chairs! They are also right by the gates so it’s not like you’d have to book it to get to your gate when it was your turn to board. This is such a good idea!

If you have other questions about accessibility, please drop them in the comments, and I’ll do my best to answer them! I might do a round up post of all the places we visited with links to their accessibility pages, if people would find that helpful. Let me know!

Scotland: Tips and Fun Things

The Scots version of Harry Potter has to make it to the top of the best souvenirs pile, right?

(And yes, I will actually read this!)

And yes, there were corgis….

Let’s start with the tips:

Here * is the power adapter I used (thanks to my friend Piper for recommending it!)—you could plug in multiple devices at one time on it, which was great for me since I have so many things that need charged. I could charge my phone, my watch, and my CI battery at the same time. Perfect.

I loved my packing cubes,* especially for putting yarn in on the way home! This set also comes with a double sided laundry bag so you can keep clothes and underwear separate.

This * was also very useful for packing all my cords and chargers en route.

I highly recommend packing travel sizes of things you use regularly—I got travel sizes of my concealer, blush, and brow pencil, as well as getting a travel size hair brush and taking as many travel sized toiletries as possible. Space is a premium, as is weight, and I’m really glad I did this.

Money: I took a Visa credit card and debit card (my regular bank card) and I had about 200 pounds in cash. This was useful when we were in a wi-fi free area and we had to pay for the cabs! If you do not have a “tap and pay” card, you can use a chip card, no problem—just tell them and they’ll indicate where you need to stick the card, and you’ll have to sign the receipt, which you don’t have to do here when you insert your card. Visa and Master Card are commonly accepted in Scotland.

There are Bank of Scotland bills, but you can also use regular Bank of England pounds in Scotland (which is what I had). Keep in mind that there are not one pound notes—it’s one pound coins. The denominations are written on the coins and the bills. Try to familiarize yourself with them before you go so you’re not dumping all your currency on the pub table and asking the waitress what’s what (yes, I saw this happen).

And here’s the “duh” tip—tell your bank/card issuers that you’re going overseas so they don’t decline your charges!

Fun things:

I am not sure why Pepsi/Coke comes with a lime or lemon wedge, but it does. They also come in the little glass bottles that you pour at the table (unless you order it in pint size as I did at a pub). In general there was also ice—I can go either way on drinks so I didn’t ask for ice. Refills are not free. (I didn’t expect them to be and just rolled with it.) There is also generally one soda (other than IRN BRU) on the list, and it’ll be Pepsi or Coke, and a diet equivalent. If you drink Dr. Pepper, you’re out of luck.

Diet Coke at the National Gallery, with lime!

Every place serves hot chocolate, even the pubs. I found this gloriously delightful. And of course there is a slate of tea everywhere, which I also found delightful, because it’s good tea.

The sparkling water in Scotland is amazing. It’s loads better than the stuff we have in the US. It just tastes like delicious, clean fizzy water, and I loved it.

Fizzy water in the hotel, restocked every day, on the right. (There was also “still” water—ie, non bubbly water. Some places would list sparkling, still, and tap as your options.) Yes, refilled every day, gratis—another thing I loved!

“Detours” are called “diversions”, which I thought was fun.

I also very much miss sugar cubes.

There are two installments left in the Scotland series:

• Accessibility in Edinburgh

• How I planned the trip!

Scotland: Day 8--Auld Lang Syne

Oh, I was going to miss Edinburgh. (I already miss Mimi’s like crazyyyyy.)

But there was one more breakfast—in which I had haggis! It was good! And then we headed to Edinburgh Airport and I shopped at Boots, so does that make me an official British Person now?

Also, look at this lovely set up for people with various disabilities! How lovely! And helpful! America, DO THIS!

Once we got to Boston, Emily had a meltdown. Sort of. Well, yeah, a little crying jag. :)

Because there was a lot that happened.

First, you get off and you go to customs. (Where the agent will ask you questions and swipe your passport. No more passport stamps, BOO!) Once you go through customs, you then have to fetch your checked bag, and then take it to be re-checked. (Keep in mind, the bag has not left an airport. You have not had access to it to change anything.)

Our bags were heavy so thankfully there were carts here (there weren’t in Edinburgh, so we had to lug our suitcases quite a ways to the check in desk; Edinburgh Airport is small, but it’s not like American airports where you can get dropped off curbside, go through doors, and bam there’s the airline desks and baggage drop.).

Amilia and I (helped by a very nice gentleman!) got our bags to the Delta service area where we had to drop our bags onto the luggage belt (why the Delta employees did not do this like they do everywhere else in America, no idea). Then we had to go from Terminal E to Terminal A, which required much walking (even with people movers I had to keep my bags from falling all over the place on the cart—yeah, I realize the carts aren’t meant to go on the moving sidewalks, I did not care at this point) and when we finally got to A and I realized I had to go through security again I sat down on a bench and cried for a second. Because my body was tired! It was done with the silliness! Why do we have to go through security again, precious?!

I managed to slightly pull it together enough to go through security, where I was yelled at for not hearing that I needed to be patted down (gosh you Massachusetts people are so nice NOT) and of course my purse had to be scrutinized, even though I’d already been through security once today and had not left an airport, so there was nothing untoward that had magically entered it….

Once I had some Sprite in me I was much happier.

One more flight from Boston to Columbus, and then I was home!

There will be a few more posts: how I planned the trip and various notes! So the series is not over! :)

Scotland Day 7--Going for broke at Mimi's, arancini, and can everything I bought fit in my suitcase?

Edinburgh is chock full of all these little nooks and crannies.

It was….the last full day in Scotland.

Cue the tears.

Amilia had some shopping she wanted to accomplish, and I wanted one more spin at Mimi’s for some serious sketching.

I decided that I was going to have the September specials….

A peppermint “aero” bar—Aero being, I think, like our crunch bars? It was really good.

Cookies and Cream hot chocolate!

Mimi’s had such a variety of things that it really made me wish coffee shops here provided this sort of spread—brunch, sandwiches, but also a variety of bakes that weren’t just brownies and scones. I’d take fewer cookies and more tray bake variety of things! But that’s probably just me. (Mimi, if you’re reading this, please give us a cookbook! PLEASE!)

At our hotel—public art!

I loved these flowers by the hotel’s Market Street door.

A look at the steps.

(There is a lot of graffiti in Edinburgh, which was a little bit dismaying, especially on things that are public art displays or otherwise tourist-y location spots.)

Lunch was our last (sob) afternoon tea, this time at the Grand Cafe in our hotel.

Allllll the velvet

My first Battenberg cake!

Here I had the Isle of Harris Gin tea, which was actually really good! I would really recommend not letting the tea continue to steep, though, because by the end of the pot, it was very “gin” tasting in an overwhelming way.

Dinner that night was at The Ivy on the Square, but before that, I began packing. Would everything fit in my suitcase?

Answer: YES

For our last meal, we wanted to go out with a bang, so to speak, so I chose the Ivy.

I decided to introduce Amilia to the delights of arancini….

Arancini are little balls of leftover risotto that have been fried. Leftover risotto is one of the many delights of the Italian kitchen, but I’m guessing the Ivy made fresh risotto and let it chill or something instead of using old risotto. :) These had truffle in them which gave them an extra touch of loveliness.

For my entree I chose a salmon with an Asian kick and it was delicious. One of the things that I noticed when dining in Edinburgh was that sides can be ordered separately—in this case I ordered a small bowl of jasmine rice. Portions weren’t huge anywhere we went but they weren’t tiny, either. They were what I’d call reasonable portions.

Sorbet for dessert? Yes!

Mmmmmm dessert. The Ivy was on our list of Afternoon Tea places to try but we never got there for tea, so I’m glad we got there for dinner!

A note on the tea: Infusions are what we’d call “herbal tea” in the States. Infusions is actually the correct term since there’s no tea in herbal tea (as in, tea leaves).

And then….the meal was over.

And it was time to go back to the hotel and pack up to go home.

View from our room of the Balmoral Hotel, where JK Rowling finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Scotland: Day 6--Jamie's Print shop!, Tartan, Britannia, and Scran

When we woke up on Monday, we had—unbelievably—only two full days left in Edinburgh. So it was time to really focus.

One place on my “must visit” list was Gordon Nicholson Kiltmakers, because the owner’s wife sells lovely tartan accessories for ladies. I had been salivating over her online wares and now it was time to check them out in person.

The shop is located in the Canongate part of the Royal Mile (the Royal Mile has several names as you go through it—Lawnmarket, the High Street, Canongate, etc.). We walked to the shop since it was downhill!

Some of beautiful wares for sale!

I finally decided on two things—the Highland Rose cowl and a coin purse. There are so many things that are so beautiful I really had to restrain myself! (And placed an online order once I got home!)

The shop makes handmade kilts and trews, and also runs the Edinburgh Kiltmaker Academy!

After making our purchases, we headed a bit further down the mile so I could….see Jamie’s print shop!

If you are an Outlander fan, you know that the exterior scenes of Jamie’s Print Shop were filmed in Edinburgh, in Bakehouse Close…..(these closes are all over the city)

The entrance to the close….

PRINT SHOP STAIRSSSSSS!!!!

(If you are not an Outlander fan none of this makes sense to you and it’s too much to explain, so just move on.)

After this we went back to Mimi’s near our hotel—my throat was so dry because of the weather change that I desperately needed some hydration.

Iced hot chocolate? Sure! (It was so nice to have real glasses.)

After hydrating, it was time to visit a Royal Yacht. This was our longest cab ride, from Edinburgh City Center to Leith, where the Britannia is docked. We had booked our tickets, but you can’t book reservations at the tea room, so our plan was to get on the ship and head to the tea room for lunch and then do the tour.

Just like the Palace of Holyroodhouse (and Edinburgh Castle), there was an audio tour that was part of your tour experience. You could pick up the transmitter after you finished the little “museum” part of the tour, but before you got on the yacht itself.

one of the very elaborate binnacles (ie, the things that hold the compass). This was taken from the Victoria and Albert III and moved to Britannia.

There are elevators on the yacht—one for tourists, but also one that was installed for the Queen Mother! There were also accessible bathrooms, but some of the bathrooms were originals and were very definitely not accessible!

Lunch!

View from the tea room, which is the area where the Royal Family used to entertain on the Britannia.

I went for fruit scones! Changing it up.

(In case you are wondering, I am “Team Devon” in that I put the clotted cream on first, followed by the jam. :) Sometimes I’ll even omit the jam completely!)

After the delightful food, it was time to tour the yacht. This is self-guided, which I liked.

A few snaps:

The sun room, the queen’s favorite room, and I can certainly see why!

The Games cabinet

Princess Elizabeth with her father, George V, her mother, Queen Elizabeth, and her sister, Princess Margaret.

The Queen’s bed.

Of course I spotted the hidden corgi.

Prince Philip’s room (and another corgi)

Every bed on Britannia is a single (twin) bed except this one in the Honeymoon Suite. (This is where King Charles III and Diana spent their honeymoon in 1981).

A family snap from 1985.

Cocktails in the sun room.

Below decks: some of the five different ironing boards that serviced Britannia, because one can obviously not be royal with only one ironing board.

The general purpose press!

Th Britannia gift shop was amazing, and I had quite a few things I’d been commissioned to buy, so the shop got a lot of my pounds!

For dinner, we went to the Scran and Scallie (“Scran” being a Scots word meaning a cheap and filling meal, or, variously, just food) in Stockbridge. (You can see our table on their homepage! :) )

The steak pie I had was definitely delicious, as was the chocolate panna cotta—I’d never had chocolate panna cotta!

Scotland: Day Five--Roast, Rain, Rugby

Sunday morning, overlooking Waverly Station and seeing the National Gallery.

Sunday was what Rick Steves calls “The Vacation from the Vacation.” The only thing we had planned was Sunday Roast!

I chose The Hawksmoor Edinburgh because they have guaranteed Sunday roast until 3 PM and I wanted us to have the option of sleeping in. Our reservation was at 1, and we did, indeed, get guaranteed Sunday roast. I also ordered a side of stuffing to go with the roast, because I love stuffing.

The stuffing (above) was like the Platonic Ideal of Stuffing. It was the best stuffing I have ever had in my LIFE. (And I am a connoisseur of stuffing.)

It was really good and I want all these recipes, thank you very much Hawksmoor.

We watched Scotland lose to South Africa in the rugby match, I ordered room service for dinner and Amilia ventured out to find her own nosh, and in general, it was an extremely relaxing day. (The rain kicked in later that day —true Scottish weather!)

Looking towards the Firth of Forth from outside Hawksmoor.

Scotland: Day Four--Vermeer, St. Andrew, and....more fire!

I’d never had a building I’d been in catch on fire, I’d never had a fire alarm go off at a hotel I was staying in….

and then both things happened on this vacation. Ha!

Party outside….

Anyway, everything was fine, so we went inside and went to bed for a bit.

One of the things I really wanted to do on this trip was visit the Scottish National Gallery, because they have the Vermeer “Christ in the House of Martha and Mary.” Vermeer is one of my favorite artists, and this is one of my favorite paintings, so I was absolutely wild to see it.

We had lunch at the museum (which also had free admission)—it was a beautiful day in Scotland and we had a gorgeous view of the crowd on the Mound and the Scott Monument.

View of the Scott Monument from the museum cafe.

Prince Albert is everywhere.

The National Gallery downplays their collection, but it’s pretty amazing…they have Botticelli, Vermeer, Da Vinci, two Raphaels, Monets, Renoirs, Rembrandts, and of course lots of Scottish artists like Ramsey. When we were visiting the Impressionists were being overhauled so we couldn’t see those paintings.

A taste of the museum….

Botticelli

Da Vinci, Madonna of the Yarn Winder

El Greco, Christ blessing the world

I think I looked at the Vermeer for about 10 to 15 minutes. I wanted to haul other tourists who just glanced at it and moved on back in front of it and make them appreciate it, hahah.

I was surprised at how big the painting was—most of Vermeer’s paintings are much smaller. Being in its presence was remarkable.

The there was tea—of course there was tea—at Eteaket.

Cream scones!

We had cream tea, which is tea and scones (plain or with fruit—I chose plain) and I also chose their sea buckthorn tea, which I really liked! There was definitely some shopping here, too.

(And yes, you get a timer with your tea—sometimes they offer options, like at the Palace of Holyroodhouse (below)

where you can pour the tea depending on ho strong you like your tea and also what kind of tea you have—you can brew herbal tea for a much longer time than say, a white tea.)

Eteaket was really cute and I loved being able to shop after!

The tea at the hotel and Mimi’s was from Eteaket, so they’re well-known around Edinburgh. While I was there, I had their Peppermint, Lemon and Ginger, Sea Buckthorn, Cranberry and Apple, and Isle of Harris Gin tea. (You can order tea from the online shop as well).

After tea it was time to change and head to 6:00 Mass at St. Mary’s Cathedral.

(The organ was amazing, btw)

The really special thing abut this church? The National Shrine of St. Andrew is located here, with some of his bones. (St. Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland.)

His relics in the St. Andrew altar

Getting to pray in the presence of the relics of someone who knew Our Lord so intimately was a very special experience. This was the first time I’d been to Mass outside of the US, and as soon as the Mass started the same way every other Mass has…that hit me as something special as well. I was saying the same prayers, hearing the same readings, as my parents back in Ohio, as Catholics back in the US, as Catholics in London and Dublin and Paris. The universality of the Church hit me in a way that it never had before, because I was actually living it. It was truly moving.

Dinner was at Badger and Co., located in the former home of Wind and the Willows author Kenneth Grahame and near Edinburgh Castle. We met Richelle again for dinner and had another great meal!

The mushy peas were….pretty good!

Edinburgh Castle lit up purple—unsure why. :)

Scotland: Day 3--"It Comes In Pints?!" (Edinburgh Castle, a pub, and Mowgli!)

some sketching

On Friday, Amilia went to the Real Mary King’s Close at 10 and then met me for our trip to Edinburgh Castle. We had pre-booked those tickets, too, and it was a good thing, because it was sold out—it was unseasonably warm and also Accession Day (ie, the day Queen Elizabeth II died and Charles III became king) so there was going to be a special gun salute at the castle that day.

The Royal Mile is VERY STEEP going up, so we asked our taxi to get us as close as possible, which was pretty close, thankfully.

Heading to the ticket booth

The Wi-fi wasn’t working here, so I wasn’t able to access our tickets, so we had to take them to a staffer, who told us to just head up.

You walk across the esplanade, which is about 5% incline, to get to the entrance.

Bleachers from the Military Tattoo being taken down.

I was always somewhat iffy about Edinburgh Castle, because of the issues with hills and steps, and I knew the only way I’d be able to visit was by using their “mobility vehicle”, which I assume was something like a golf cart.

Because of the special gun salute, the cart wasn’t running until 1:15.

It was very hot in the esplanade, and 1:15 was over an hour away. I didn’t want to walk down the hill just to come back up, and I’d rather do something else. So we watched the special salute, and then Amilia went for her tour, and I headed to a pub down the mile called the Ensign Ewart, which was a great place to sketch.

The Accession Day changing of the guard

Edinburgh Castle wasn’t very well run. One of the staffers kept asking us “Do you have internet?” on our phones, which, yes, we did, but the castle did not have accessible internet! It wasn’t a problem on our end! (I also realize it was very crowded that day and that probably impacted the staffers.)

There was a woman sitting in a wheelchair in an area full of sunshine, waiting for the mobility vehicle. There were no umbrellas, no covers, nothing, over her, and she looked miserable. There really needs to be some sort of cover for people waiting for the cart. So I really can’t recommend the castle for people who have any sort of mobility issues, because there are times during the walk when it’s a 15% hill you’re going up, and if the cart isn’t running…..

Be sure to look at what the website says and think about how much you actually want to see the castle. For my money, Holyrood was run a lot better, and it’s the actual residence of the king when he’s in Scotland. Anyway, buyer beware when it comes to accessibility here. I’m very glad I wasn’t set on seeing the castle.

Anyway, I went to the pub!

Americans, why do we not make the fronts of our restaurants look pretty?! I loved this!

And yes, this is where I discovered that Diet Coke comes in pints. :) And there will always be lemon or lime with it. Not entirely sure why, but it wasn’t bad, so…I didn’t ask! (Also, hot chocolate is served everywhere! America, please do this!)

Cheeseboard!!

After Amilia toured the castle she met me here and we had some lunch (I had a Scotch egg, yummm) before heading down the Mile a bit more and then going back to the hotel to get ready for dinner—we were meeting an old friend of mine, Richelle, for dinner!

Spread in The Scotsman about accession day.

The Mile was VERY crowded and the most “touristy” I felt during our entire trip. The Mile is a road that functions, so please beware when you’re tying to take selfies in the middle of the road with your selfie stick (yes, I did see this.). I also noticed that vaping and smoking are quite common, more so than what I’ve noticed at home.

We met Richelle at Waterstones (the UK version of Barnes and Noble), did some shopping, and then headed to Mowgli, an Indian restaurant Richelle had recommended. She’s lived in London for almost ten years, and I hadn’t seen her since she’d moved across the pond, so this was very exciting for me.

Paneer is SO DARN GOOD.

We had a ball at Mowgli. The food was absolutely insanely delicious, the atmosphere was gorgeous, and it was a very, very fun night. This was my favorite dinner of the trip (and it was very close—the food the entire trip was insanely good). We all ordered a main dish and sides but shared the rice and a side dish of greens. There was also, of course, dessert.

Outside Mowgli, looking at the National Portrait Gallery.

Another thing to note was that every restaurant had vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free options. If you have any sort of food sensitivities, it seems like Edinburgh is a town where that’s very well taken care of. (None of us had really dangerous allergies or sensitivities, though, so don’t just take my word for it!)

Scotland: Day 2 (A Palace, yarn, and a fire alarm)

A Very Scottish Morning! (This is looking onto Market Street from our room)

I woke up at 7:00 AM—so after almost 12 hours of sleep—and took this very foggy photo. Breakfast in our hotel was served from 8-10 on the weekdays and 8-11 on the weekends, so I had time to write in my journal and also to stretch out my very cranky legs!

We had breakfast every day at the hotel; you could choose from the Scottish Breakfast buffet or order off the menu. I ordered porridge (aka, oatmeal) a few times, and yes, I did have haggis from the buffet bar! And I liked it! Amilia and I both really liked the tattle scones (ie, potato scones). Also something I really liked? Sugar cubes! I miss sugar cubes! I want them back!

On our first full day in Scotland, we had afternoon tea at the Palace of Holyroodhouse scheduled for 1:00. Since we finished breakfast around 10, we went to Ginger Twist Yarn (Amilia put up with me, haha) where Emily went INSANE.

This yarn shop is truly a closet of wonders. Jess, the proprietor, dyes of much of the yarn herself!

Close ups of some of the DELICIOUS YARN.

There’s going to be an entire post on the delicious yarn, trust me. :)

After yarn shopping we went back to the hotel and prepared for the first thing we’d booked: Afternoon tea and a tour at the Palace of Holyroodhouse!

Cafe at the Palace, with Arthur’s Seat in the background. To the left of this is the entrance to the palace.

We pre-booked our tickets to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, and I HIGHLY recommend you do that, because they might sell out the day you’re there. This happened when we visited Edinburgh Castle, so if you really want to see anything, pre-book the tickets. This will also save you a bit of money as well. (A pound 50 per person, so around $3). I also highly recommend pre-booking the afternoon tea because it is superbly well done—I think it was the best one we had in Edinburgh. It served as our lunch and it was plenty of food for two people!

We chose the thistle tea, and I wish we could’ve bought it because it was truly delicious, unlike any tea I’ve ever had. So if anyone knows where it can be bought, please tell me! :) My favorite thing here was probably the chutney and cheddar. I could eat that for the rest of my life.

After tea, we had our tour of the palace. Photos aren't allowed on the first floor, so you won't see any of the public rooms, but I can tell you that there is a stag that Prince Albert shot which looks dolefully at you over a doorway, and you will also see Queen Victoria’s bedroom and the Throne Room on your tour, as well as a beautiful Bible Pope Benedict XVI gave to Queen Elizabeth II on his visit to England! There is an audio guide that you get included in your tour cost. Obviously I did not use this, but they did have one that was a video done in British Sign Language! (ASL and British SL are different so I couldn’t use this but I loved that they had it!)

outside of the palace

The doorway into the palace proper.

the courtyard

In terms of accessibility: YES, there is an elevator (a secret one!) that will take you up to the second (to Americans, first) floor of the palace to the public rooms! Just ask one of the tour guides/workers and they’ll bring you up. There is also a doorway out if you can’t or don’t want to go up to Mary Queen of Scots’ rooms (they’re reached by a very steep, narrow staircase).

The entrance to the palace itself is wide open, no steps, so you can get in, and the corridor around the courtyard (above) is very wide. To get through the stone gate, you might have to check the dimensions if you have a very wide chair. The gift shop is accessible (to a point—you might not able to get to certain areas because of how tables are crowded together), as is the cafe at the palace.

After the tours, we shopped—I did a lot of Christmas shopping on this trip—including buying a traditional Scottish sweet called tablet (think of fudge, but not chocolate, and slightly sweeter).

Tablet from Holyrood

For families, they also had an adorable little room where they had dress up clothes, some displays, and a "mockup” of the queen’s desk—including a corgi in his bed. :)

Dinner that night was at Howie’s on Victoria Street. It started well but then…..in the words of A Christmas Story, “Holy cow, it’s the fire department!”

Fortunately we had had our dinner—venison stew, which was delicious!—and after we were cleared out of the restaurant and told to disperse by the firemen, we wandered down Victoria Street in search of a cab….

We definitely had a full—and not at all boring—first day!

Scotland: Day 1 (taxis, wi-fi, and more!)

Getting to Scotland required two flights, one from Columbus to Boston, and one from Boston to Edinburgh. I’d never flown internationally, so I wasn’t sure how sleeping on the plane was going to work, or how flying on a “big” plane would work. (The largest plane I’ve ever been on are the normal three seats on each side of the aisle sort of plane.) Before this trip, the farthest east I’d ever been was Boston!

Dinner in Boston

The flight had a bit of turbulence, which my stomach didn’t like, but we landed, got through customs/immigration, got out bags, and then headed to the taxi stand (which is not like in American airports—we had to walk to a taxi stand after getting out of the airport. They don’t have the “bays” that we have where you walk to different ones for taxis or Ubers or shuttles or whatever.) We arrived at our hotel, the Scotsman, around 10:00 that morning.

The Scotsman is right in the middle of the Royal Mile, directly across from Waverly Station, and it is a great place to use as your city base.

The Scotsman lobby.

Our room wouldn’t be ready until the afternoon, but the hotel stored our luggage and we headed to a Mimi’s Bakehouse that was near the hotel on Market Street.

And I personally couldn’t wait anymore, so after Mimi’s we grabbed a cab and headed to Golden Hare Books in the Stockbridge section of the city.

Here is a VERY important thing to know: Edinburgh cabs are a lot like Uber, in that you call a cab on the app and it comes. We used City Cabs the entire time we were there and they worked really well. Sometimes the wi-fi was spotty so we had to call the actual number (which is on the cab app icon which is very handy!). Most cab rides were under 10 pounds—also, have some cash on hand, because if the wi-fi isn’t working at the place you get out, they can’t use your card to pay! It was very helpful to have cash in those cases. You also do not tip taxi drivers (or waiters). Sometimes I gave them a little more, especially at the airport because the poor cabbie lifted my insanely heavy suitcase!

(You can hail taxis—if the light is on it's available just like anywhere else, but it’s much easier to download the app and order one.)

Wi-fi in Edinburgh could be spotty—I turned on roaming and that made it much better. So when you get there, turn on roaming! I also used Verizon’s Travel Pass and had no problem making FaceTime calls back to the States or texting, or accessing email.

Anyway, back to shopping!

Golden Hare Books is a delightful bookshop! I’m so glad we stopped here first. I picked up a book for my nieces called The Piper and the Penguin, a biography on Flora MacDonald (who is probably best known for helping Bonnie Prince Charlie escape Scotland after the Rising), a journal, tote bag, and a new Natalie Hayes book that I’ve not seen in the States yet. And also, chocolate because….duh.

Stockbridge is so cute.

Our room was ready when we got back from Stockbridge, yay! We’d booked a Feature Suite with a City view but I had no idea our room as going to be this nice:

Ivor, one of the hotel employees, showing Amilia the room.

The beds were so comfortable—I immediately took a Phenergan-induced nap, haha, and then we had a light lunch in the hotel restaurant—I thought I’d made reservations for tea but apparently I had not!

My “lunch”, haha. What the body wants it wants!

The lemon-ginger tea was amazing. (I’ll have a lot to say about tea on this trip along with links!)

After this I took yet another very long nap while Amilia went to explore and eventually get her dinner. My stomach wasn’t really feeling dinner so I skipped that, and we were both in bed around 8 PM.

Thus ended the first day!

Putterings

My garden grows!

Long time no write! Time is just slipping by and I realized it’s been awhile since I’ve posted here. So here we go!

My garden, as you can see above, flourishes—I even have my first tomato!

It’s little but it’s there!

**In the garden this year I’m growing lavender, sweet basil, mint, and cherry tomatoes. I’ve never grown any vegetables before but when I saw that this type of cherry tomato grows well in containers I thought I’d give it a whirl. My grandpa grew tomatoes in his backyard, and I loved helping him take care of them and seeing the ripe tomatoes lined up on the kitchen windowsill. I didn’t really think they’d grow, but behold! So today I’m off to the hardware store to get a bigger planter, a tomato cage, and a trowel.

I’m hoping to dry a lot of the basil so I can have it on hand throughout the year. The mint is doing well, and the lavender is too, but I know the lavender is really going to be dependent on our weather. I tried to grow it a few years ago and the summer was so wet that it killed it. So I’m hoping we only have a moderately wet summer so it doesn’t drown. I had to really cut the mint back a few weeks ago because it had gone all leggy, but it’s doing better now.

**I’m going to have an essay published in The Public Discourse, probably at the beginning of June! It’s about transplants, gratitude, and memento mori (because I do think about that!) When the article is up I’ll post a link here and on my social media (you can find the links to all my accounts on the blog sidebar).

**Scotland trip planning continues! We’ve booked our tickets for Britannia, The Palace of Holyrood House, as well as some afternoon teas and meals. Can you tell I’m EXCITED?

Hive mind: Best tips for a long flight? I’ve never taken a trans-Atlantic flight! Tell me what I need to know/pack/do!

**In Knitting, I’m obsessed with the Sophie Scarf and the Sophie Shawl. So easy, so elegant, and so fun.

Here’s a completed Sophie Scarf in La Bien Aimee’s Merino Boucle “There Goes My Yarn Diet”

I’m currently knitting the Sophie Shawl in Quince and Co’s gorgeous Phoebe Yarn in the Orion color way. I’m doing the largest size, so you’d need two skeins of Phoebe to knit this up. These are perfect accessories for adding a little bit of flair to an outfit or for keeping the A/C chill off!

Phoebe in Orion

How’s your May going?