Surviving Mai Tai Tom’s “Royal” Blunder: 2022 England & Scotland

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: Mai Tai Tom and The Holy Grail (and Exploring Edinburgh)

Day Thirteen: Where’s Tom Hanks?, Four Weddings And A Funeral, No Photos (Almost), Queen Mary Slept Here, Perfect Location, Direction-Impaired Males, Brewhemia, A Royal Walk, “55 Highland Cows” and Angels With Bagpipes

After a quick breakfast at Caddon View, we were back on the road for the 40-minute drive to a place I had never heard of until I saw a Tom Hanks movie (no, I didn’t read the Dan Brown book, but Mary and Tracy did). Since reading the Da Vinci Code, Rosslyn Chapel had been on their wish list (officially the Collegiate Church of St. Matthew). I booked timed tickets weeks in advance (since there are only 5 time slots Monday to Saturday and three on Sunday advance reservations are a must). The time slot I selected was sold out before we left for the UK. I thought it perplexing that Rosslyn Chapel is located in the town of Roslin, but that’s just me.

In the Visitor Center there is a picture of William The Chapel Cat, who frequented the Chapel for 17 years and was a fan favorite. He reminded us of our late cat Spencer (no relation to Diana).

                                                      

Before entering we scouted the exterior of the church that has been shrouded in mystery through the centuries. Depending upon who you believe, Mary Magdalene is buried here, treasures of the Knights Templar are buried here, the head of Jesus is buried here and even the lost ark of the covenant and the Holy Grail are here. They have quite a PR agent. You really needed a Da Vinci code to decipher it all.

                                                   

I tried to call John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam and Eric Idle and tell them the Holy Grail might be here, but they were busy being taunted by a Frenchman at Doune Castle and then attacked by a killer rabbit. This place seemed much safer. The docent told us that since the Da Vinci Code came out Rosslyn Chapel has been overrun with tourists, which is why they limit the amount of people who can visit here each day.

                                                           

There are interesting exterior doors.

                                                  

Swags of flowers adorned the Chapel which was being set up to host the first wedding since 2019 later in the afternoon. We were told that in 2019 there were four weddings and a funeral held at Rosslyn Chapel, but no Hugh Grant sightings.

         

The eaves of the church contained a number of Gargoyles. Just like stained glass windows, many of the carvings on the church tell “visual stories,” since many people could not read when it was built.

                                                

Rosslyn Chapel has been in the ownership of the St. Clair family since its foundation in 1446. There are memorials to them here.

  

This is the grave of Robert Francis St. Clair-Erskine, the High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland on four occasions in the 1800s. He is buried in the southwest corner of the chapel gardens.

           

Once inside the chapel we listened to a docent tell interesting and evocative tales of the chapel’s long history. There were stories of Henry VII’s “rough wooing,” and how Queen Victoria’s remarks that the chapel should be “preserved for the country,” made it a must-stop tourist destination even before the book and movie. The docent also told the legend of the Apprentice Pillar. The entire story is too long to put it all here, but it seems the master mason left Rosslyn Chapel to find inspiration in some of the cathedrals and churches in Rome. He was gone for so long, that an apprentice decided to altar the mason’s design and created his own version of the pillar. Upon his return years later, the master mason was more than a little ticked off and murdered the apprentice by striking him on the head with a hammer. (Photo courtesy of Rosslyn Chapel)

Yes, we know it said that no photos are allowed inside, but after seeing about 20 people taking pictures, I begged Tracy to capture a few 

                                                                                       

She was not struck down by a bolt of lightning, so I think God thought it was OK, too.

                           

Who is that masked man?

It is just a short hike down a wooded lane to the ruins of Rosslyn Castle, which was the ancestral home of the St. Clair family.

It was a gorgeous day as we walked past the cemetery.

             

We checked out the ruins for a little bit …

           

… and it was back on the road toward Edinburgh.

We took a slight detour to Craigmillar Castle, but once again “conservation work” made it not worth our while to pay the admittance fee. Craigmillar provided a little safe haven for Mary Queen of Scots in 1566. As it turned out, very little …  only one year later she would be imprisoned here.

                           

We drove into Edinburgh, and construction made the traffic a mini-nightmare. It was so bad, we saw a member of the Blue Man Group attempting to escape by climbing up the wall of The Waverley Bar on St. Mary’s Street.

After waiting for what seemed an eternity for the light to change, Kim took charge and made an illegal turn in order to arrive at The Market Street Hotel, which is conveniently located across the street from the train station. We were impressed with his daring and ingenuity, and at no time were any lives in danger. Not so impressive was our next move. Tracy and Mary unloaded the car (by now, I could barely lift my tooth brush), and went upstairs to the lobby to get directions for parking. They called us, and soon Kim and I were off to the parking lot, or so we thought. As husbands, listening is really not our forte, and in a matter of moments we were back staring at the Blue Man again.

This time Kim made a legal turn and five minutes later we were back in front of the hotel. This time the concierge came down and pointed us in the right direction. Guess we should have turned left instead of right. It was a short jaunt back to the hotel, where we were greeted by Tracy and Mary who were just finishing their glasses of welcoming Prosecco. Kim and I quickly joined them.  We loved the hotel and its location between the train station and the Royal Mile. It was very quiet, modern and its staff was terrific, and as we already were shown, patient. There was a discount for a multiple day stay, and we also got 10% off the parking at the public lot.  Here’s the view from our room.

By now we were what we usually are at about 1:30 … famished. The lady at the desk recommended a place next door, and upon first glance this would be a place we would not have probably gone to on our own. It was large and seemed like a touristy place, which makes sense since it across from the train station. Fortunately, we took the hotel’s advice.

                                                            

Brewhemia fit the bill. It even serves breakfast all day, so Kim ordered waffles.

             

All the meals were good, and Tracy loved her winter salad with beets, apricots and pomegranate seeds, while I thoroughly enjoyed my mac & cheese.

              

There is a staircase short-cut next to the restaurant which takes you to the street that takes you to the Royal Mile, so we trudged up the stairs. I have to get in better shape for Lisbon. As to be expected, just like our trip in 2017, the Royal Mile was packed. We walked by “The Father of Economics,” (and Capitalism) Adam Smith.

We also checked out the menu for our dinner spot on this evening.

I believe Kim and Mary said they had to have their hair done when Tracy and I mentioned visiting St. Giles’ Cathedral.

               

Unlike our 2017 trip, you didn’t need to pay a nominal fee for taking photos of this glorious cathedral, which dates back to the 12th century.

                                                         

Inside is a bust of John Knox, who converted to Protestantism and eventually became minister of St. Giles’.

History of the cathedral is cleverly shown to visitors with stories on the floor. Like this one about the assassination of the Regent Moray in 1570.

                             

Or something about Robert Louis Stevenson.

    

I found this interesting. 

I suddenly closed my eyes after seeing this.

When you can get an organ combined with a great ceiling, Tracy will be there with her iPhone to take a pano of the ceiling, although I was afraid she might suffer another round of “Cathedral Neck.”

                                                               

Eventually, you can’t keep Kim away from ceilings either.

We paid our respects to James Graham, the Marquis of Montrose.

The stained glass here, as it seems to be in every cathedral, was stunning.

                                                  

I thought the most interesting and beautiful was the Robert Burns Window, installed in 1985.

From the St. Giles website, “The lowest section is mainly green, representing the natural world that Burns portrayed so vividly and so lovingly. The middle section contains many human figures as it celebrates human unity, regardless of race, colour or creed. The topmost tracery contains a glorious sunburst of love, blossoming “like a red, red rose.” Coupled with that wonderful blue ceiling, it really stood out. I quickly got out Tracy’s neck brace again.

                                                                  

This window depicting the nativity scene was one of the first series of stained glass to be installed “after the original, medieval windows had been removed following the Scottish Reformation.”

                       

What we really wanted to re-visit was the Chapel of the Order of the Thistle, where we were wowed in 2017. Outside the chapel Royal Banners fly high.

                   

Sadly, the Thistle Chapel was closed during the duration of our stay in Edinburgh.

Below are some photos we visited in 2017.

If open, you must make a point to visit. It’s pretty phenomenal.

At one point, Tracy saw the light.

                                              

Our return to St. Giles’ was ending, but not before a couple more photos.

            

Back outside, the skies had turned predominantly blue. That’s the statue of Monument to the 5th Duke of Buccleuch and 7th Duke of Queensberry in Parliament Square behind a straggled tourist.

We passed by Deacon Brodie’s Pub, where we shared a pint in 2017. The pub has ties to the Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson.

It’s obvious we love colorful doors on old buildings.

                             

After walking up to the castle where they were already erecting temporary stands in preparation for the Edinburgh Military Tattoo in August, we walked back down the Royal Mile for a bit (for our Edinburgh Castle tour in 2017 … click here). It was a busy day.

                                       

 

The statue of Scottish Enlightenment philosopher David Hume stood in the distance. It’s said if you rub his toe it will bring good luck.

                        

Last time we saw him in 2017, he was wearing a construction cone.

For dinner that night we returned to the Royal Mile for dinner at Angels With Bagpipes that I had reserved long in advance. Its name is a reference to the carving of an angel carrying bagpipes in the Thistle Chapel of St. Giles’ Cathedral.  Our concierge said this was his favorite restaurant in Edinburgh, and it even has its own angel with bagpipes.

 

Angels With Bagpipes serves Scottish fare with a little bit of Italian influence thrown in for good measure. Our waiter happened to be from the La Marche region in Italy, and I peppered him with questions because we hope to get there in the next few years (if I survive these vacations). Dinner was spectacular.

Tracy and I started with a delicious Beef Carpaccio; with rocket, Berkswell cheese, crouton, but the “Wow” main dish was the 12-hour braised beef, with pickled onion, panko and potato terrine that was out of this world.

             

Kim enjoyed his Chicken breast; thigh, sweetcorn, lemongrass, red pepper and foam, while Mary said her fish with Polenta, broccoli, mushroom, capers and pumpkin seeds was very good.

       

Our waiter suggested the Mascarpone mousse for dessert, however I opted for the Orange Chocolate with Salted Caramel. “WOW!” This dish was in Guy Fieri lingo, “Completely out of bounds.” It didn’t take long for it to go from this good-looking dessert to an empty plate.

On an exceptional Edinburgh evening with the clouds turning lovely shades of pinkish orange, we walked back to the hotel thinking about we wanted to do the following day.

                       

The last time we visited Edinburgh, we got a few rain drenchings, but that was not the forecast for the following day. Before going to bed we took a photo of the famed Balmoral Hotel from our window.

                                 

We would retrace some of our previous steps with a walk through Princes Street Gardens, complete with that million dollar view of Edinburgh Castle from its gorgeous fountain, stroll through a familiar graveyard and along the Water of Leith to Dean Village.

We’d have a surprisingly spectacular lunch, and then Tracy would take us by the museum that contains one of her favorite paintings in the world. The four of us would share a spot of tea at our hotel, and then finish the day by dining at my favorite Edinburgh restaurant. Its reputation would be at “steak.”

Next: CHAPTER FOURTEEN – Edinburgh Revisited

Day Fourteen – Another Great Scott, Where’s Anne?, The Church That’s Never Open, Eerie Graveyard, Deans Of The Village, Let’s Skip The Goth Pub, Surprising Lunch, Not Spiro Agnew, Tea For Four & Still The Best!