I'd been kicking around the idea of visiting Scotland for a while, but my natural laziness kept making it not happen. I asked my sister if her and my brother-in-law would be interested in going if I put the whole thing together, and she said they would. Which meant that now I had to do it.
And then when it was time for them to fly out Aer Lingus just decided "nah" and put them on a new plane 48 hours later. Good jorb. The part of the trip they go to go on went well at least.
Flight Out & London Day I, August 30 & 31
After the usual overnight flight, I landed in London late in the morning. The only item on the agenda for the day was the Tower of London, which I'd visited on my last trip in 2013.
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I spotted this as I was walking to the jetbridge. I can't imagine how expensive those burgers are going to be.
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Skipping over this flight, here's the Tower of London from the Tower Hill underground station.
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The bell tower.
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The traitor's gate.
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Sounds like they're getting a little sick of that tower.
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The Bloody Tower itself, where Sir Walter Raleigh was imprisoned. Raleigh's Walk is above.
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The portcullis near Raleigh's Walk.
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Back out to the no-longer-moaty moat for the Beefeater tour. Sadly, no gin was involved.
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Our guide, in uniform. (They dislike when you call it an outfit.)
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The White Tower, the actual tower in the Tower of London.
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Our tour guide again. Who is a 20-year army veteran; it's the only way to get that posting.
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Looking right from the previous photo. On the left is Tower Bridge in the background (sometimes mistakenly referred to as London Bridge), with the fortress wall closer in leading to the portcullis I took a picture of before on the right. The Bloody Tower is above the portcullis.
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Standing next to the small square in the fortress where some of the more private executions were done, looking at the building that contains the Crown Jewels.
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The entrance to the Jewel House, which was the closest I good get to taking photos of the jewels themselves; photography isn't allowed inside there.
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Back outside after making my way through the displays, showing the building more front-on.
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Some of the newer buildings inside the fortress. I just thought they looked neat, no idea what they are/were for.
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The displays inside the White Tower, here showing the Line of Kings, with all past kings shown on horseback.
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A chapel, I think? And someone who probably didn't know how silly they were going to look when I took my picture.
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The fortress layout. At the center is the White Tower, to its left is the Jewel House. The gate at bottom right is where you enter.
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Something I don't think I did last time was visit the old mint. This is along the inside of the outer wall, toward the bottom of the previous picture.
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Isaac Newton was in charge of the mint for a while, among the other things he did in his life.
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Across the moat as I was leaving, I saw the statues of the lions they used to have when there was a small zoo/animal pen near the fortress.
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Back out to the street, heading back to the Tube. The oddly-shaped building here is 20 Fenchurch Street, which became notorious for accidentally focusing the sun's light with its parabolic shape and damaging nearby cars and buildings. The black stuff is the cladding they put on it to make it stop doing that.
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A better image of the death ray.
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Back at Bayswater Station near the hotel I was staying at, on the District and Circle lines. The District Line (formerly the Metropolitan District Railway) was built using the cut-and-cover method. The beams here are holding up the street above it.
London Day II, September 1
For my first full day in London I started out by visiting Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, then in the afternoon. I hit the London Eye again. I'd originally planned that so my sister could see it (it was basically the only thing in London she really wanted to do) but with her and my brother-in-law getting screwed over by Aer Lingus they wouldn't make it to London with more than a few minutes to spare before leaving for Scotland.
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At the end of the platforms at Bayswater Station is the cut-and-not-covered area that was needed back in the pre-electricity days for the engines' steam to be able to vent out and not fill the tunnels.
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In Southwark near Skakespeare's Globe Theatre. This is the Millennium Bridge, a pedestrian walkway built around... wait for it... the turn of the millennium.
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The north end of the bridge, with St. Paul's in the background.
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Looking upriver towards Blackfriars Bridge.
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I didn't know what building that is and just thought it looked cool. Turns out it's One Blackfriars, and it's apparently known as The Boomerang.
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The exterior of the (new) Globe Theatre. It was built in the 90s as a recreation of the original from Shakespeare's time.
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Some costumes from a production of Much Ado About Nothing done there in 2011.
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Model of the Globe. The street I was on is toward the front if I'm remembering right.
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A display about the use of armor in reality and in theatre.
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While I waited for my tour's time slot, I took a walk along the river. Found a picture of ol' Willie himself.
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Saw this while I was wandering around. Looks like it might be something to check out the next time I visit, along with the Globe's neighbor on the south side, Tate Modern.
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The Golden Hinde II, a replica of the boat that Sir Francis Drake sailed around the world.
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The Legend of Mary Overie. A story you'd have to read to (not?) believe.
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London Bridge, with the death ray in the background.
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Pretty sure that's the Tower Bridge I saw as I zoomed in under London Bridge.
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The hell kind of play are they putting on here?
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Inside the theatre, where they were getting ready for a showing of Antony & Cleopatra.
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Our tour guide, and the standing section at ground level. (Price in 1600: One penny, about 6 pounds today.)
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More of the stagework, from the next level up.
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Just some heads on pikes.
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The thatch roof, the first one allowed in London in centuries. And the reason the original Globe burned down.
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The outfit worn by the actress playing Elizabeth I when the new Globe opened in 1997.
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And the throne.
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Shakespeare's first folio, assembled by his daughter in 1623. It's opened to the most recently-shown play, someone would be changing it to Antony & Cleopatra later that day.
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There's also an exhibit in the basement/lower level. Here's a bust of the Bard.
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And another model of the theatre.
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Another model of the Globe, showing the interior.
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Hey, I've heard that line.
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Sam Wanamaker was an actor who led the push to get the new Globe built. He didn't quite make it to the opening, unfortunately.
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Wanamaker called basically every British actor he knew for donations. The ones who donated have sidewalk tiles outside one of the entrances. Supposedly John Cleese offered to buy one for Michael Palin -- as long as they spelled his name wrong.
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Captain Picard donated too.
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The plaque that was all that Wanamaker found when he went looking for Shakespeare, leading to the reconstruction of the Globe.
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The Borough Market, heading back toward London Bridge station.
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Back in Kensington I took a walk in Hyde Park. They have a series of memorial plaques in the ground in honor of Princess Diana.
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There's also the Round Pond, which I never knew existed until I stumbled across it.
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And that thing is sitting near the water.
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More of the pond, with a steeple of some kind in the background. Maybe St. Mary Abbot's Church?
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Kensington Palace seen over the pond (kind of).
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That thing from before. It's... a thing.
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The Albert Memorial, which is also a thing I had never heard of before that day.
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Each corner has a small set of statues on it. This was the northeast corner I think.
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The Royal Albert Hall, right across the street from the edge of Hyde Park with the memorial.
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A picture from the south side so it isn't backlit. And also not taking a picture of the guy's back.
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I finished my walk and got back on the Tube to get to my last thing for the day: Riding the London Eye. Getting out of the Tube station I was near Elizabeth Tower, home of Big Ben. At least my finger didn't confuse the autofocus.
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The London Eye, as I walked across Westminster Bridge.
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The upward portion of the trip is on the downriver side, that's the railway bridge heading into Charing Cross.
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A look into the next pod, to get an idea how large they are.
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Who's this friggin' toolbag, redux.
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Looking around the bend of the river into the City, with the Boomerang again on the south side. And look who's juuuust peeking out behind the building in the foreground.
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More of the city (and City) coming into view as we make our way up.
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I spy with my little eye... a death ray!
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St. Paul's poking up above the skyline. It was the tallest building in London for quite a while.
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Just about to hit the top of the loop, looking down on Westminster Palace.
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Looking out over southern London. If you look you can see a DLR train leaving Waterloo Station.
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I was basically shooting into the sun, but you can see Buckingham Palace in the distance. Camera saw it better than I did.
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Another shot of the palace, with the water feature in St. James's Park.
London Day III, September 2
I had some time before meeting the rest of the crew at Euston, so I took a walk after breakfast.
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A new day, and my first Full English Breakfast in about 11 years. Nice little restaurant attached to another hotel.
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Walking off some of the calories along Bayswater Road. The Lancaster Gate of Hyde Park.
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I took a little detour to check out the Italian Gardens. Like everything in Hyde Park, I learned of their existence the first time I saw them.
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The statue of Edward Jenner was put here in honor of the first smallpox vaccination.
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I don't know what this little hut was for. I also don't know if it was crooked or if I was.
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The goal of that morning's walk: The marble arch at the northeast corner of Hyde Park. Which at the time was about a year into renovations and repairs. So here's a Ralph Lauren ad instead.
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The signs at the bottom describe the work being done.
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And that was it; the rest of the day was travel. First on the Central Line to the train station, then up the West Coast Main Line to Glasgow. By the time we got there it was raining and getting dark. We just got dinner and called it a night.
Glasgow, September 3
I wasn't able to find a great deal to do in Glasgow, so it kind of got short shrift: We were only there for a single full day, and took the train to Edinburgh the next morning.
And that was Glasgow. Next stop, the capital of Scotland.
Edinburgh Day I, September 4
After taking the train we didn't have much along the line of plans for our first day, just in case British trains decided to be British trains. But we did check out an interesting part of town that the lady at the breakfast buffet in Glasgow had recommended, and it turned out to be a nice afternoon's walk.
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On to Edinburgh! Waverly Station is named after the novel Waverly by Sir Walter Scott who was born in Edinburgh.
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After we left our luggage at the hotel we took a walk to Dean Village, an old milling town. Looking up Melville Street on the way we saw St. Mary's Cathedral.
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Took a wrong turn and had to loop back. But we got to see this neat church at the end of the Dean Bridge over the Leith.
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This is a small bridge in Dean Village going over the Water of Leith. There's a nice river trail we walked partway up later. I didn't edit this image other than to resize it. It's just that colorful in the sunlight.
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At the top of the stairs leading down to the Water of Leith Walkway. You can almost see the river if you squint.
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Just a bit of Edinburgh peeking through the trees.
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A weir on the Leith.
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I took a couple steps out onto some stones to get a better picture of the weir. Only came close to falling on my face once.
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The bridge from before.
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This time we crossed over the bridge to walk up the street on the other side. This is looking around the bend we saw before looking downriver.
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We walked through Charlotte Square on the way back to the hotel. This park, and St. Andrew Square four blocks down, mark the west and east ends of the new town, built in the late 1700s.
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Standing in George Street, looking down Castle Street to Edinburgh Castle, sitting on its old volcanic plug.
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As you can see, my room was very spacious.
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George Street has statues at every cross street. This one is of former prime minister William Pitt The Younger.
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Looking down Hanover Street to the Royal Scottish Academy.
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The Edindburgh New Town Church, also on George Street.
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The Walter Scott Monument on Princes Street.
Edinburgh Day II, September 5
For our first full day we started off at Holyrood Palace and then checked out Princes Street Gardens (where the old Nor Loch used to be between the old and new towns).
Edinburgh has a really nice vibe to it, at least the parts I saw. It's a bit low-lying like London generally is, and unlike Glasgow which gave off a kind of Gotham City feel with all the Gothic architecture. It's definitely one of the easier places to feel comfortable in that I've visited.
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This is the mural above the bed from before; I saw more of these places than I expected I would while I was there.
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Heading up the Mound to the Royal Mile for breakfast before going to Holyrood. The Scott Monument is in the background, the building we're walking past is the National Galleries of Scotland.
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On the Lawnmarket part of the Royal Mile, looking downhill towards St. Giles Cathedral and another statue of Walter Scott.
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Down near the end of the Royal Mile is the Canongate Kirk.
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The entrance to Holyrood Palace, the Royal Family's residence when they visit Edinburgh.
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The old abbey, built in 1128, that the palace was added onto in 1498 by James IV.
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A better look at the side of the palace and (what's left of) the abbey.
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The courtyard. There were no pictures allowed indoors, so that's it for a while as we took the main part of the tour.
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After seeing the inside of the palace the tour goes out to the abbey for a closer look.
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Still pretty impressive, considering it's missing the top bits.
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The abbey seen from the grounds.
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Foundations from the expansion of the abbey, long collapsed.
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The back of the palace. Each level was done in a different style.
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Heading back toward the front of the palace, a gate here with English and Scottish flags over it.
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"We're building a statue to Edward I." "Great, where?" "Corner of the staff parking lot."
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The gardens, outside the palace, are open to the public.
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Walking back up the Royal Mile, we saw... this.
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Heading down the Playfair Steps on the Mound, looking toward the castle.
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Back to Princes Street now, looking past the Scottish Academy, and zoomed in. Left of the castle you can see the seating from the Military Tattoo that was in the process of being dismantled until next year.
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Taking a look around Princes Street Gardens, this is a memorial for Scots who served in World War I.
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The Parish Church of St. Cuthbert, in the gardens. It was built in the 19th century, after the construction of New Town.
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In my defense, the castle is extremely photogenic.
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The valley between the old and new towns also contains the rail lines heading into Waverly Station. Snagged a pic of one. There are a couple footbridges over the tracks but they were both closed when I was there. Not sure if that was permanent or a time-of-day thing.
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The Ross Fountain. It had started raining by this point, because Scotland, but everyone else was just dealing with it so we decided we would too.
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I thought this elephant statue looked cool, then I read the dedication. Google "Mortonhall ashes" if you want to be depressed and/or enraged.
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Memorial for the Royal Scots Regiment.
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Edinburgh's floral clock, possibly the oldest still in existence.
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This year it honors the Royal National Lifeboat Institution on its 200th anniversary.
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Hopefully giving a better idea of its size. And it has a cuckoo clock.
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Looking across Waverly Bridge into the old town.
Edinburgh Day III, September 6
For our next day, the fog rolled in overnight and made everything wonderfully moody. We visited a small place just off the Royal Mile called the Chocolatarium, and then in the afternoon we visited the National Museum of Scotland.
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A new day, and the GPU was in power-saving mode that morning.
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We were early for the tour at the Chocolatarium, so we walked down the Royal Mile and checked out the cemetery at the Canonsgate Kirkyard. The staff were a bit cold.
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The view, such as it was, from the back of the cemetery.
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It dates to 1688.
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Heading back up the Royal Mile. The People's Story is apparently a museum. It was either closed when we were there, or they're not into doing anything to make people want to visit.
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It's funny how seeing the chocolate-making process reminded me of other things. The drying and roasting process is very much like for coffee, and the separation of nibs form the shells looks a lot like the dust filtration you'd see in a woodworking shop.
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You get to make your own chocolate bar, these are some of the things you get to add to your choice of milk or dark chocolate.
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Into the fridge they go. I totally forgot to take a picture of mine.
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Samples from around the world.
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"Ah, let the sun bit doon upon ma fess, stairs ta fill ma drims..."
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My people.
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At the National Museum of Scotland. This was a drinking fountain if I'm remembering right.
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Hell yeah, Lego museum.
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I was more interested in seeing the museum than documenting it, so that was all. I need to go back and take a full day at some point. Anyway, I tried this stuff that I'd bought at the Chocolatarium. Not bad at all, but not chocolatey.
Edinburgh Day IV & Flight Home, September 7 & 8
We saved the big guns for last: Edinburgh Castle, built in the 11th century, and the Johnnie Walker Princes Street tour. After that it was one last night in town then a morning flight home.
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Starting our last full day in Scotland; is it an old church, or a chippy? (It's the old Tollbooth Kirk, the restaurant is around the corner.)
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Walking up to the castle on another foggy morning.
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The entryway. That's William Wallace and Robert the Bruce keeping out the riffraff.
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I know it's hard to believe, but Princes Street is down there somewhere.
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The One O'Clock Gun. Fires every day at 1pm so people can reset their clocks. Either they don't shoot it off any more, or my hearing is worse than I thought -- I never heard it on any of the days I was there.
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Illustration of the gun in action. Kinda reminds me of Monty Python.
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Memorial for Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, who they made an earl for his efforts in WWI.
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Some of the castle buildings.
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Near Foog's Gate.
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In the Great Hall.
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Suit of armor in the Great Hall.
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The main courtyard.
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The entrance to see the Scottish Crown Jewels. Like the British Crown Jewels, no photography is permitted inside.
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A lion near the courtyard entrance.
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Memorial for Mary, a queen of Scots (but not Mary Queen of Scots).
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Looking down from near the courtyard towards the One O'Clock Gun, with New Town beyond. The fog had started to lift a bit.
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Looking right you can see the national gallery and Waverly Station beyond it, as well as the train tunnel that cuts through the Mound.
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Time for some Johnnie Walker. Their Princes Street shop is relatively new.
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Their tour of flavor is essentially a walking tour of a Johnnie Walker ad, but it does have some interesting info about making scotch.
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And since it's only a few years old, they built it with social media in mind. Underlighting for your highball? Put it on the 'gram.
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Back outside afterwards, and did you know there's a castle in Edinburgh?
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Looking at the Royal Mile and the statue of Sir James Young Simpson.
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In Princes Street Gardens again, this is the Museum on the Mound. Dedicated to the history of the Bank of Scotland, apparently.
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Also on Market Street, the City Art Centre.
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Beside it, the Scotsman Picturehouse. Looking online they show classic movies there. If I ever have the ability to max out the 90 days of visa-free travel and I'm in the area I might give it a look.
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Waverly Station, with the Scottish Government building behind it. Jacob's Ladder is to the right of the government building.
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Last day, just a little time before I had to catch the tram to the Edinburgh airport. The kind of morning when you've run out of fucks, and just grab some Pret for breakfast.
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The portrait gallery on Queen Street.
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St. Paul's and St. George's Cathedral. No word about St. John or St. Ringo.
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Over by St. James's Quarter, the Edinburgh Playhouse.
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On my way back to the hotel, finding a few places I'd missed while I was there. Guess I'll have to go back and finish the job.
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Just a bit of a line at EDI. Might have been faster to take the train back to London, if trains ran south at that time of day.
