This and That – Good Afternoon From Edinburgh!

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It’s a cold, blustery day, Christopher Robin.

     The past and present swirl all around me. From ancient St. Giles Cathedral, where the Queen lay in state, to numerous woolen shops selling everything from cashmere scarves and men’s and women’s kilts to long johns in every color. (No, don’t ask. I didn’t purchase either of the last two. LOL.) Other wonders appear around every corner.

     Yesterday, we toured the Royal Yacht, Britannia. In the past three weeks, I’ve seen many royal things: palaces, paintings, jewels, cars, and gilded coaches. But the Royal Yacht sits at the top of my favorites. Seeing it in person, I understand why the Queen and Prince Phillip were so fond of it. Alas, my snaps of its exterior were blurry…darn wind.

     The personal stories of the crew who sailed her brought the 70-year-old ship to life. Their recorded memories spoke of pomp and majesty when the huge vessel steamed into a foreign harbor, the ship’s horn blaring, the ship’s band playing. And from the upper promenade deck, a smiling, waving Queen Elizabeth waved to her subjects.

     The Royal Family’s personal rooms bespoke of simple elegance. Painted white walls gave the rooms a spacious look, and the pale green and white upholstery added a traditional British feel–the Royal Family wanted it that way.

     This was the ship on which Prince Charles and Diana spent their honeymoon. The Queen entertained President Ronald Reagan and Nancy, and President Bill Clinton and Hillary, too. She entertained World leaders, Hollywood stars, and her grandchildren, one of whom was a future King.

     However, of all the things aboard the ship that I saw, what fascinated me the most? It was the one thing I couldn’t see during this summer’s cruise aboard the Scarlet Lady; even my Mega Rock Star status wouldn’t open the door to the engine room.

     Studying the Britannia’s engine room, I noticed that every brass dial and every vintage steam pipe appeared in perfect working order. The powerful engines, which turned the ship’s propellers, were as new looking as the day they were installed over 70 years ago. I’m not sure that the almost 300-foot yacht would not have steamed majestically out of the harbor if a Captain rang down Full Steam Ahead.

     We’ve also toured Edinburgh Castle and the Palace of Holyrood House. The views of Edinburgh from the castle’s heights are breathtaking. It’s a foreboding architectural masterpiece, seeming carved out of the rocky hilltop on which it was built. The Palace is another historical site steeped in Scottish history. The Queen often visited there.

     Edinburgh’s streets are paved with cobblestones, at least that’s what they looked like to this old Mississippi boy. The taxis and city buses rolling over them made a bubbly sound, and overhead church bells reminded everyone that their time treading these ancient lanes and streets would eventually come to an end—as did our wonderful time touring England and Scotland.

And that, dear friends, is the news from Edinburgh. We leave for dear old America bright and early in the morning.

     Big hug to all.

(Originally published September 22, 2022)

St. Giles East Main Entrance
St. Giles Catherdal.
St. Giles Cathedral soaring stone walls.

St. Giles’ Nave.
The Catheral’s Name – A better picture that is not mine.
One of the many, many massive stained glass windows, soaring seas of lead and glass.
The sunlight streaming through the stained glass splashed a myriad of colors across the polished marble floor in one corner of the Cathedral.
One section of the vast coffered ceiling festooned with Gothic ribbing.
Intricately carved oak above the individual choir stalls.
A carved wood and brass light fixture.
A brass doorknob on a caved-oak door.
One hundred and forty-year-old regimental flags hung in many sections of the Cathedral. Their silk and velvet cloth was tattered and torn, and the gilded fringe hung in long, knotted stands, all of which was covered in decades of dust.
Plaques like this about famous people, along with touching family memorials to soldiers who had died in WWI and WWII, lined the walls of the Cathedral.
Statue of John Knox in St. Giles Cathedral. In 1560, he was elected minister of St Giles’ and, in keeping with his wishes, the Protestant Town Council of Edinburgh spent the next year removing all its altars and statues, selling the church plate, reliquaries, and other valuables, whitewashing the interior and introducing seating so that people did not have to stand during Knox’s hour-long sermons preached from his pulpit at the southeast end of the church.
The bell aboard the Royal Yacht Britannia.
The engine room.
Another picture of the engine room.
That tacky tourist standing in front of the ship’s crew quarters. He’s finally found his place in the ship’s hierarchy…toilet cleaner. 😆
The Britannia’s Sun Lounge. Not my picture.