More About Weather

Warm and Sunny

Better show this photo of warmth and sun now, before the weather turns to its cool and cloudy reputation. Unusually fine day, 71 degrees, warmest day of the year. Everyone was out. The photo shows countless people stretched out in Princes Street Gardens, the huge green park between Old Town and New Town. Actually, since we arrived almost two months ago, the weather has been terrific; most days sunny with no rain. We understand that this is the driest Spring in 50+ years.

Interestingly, these gardens used to be, back 200+ years ago, just the opposite of a park. The place was a cesspool. Literally. New Town had not yet been built. Old Town, where the castle sits high on a fortress-like hill and where the entire population of Edinburgh was squished into a very limited protected space behind the castle wall, dumped all of their waste and sewage over the side of the hill into Nor Loch (North Lake). The stench was reported to have been horrible. Add to that the air pollution from the smoke coming out of the coal fireplaces. It was so bad in fact, that Edinburgh earned the distinction of being the most polluted city in Europe. The city earned the nickname, "Auld Reekie." That is Scots for "Old Smokey" or "Old Smelly."

 

Hospital Volunteer

Western General

Beth has settled into a volunteer routine at the Western General hospital. The multi-building hospital (she is in the Anne Ferguson building) has almost as many beds as Carilion Roanoke Memorial hospital where Beth has volunteered several days a week for years. Those beds are spread out in an almost un-navigable labyrinth of hallways, floors, and buildings.

Two days every week she walks 30 minutes from our flat to the hospital to work a shift in one of the wards. Her ward has about 20 outpatients who are there for infusion treatments; they receive medication intravenously. Most are there for cancer, some for other reasons. Many are regulars whom Beth has gotten to know. And, she frequently comments about just how friendly and welcoming the staff has been; truly nice people who appreciate the volunteers. Everyone seems interested in helping her succeed.

She spends her time there visiting with each patient while pushing a trolly (drinks, snacks, lunches). The point, beyond the trolly service, is to connect with the patients on a personal level, help put them at ease, and help take their minds off their serious medical conditions. This is a win-win for all involved.

However, and there is always a however, she has to wear a branded purple uniform polo shirt and trousers. Those who know Beth well, especially those at Carilion Roanoke Memorial, understand Beth is the only volunteer there who doesn't wear a uniform; it conflicts with her high-fashion sensibilities.

No Hop-On Hop-Off

Not Fun Day

The plan didn't work; so disappointing. Don and Ellen, and John and Joyce were scheduled to spend the day in Edinburgh as part of a 11-day cruise they are on around the United Kingdom. Rather than the city excursion offered by the cruise line, they opted for a "first class" personalized city tour unavailable to the general public; we were going to show them around "our" city. As a convenience, we were going to ride on the Hop-On Hop-Off sightseeing bus (see photo).

Well, their cruise did make it to Edinburgh as scheduled. However, they could not disembark. Their ship anchored a bit offshore; passengers were supposed to use a tender (small shuttle boat) to get onshore. Their ship is too big to actually dock at the Edinburgh port. They emailed early in the morning to say the ship's captain decided that the wind was too strong to allow anyone to tender to shore. They spent the day on the ship in the harbor. Sure hope they enjoy the rest of their cruise.

Side note. They graciously agreed to carry over a couple of items for us from the US that can't be found over here. They had a new pair of exercise walking shoes for Mike and some Benefiber nutritional supplement (the same stuff that got us unwanted attention from TSA when we departed Roanoke to fly here). Not smuggling or black market; more like import-export. Hope we can pick up those items from them when we get back to Roanoke.

Wee Gym

Elliptical

Beth works out at the nearby Glenogle fitness center several times every week; she has a membership there. Her routine includes the elliptical exercise machine located in the wee gym (small gym). The fitness center, initially known as the Glenogle Baths, was built in the late 19th century as a public bath to promote hygiene and cleanliness, especially for working-class residents who lacked access to regular bathing facilities. In past times, our Stockbridge neighborhood was an industrial center with blue collar working-class residents, most of whom had no running water. Hence, the need for local community baths. It was one of a half dozen public baths in the city. Beth knows someone who grew up here under these conditions; interesting stories. 

 These days, the Victorian building has been totally restored. The indoor swimming pool sits under a high ornate domed ceiling. The center includes, in addition to the pool and gym, a fitness studio, sauna, locker rooms, and a cafe. With respect to the cafe, Beth denies that the true purpose of working out is to justify a cappuccino at the cafe; sure...

Political Noise

Bliss

There are countless reasons why we so enjoy our time here in Scotland:  lifestyle, arts, culture, car-free lifestyle, nicest people, hill walking, scenery, Old World, the weather... Well, add to that one additional reason, the lack of constant political noise. It is refreshing to be away from the increased intensity of that noise back in the US; it seems to be a constant on TV, in the newspapers, and elsewhere.

Here, we don't have a TV and we don't subscribe to newspapers. And, we know very little about politics in the UK. Blissful ignorance seems to describe our current situation. Wonder how long that will last?
 

Overdid It

Pentland Hills

Pick an expression:  overdid it, a bit excessive, questionable judgment. You get the idea. Now, apply one or more of these terms to Mike's recent hill walk. He spent the day with a friend (15 years younger) doing a traverse of nearby Pentland Hills (a very large park with over one hundred miles of trails); see photo.

They summited all five of the parks tallest peaks, which means that they hiked 16 miles and gained 4,000 feet of elevation. That is the equivalent of walking in Roanoke from the City Market building to the top of Mill Mountain to the Star and back, five times. Phew. They also stopped at a pub afterwards. Mike said he had a great time, which is not surprising. However, the following day he frequently said something about how much his legs ached. No surprise there either.
 

Funeral Oddity

 

Irreverent

Beth could not contain her surprise and disbelief when she happened upon this nearby store front funeral home. The business name says it all, "Go As You Please." This place not only demonstrated a bit of irreverence in its name, but also in its coffin selection. They are themed. Nothing traditional here. One sports a cartoon character theme, another a cityscape theme, and another modern art. We have no plans to shop here anytime soon.

Oldest Pub

 

White Hart Inn

"Why not go to the oldest pub in Edinburgh?" That suggestion was included in an email from a motivated reader of this blog, clearly someone who has a bit too much time available for exploring trivial topics. Someone who deserves a big thanks!

So, four of us wandered into the "White Hart Inn." As is the case for most every place, it is not far from our flat. During its 500+ years of history, this pub has witnessed everything from public hangings to visits from some of Scotland’s literary greats. Robert Burns, Scotland’s national poet, is said to have enjoyed a drink here in the late 1700s. The White Hart Inn still retains much of its old-world charm, with low ceilings, exposed beams, and a rich, dark, cramped wood interior.

By the way, the word "Hart" in the name of the pub has nothing to do with an organ that pumps blood. It refers to a stag animal. The red deer, particularly the male (stag or hart), is a prominent feature of Scottish wildlife and is often seen as a symbol of the Scottish Highlands. But, as symbolic as the stag is here in Scotland, it is not the national animal. Oh no. The national animal of Scotland is a unicorn. In Celtic mythology, the unicorn was a symbol of purity and innocence, as well as masculinity and power. Tales of dominance and chivalry associated with the unicorn may be why it was chosen as Scotland's national animal.

Going to a pub can be so educational...

Rotary Meeting

Club President

Since there are no Kiwanis Clubs to be found in Edinburgh, Mike decided to give the Rotary a try. They have several clubs in the city; he went to a meeting of the largest (80 members).

He remarked about a number of similarities between the Kiwanis Club of Roanoke and Rotary Edinburgh:  same focus on youth/elderly/environment, same welcoming/friendly people, same member demographic, same weekly lunch meetings with weekly speakers. The speaker sure impressed him:  the Rev. Dr. Shaw Paterson, immediate past Moderator of General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. Wonder if he will go to another meeting?

 

More Arts and Culture

Now, when it comes to Scottish arts and culture, you can't do better than a pipe band (as in bagpipes). We happened upon, quite by accident, a parade/demonstration featuring a couple of pipe bands marching down the street. They were joined by 10-20 groups marching with banners announcing their particular causes:  housing, Gaza, equal rights... Exciting stuff.

 

Arts and Culture

Edinburgh Playhouse

Wow. Talk about arts and culture. Edinburgh has it. And it has the largest theater in all of the UK. That is where we saw "Moulin Rouge," a loud, boisterous, bright, and energetic show. It was terrific.

Even better, the price for very good seats for first class Broadway/London shows at this theater, as well as all of the other theaters in Edinburgh, is about one-third of New York prices.
 

Hungarian Guests

Edinburgh Castle

Great time hosting friends from Hungary. Since it was their first visit to Scotland, during their four-day visit we toured them around most of the major sights in Edinburgh. And, we spent countless hours catching up with each other.

Back in 2008, when we volunteered for Habitat for Humanity in Hungary for six months, Gyuri was our boss; he ran Habitat for that country. We became friends with him and his partner, Orsi. We have been friends ever since. They have a true international perspective and can talk about the history and culture of most every country in Europe as well as the US. In fact, they probably know more about US football, movies, and politics than most people living in the US, really. And they can talk from experience about the dramatic shift in life in Hungary from Soviet rule, to independence, and now back to the loss of independence. We are looking forward to visiting with them later in the Summer when we travel to Hungary.

 

Symphony

Stockbridge Parish Church

Well, we went from bitter disappointment at the canceled puffin trip one day, to a great very next day. Spent the day hill walking on a section of the Fife Costal Path (one of a dozen long distance trails in Scotland). The weather was perfect and the views were terrific; it doesn't get old. Then, we headed out for the evening to listen to the symphony. Conveniently, the concert was held in an old church just one block from our flat. Thumbs up and smiles all around.
 

Hill Walking

 

River Clyde

Hikes in our hill walking club are graded on a scale of increasing difficulty. We understand this approach is fairly common with the numerous hill walking clubs in Scotland. Our club releases a listing of the upcoming hill walks, complete with dates, public transport times, a route description, the leader's name, the mileage, and the difficulty rating.

There are four levels of difficulty: the "D" level (6-8 miles over level paved surfaces), the "C" level (8-10 miles with modest elevation gain), the "B" level (10-12 miles with 1,000-2,000 feet of elevation gain), and the "A" level (12-16 miles with 2,000-3,000 feet of elevation gain while bushwhacking over terrain with few established trails).

Each level hill walk has its own characteristics. The "D" walks are leisurely with frequent stops to learn about a ruin, a flower or tree, or some other aspect. The "A" walks can be near "death marches" up steep terrain with few stops; but they usually provide the reward of terrific views from the top of some hill/mountain. In the photo, we are on a "B" walk along the River Clyde.

Pub Stop

Pub Philosophy

To be sure, there are many reasons to go hill walking, including exercise, scenery and camaraderie. Mike has yet another reason, stopping at a pub. The word "pub" is short for "public house." In many places, especially in villages, pubs are the focal point of local communities. People of all types can be found in a pub:  men, women, families, young, and old. Think of the popular TV sitcom of the 1980's, "Cheers."

Monthly, our hill walking club charters a private bus to take us to a section of the country not easily accessed by public transport. On the last one of these trips we had 30+ hill walkers who split into smaller groups to walk three different routes. After all had completed the various hill walking routes, we converged at a pub. Great place to tell stories about the day's hiking and occasionally reflect on some local pub philosophy; see photo for a curious example. "Life is a waste of time, and time is a waste of life. Get wasted all the time, and you'll have the time of your life."

 

More Inventions

Dolly the Sheep

OK, we recognize that this blog post is similar to the previous one. However, that is because Scotland has had an abundance of inventions. Beyond the telephone (mentioned in the previous post), Scotland lays claim to Dolly the sheep, the world's first cloned mammal (which we see whenever we visit the National Museum of Scotland).

Scotland also is credited with the adhesive postage stamp (invented by James Chalmers), the pedal bicycle (thank you, Kirkpatrick Macmillan), cash machines (John Shepherd-Barron), and the theory of electromagnetic radiation (James Maxwell). Mike, as an engineer, especially likes Maxwell. The list of Scottish inventions does go on, at length. This explains why, back in the day, Edinburgh was referred to as the "Athens of the North."

Inventions

 

Telephone

Now, this is interesting. Scotland, which is about the same geographic size as Virginia, has an outsized history of inventions. Let's begin that invention list with the telephone. Turns out that Alexander Graham Bell, who invented the telephone, was born in Scotland. Side note:  his birthplace is near our flat, and we have enjoyed time in the pub named after him. 

John Logie Baird, from Scotland, is credited with the first demonstration of a working television. William Cullen, from Scotland, developed the first artificial refrigeration system. Kirkpatrick Macmillan, you get the idea, is credited with inventing the first pedal-powered bicycle. Alexander Fleming, another Scotsman, discovered penicillin.

Question, why is it that a small country produced so many world-class inventions?

Talking About Weather

Hill Walking

"Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it." Thank you, Mark Twain, for popularizing this humorous expression. Let's add to the humor with a few Scottish weather-related expressions.

"In Scotland, there's no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes."

"Today's rain is tomorrow's whisky."

"There are two seasons in Scotland:  June and Winter."

Seriously though, we quite like the weather here. It is moderate. Throughout Spring, Summer, and Autumn (they don't say "Fall" here) the lows are in the 40's and highs in the 50's or 60's. Never hot and never cold. Also, never humid. And although clouds and mist/drizzle do occur, we get less rain here than in Roanoke. Really. We also get wind, almost every day. Scotland is the windiness country in Europe. That explains why almost 100% of the electricity in Scotland comes from wind generation.