James McDonald Reid and Friends

April 29 post by Katy (update)

How Beautiful Upon the Mountain

At two we all gathered to climb Arthur’s Seat. That morning we had explored Edinburgh Castle, and spent the early afternoon wandering the City as we chose.

The path was just a slightly worn trail in the soft grassy turf. It felt springy even through a multiplicity of layers of wool and nylon and rubber—soon, it just became too much. I, and the few hikers hanging back with me, rebelled against conventional footwear. With shoelaces tied together and slung through the straps of our packs, we continued on barefoot.

Of course, of course, within a few metres (see, I’m getting the hang of this British lingo!) the path turned rocky and pokey and all around hurty. But by then of course it was a matter of honor—if Sam and Frodo could hike barefoot to Mordor, then by golly, we could stick it out to the top of this old hill! I’ve never felt more like a hobbit.

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After all that walkin' and hikin' today, it was a long walk across the city to the house of Sandy and Isabelle Reid, but definitely worth it. Jamie played the pipes, sang, and told us stories, (difficult for some because of lingering jet lag),

and then he taught us a dance (here with Isabelle):

Sandy,

and James):

At the end we sang a couple of hymns for them as well, and Isabella sent us on our journey with her blessing. I hope some of the students will let me put their comments on the events of the day into the blog.

Royal Mile to Scottish Parliament to Arthur's Seat

Phone box by Lauren: Harry Potter birthplace by Sydney:

Edinburgh Old Town by Roxanne:

Buskers by Roxanne:

Chocolate Soup, Christine, Kirstina, Matt, by Sydney:

Christian on Calton Hill:

Hopkins quote, photo by Jon:

Arthur Seat, by Jon:

Photo by Christian:

Art Photo of the Week by Marshall:

Christian!

Arthur's Seat by Chris B:

Bentley by Jon:

The statue of David Hume is next to St. Giles Cathedral, which seems ironic to me (probably because I don't understand Hume):Scottish dairy farmers were staging an extremely low-key protest of the unsustainably low price of milk in front of the architecturally interesting Scottish Parliament. As I was chatting with a demonstrator, one of the pretty little heifers peed on the ground, spattering slightly, as such liquids do. I bet there are not many people who have been peed on by a cow at the Scottish Parliament! Everyone climbed Arthur's Seat but the van driver (me). Fearless leader, by Chris B, Photo of the Day :

Edinburgh Castle

Update:
Scottish Flag, photo by Lauren:
Sydney and knight, photo on Sydney's camera (not sure who took it):

Emma's knight in shining armour, photo by Roxanne:

Wallace window, photo by Lauren:

Edinburgh Castle, photo by Sydney:

Matt sleeping, photo by Roxanne:

Edinburgh Castle, photo by Lauren:

Sydney and Sammy:

Cannons, photo by Jon:

Emma at the Castle:The earliest building (12th Century) is St. Margaret's Chapel, who is the mother of King David. The castle is built on an ancient volcano. The black rock is very visible on the west side:

The British flag (photo by Chris B):

The Scottish flag--St. Andrew's Cross:

Katy, Marshal, Whitney, Emma:

The view from the parapet back to the National Gallery and Scott Monument:

Chris remembers when he was three years old and wanted one of those short swords:

The view from the Castle north across New Town to the Firth of Forth:

Edinburgh

Update:
We arrived. Not all at once, nor really in any sort of timely fashion, but in small groups from the airport or various previous hostels we slowly trickled into the lobby of the hostel. Some, like Bentley, showed up by themselves after a full day of exploring, and others arrived in cabs from the airport, harried and jet-lagged and laying all our luggage in a giant pile, with Christopher watching over it all, periodically opening the box to his brand new guitar to peer in at it.
Many of us went on a first trek—to the Scott Monument and to read poetry on Calton hill—but many of us made small wandering groups of our own to keep mobile and fight off jetlag, as well as exploring our brand new city. We all finally coalesced for dinner and had our first meeting with all members present, accompanied by fine ramen made by Karla. Most of us were too tired to do much after this, but a fine few trekked up to St. Giles’ to hear a concert of Italian baroque music in benefit of the earthquake victims, and came back home around 10:30, dead and crashing into our bunks.
posted by Christian S.

Scott Monment to Castle, photo by Chris B

Matt, photo by Roxanne:

Ladies at the Scott Monument, photo by Roxanne:

Bess and Whitney on the monument, photo by Roxanne:

Rick, photo by Jon:

Lauren, photo by Roxanne:

Monument gargoyle, photo by Sydney:

Jon photo by Roxanne:

Edinburgh, photo by Whitney:

Bess, photo by Whitney (Photo of the Week in the Portrait category):

Arthur's Seat from Scott Monument, Jon's photo:

Fake Parthenon on Calton Hill, photo by Jon:

Dinner at the Youth Hostel, Photo of the Day by Jon:

Our youth hostel is on Leith Street. Also on the street is the birthplace of Arthur Conan Doyle.Everywhere on Leith Street and Princes Street (and probably elsewhere) is construction, as they are putting in a tram system. As far as I can tell, everyone hates the idea. James McDonald Reid, who told stories and played the bagpipes for us, said that it is the Liberal Democratic Party's fault, as a minority party needed for the majority coalition in the Scottish Parliament, the trams are their pet project, and they hold the rest of the government hostage--trams for their cooperation. Politics everywhere! The Scott Monument:

Walter Scott:

The National Gallery and the Castle: