Day 9: Edinburgh
Loch Lomond, Stirling Castle and Our Last Supper
O ye'll take the High Road, |
Today begun with a drive by Loch Lomond. We were unable to stop due to maintenance being done on the coach parking area. As we watched the bonnie, bonnie banks of the loch pass by, Anne played two versions of the famous song. She explained it may be narrated by a young solider condemned to die for his participation in the Jacobite rising.
I thought of this song often during our time in Scotland, specifically the lyric, "where, deep in purple hue, the Highland hills we view" (hence this websites domain name). Having been to Culloden Battlefield, seen the beautiful, purple heather covering the Highlands and now gazing upon Loch Lomond I listened to each version of the song with new ears (click here to hear our favorite version). I felt like I could now see the whole picture. In that moment a song I have sung all my life was brand new. As we drove, I reflected on how travel provides context for things we thought we knew about, from something as small as a song to as large as World War II. Travel is just the best teacher around. |
After our soggy but wonderful visit to Sterling we piled back on the bus and headed back to Edinburgh and to the Bonhon Hotel, where we stayed at the beginning of the trip. Once we settled back in to our room I was ready for a little decompression time. Matt, ever the gentleman, braved the driving rain to find a whisky shop determined pick up a bottle of the whisky I discovered on our first group meal. He's a real keeper!
Our group’s “last supper” was conveniently at the Bonham. Anne gave us postcard “awards” - I got “most interested tour member!” while Matt got “cutest husband” (see above for proof of this!). Remember that picture of Anne wearing the “hairy coo” or Highland Cow Hat? Well, after I took that picture she offered it to a groupmember saying it would be a fun gift for their grandkids. No one raised their hand. She offered again. Finally in a moment of courage I shot my hand up and happily snagged the wonderfully ridiculous souvenir. I proudly wore it on Hat Day at work!
We snagged a photo with Robert and Sharon, our ”buddies,” and stayed up and chatted with a few tour members before calling it a night, feeling so lucky we got to spend the last nine days on this incredible tour.
Our group’s “last supper” was conveniently at the Bonham. Anne gave us postcard “awards” - I got “most interested tour member!” while Matt got “cutest husband” (see above for proof of this!). Remember that picture of Anne wearing the “hairy coo” or Highland Cow Hat? Well, after I took that picture she offered it to a groupmember saying it would be a fun gift for their grandkids. No one raised their hand. She offered again. Finally in a moment of courage I shot my hand up and happily snagged the wonderfully ridiculous souvenir. I proudly wore it on Hat Day at work!
We snagged a photo with Robert and Sharon, our ”buddies,” and stayed up and chatted with a few tour members before calling it a night, feeling so lucky we got to spend the last nine days on this incredible tour.