Dree Your Own Weird

When you conjure up an image in your head of Scotland, it is likely of the rugged highlands; you may even people the image with a blue-faced William Wallace or a red-haired Jamie Fraser.   Personally, I picture the stud in the photo above, but clothed in nothing but a kilt.   William Wallace Statue at Bemersyde House When actually  going  to Scotland, however, make sure you take time to see the southern part of the country before heading north, as there is an array of architecture, history and nature that is not to be missed. During the twelfth century, several abbeys of considerable size were erected along the Scottish/English border.   They were established by differing orders of Christian Monastics, most financially aided by King David I.   Not only were they places of worship, but also a way to demonstrate to the rest of Europe that Scotland was by no means the backward civilization England claimed, but a country that placed great e...

Arriving in Edinburgh was a bit like coming home. Adam had been to the medieval city three other times, and I once, but more than that, Edinburgh is a city one can become comfy in rather quickly. It is easily walkable, traversing by foot from one end to the other takes little more than half an hour, and every door is wide open and brilliantly colored, an invitation to enter and become familiar.  We had plans to meet our good friends from Spain, Orestes and Marta, at the Sir Walter Scott Monument, a practical skyscraper in this setting. For more on why he is so beloved, you will have to read about our time in his old haunts on the southern border.  We wandered the Royal Mile, Edinburgh’s most famous street, a place teeming with tourist shops, bakeries, and street performers; one even swallowed an elongated balloon, much to Serenna’s and my dismay. The next morning started with a sound Scottish Breakfast. Sure, the Scotts have a fascinati...