Edinburgh
I’ve wanted to go to Scotland for years, drawn by the pictures of kilt clad men, with thighs like oaks and calves like iron. I mean, who wasn’t in love with Jaime from Outlander? I stayed with a lovely family as parent helper through WorkAway in a rural farmhouse, about an hour outside of Edinburgh. I did my “Nana to the World Thing”— cooked, tidied the house, iron and folded clothes, gardened, and flew my kite and built a cardboard castle with the kids. The 7 year old was gobsmacked, stunned that I”d never eaten black pudding before. Both kids were fascinated by my hair, their eyes getting bigger as I combed out my Afro. I joked that they could take me to Show & Tell since there were no Black people in the area. I was there, afterall, for cultural exchange. Being with the boys reminded me of my sons’ childhoods and the fun we had together. Since neither one is close to having children of their own, and I figure that I’ll be “too old” to enjoy it when they do, A1 and A2 were especially dear to me.
I went into the city one drizzly day to walk The Royal Mile which stretches from the Castle on the hill to the gates of Holyrood Palace. The name Edinburgh comes from the ancient Gaelic “Dun Eidyn” which means “hill fort on the sloping ridge”. Along the way I met a golden-eyed owl and visited Greyfriars Graveyard where JK Rowling found the name Tom Riddle. I heard bagpipes, saw more plaid patterns than I’ve ever seen in my life, and ate vegetarian haggis (meh). Visits to the National Museum of Scotland and National Library of Scotland’s exhibit on Gaelic folklore inspired me to learn more about Scottish history, particularly The Highland Clearances.
The beauty of staying with strangers is that I say goodbye to those I now consider friends. I’ll go back to Scotland to visit that sweet family, to walk up Arthur’s Seat, drive the North Coast 500, visit sacred Druidic sites around the country. Maybe we’ll pass each other on the road during my travels, but I’ll get to Scotland before ye. (I know, I know, it’s corny. I couldn’t think of another way to end this post)
PHOTOS OF EDINBURGH
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZKTRLsQrQKUdsXeW9
