Edinburgh is an experience
A city of enormous gifts
Whose streets sing of history
Whose cobbles tell tales.
18 Days ago my group arrived from all regions of New Zealand as individuals, not know who they were going to spend the next 2 1/2 weeks with. I am the luckiest person to work and travel with such lovely people and each group who comes together for a tour creates its own culture, fun and hilarious moments. This group was no exception and they excelled in mixing in with each other, participating each day with enthusiasm and accepting the odd glitch with generous good will.
Edinburgh’s notoriety surpasses itself and I think for a lot of New Zealanders, whose forebears left from here to improve their life at the other end of the world, it’s a dream come true to visit this city with it’s monumental history that enjoys all things Tartan and for many a similarity to NZ – especially places like Dunedin which was based on Edinburgh and has the same street names.
Highlights are everywhere and choices were easily made. Hollyrood Palace and walking the Royal Mile are a given. Sheryl had to run up Arthurs seat while Jenny was happy walking. Neil, Judith John and Jane loved the castle and its military history, for Liz we tried to get her a game of golf but sadly the weather didn’t oblige, Delwyn, Liz, Deb and I immersed ourselves in the Botanical gardens, which is always my favourite, Steve and Barbara hopped on and off taxis and found wonderful art galleries and weavers, while dear Anne was happy on the trail of her namesake artist and buying a kilt for her son. Charles orchestrated and walked us through his secret spots. Being a local he provides the inside knowledge and knows how to secure a table at the famous Elephant Cafe where JK Rowling sat for hours over 1 cup of coffee and started writing Harry Potter and another visit to more of what has become our favourite Chess men from Lewis.
Our day trip to St Andrews this year started of with a visit to the New V&A in Dundee. It’s Imposing ingenious architectural style sits beautifully on the edge of the Firth of Tay and enticing planting draws you into the vast light filled space for galleries and events. The Scottish Design Gallery helped reinforce what everyone had encountered and made us think about Scottish achievements ranging from architecture to fashion, healthcare to furniture, and engineering to video game design.
I always notice the vast amount of iron work used in architecture in the 1800’s throughout Scotland and the UK and it interests me to think of the immense foundries that must have been creating and producing the intricate filigree latticework that adorned verandahs, staircases, fences etc, etc. Consequently the display about iron work really interested me and helped me understand what an enormous business it must have been
Lunch at the Swilcon Lounge in the St Andrews Links Golf Course Club Rooms was a thrill for the golfers and for those of us who manage the odd bash it was also fun to be part of the atmosphere and look out over the famous Old Course.
No tour finishes without a last night dinner. Sadly, Deborah had to depart a day earlier and I know she would have loved the very Posh, very Scottish, very memorable Prestonfield house. From the reception at the front door on arrival and throughout the night we were treated to impeccable service, enjoying drinks and finger food in the whisky lounge, dinner in our own private dining room and a chance to immerse ourselves in an evening of elegance along with lovely food and wine.
