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| Rosslyn Chapel under construction |
Thursday was our second full day in Scotland. We got out and explored the Royal Mile a bit more. But first we went to see
Rosslyn Chapel. It's a beautiful little chapel outside of Edinburgh with a lot of history behind it. I've posted a link to the website because we weren't allowed to take pictures on the inside. The most interesting story about the chapel had to do with two columns inside the chapel. You can see pictures of these on the website. One column was designed and carved by a master carver. To carve the second column, he decided to travel to get inspiration. While he was gone, his apprentice had a vision in a dream of a carved column, and he carved the second column in this way. The apprentice's column was so much more intricate and beautiful, that although the master carver's column was beautiful, when he saw his apprentice's column, he went into a jealous rage and killed him on the spot. The master carver was then sentenced to death, and they carved a sculpture of his face into the chapel; it is positioned so he must look at his apprentice's work for all eternity. The chapel is made of sandstone, and many of the carvings have worn away with time, such that there is much speculation on what some of the carvings are. Virtually every surface in the chapel is carved, so although it is small, it is amazing to see all the detail. The chapel was featured in the book and movie
The DaVinci Code. There are also rumors that The Holy Grail is located somewhere in the chapel. There is a lot of upkeep involved with the chapel because it is made of sandstone, and, as we all know, it rains a lot in Scotland. Hopefully they can continue to maintain it. It was one of my favorite sights in Scotland. There was so much history in that one little chapel, and the story of the carver and his apprentice has such a classic theme. The tourism of the chapel grew immensely after the book
The DaVinci Code was published, which is when they created the museum aspect of it so it just goes to show how globalized anything can become, even tiny chapels.
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| Inside the chapel |
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| The Castle |
In the afternoon we went to Edinburgh Castle. The castle is at the top of the large hill that Edinburgh is built into. There are a few different exhibits to see inside the castle. We saw the Scottish crown jewels, which were very few compared to England. It was funny that after seeing the crown jewels in London, the Scottish crown jewels really did not seem like a big deal, even though they were extravagant in themselves. We also saw the Great Hall, which was basically a big room with tapestries and armor on the walls. We saw a chapel that the king had built for his mother. There was also a cave of sorts in which one of the oldest kings had lived. In addition we saw where prisoners were kept. On a side note, there was also a cemetery where soldiers' dogs were buried. They really loved their dogs in Scotland. Grey Friar's Bobby is a legendary dog who supposedly laid on his master's grave for 12 years until he died. There is now a restaurant dedicated to him as well as a statue. The castle was yet another example of history in the midst of modernity. That even showed within the castle itself. The rooms had been renovated to at least some extent to make them more accessible to tourists. We were able to take a car--literally--closer to some of the exhibits and up to the very top. It was kind of strange to see an actual car driving on the castle grounds when it is so ancient. We
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| Edinburgh Castle |
noticed that there were people living right next to the castle. That in itself seemed strange to me. It would be very surreal to be able to say that my apartment is right next to a castle. That's not something you see at home. Castles are these grand, ancient structures that I imagine to be far from any sort of living space or even city. But in Scotland, and much of Europe I suppose, the cities are built around them, and they become a mundane part of the scenery. You can see the castle from all over the city of Edinburgh; it usually can at least be seen in the distance. I don't think I would ever get used to or get tired of seeing something like that every day.
We ended the day with a tour of Dalkeith Palace led by the Dellers. We saw most of the palace, including student living spaces, the supposedly haunted laundry room and weight room, and the library and classrooms. As one may expect of any old house, there are a lot of ghost stories surrounding the palace, and certainly some of the rooms were a bit creepy. It's basically a big, creaky, old house. It was interesting and fun to hear all the stories. The palace is owned by the Duke of Buccleuch, who is the largest landowner in Scotland and second largest in the United Kingdom, next to the queen. Apparently when he moved to his house in London, he took all of the best furnishings out of Dalkeith Palace. It's still quite a grand place--who would have expected to live in a palace when traveling in Scotland? As is much of Scotland, it very much represented the mix of old and new, being a very old house (or used-to-be castle) outfitted with modern conveniences including Wi-Fi. It may be pretty much a dorm, but it looks a whole lot nicer than my dorm building. However, it was extremely cold inside. I wore a lot of layers while in the palace. But overall I wouldn't mind staying there again. I found the grounds of the Dalkeith Estate to be even more interesting than the actual house though. More on that in the next post.
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