Even more Edinburgh
The Palace of Holyroodhouse. Legend has it that King David I of Scotland was hunting one day and a stag threw him from his horse and seemed ready to gore him. The King tried to protect himself by grasping its antlers, but instead found himself grasping a crucifix and the stag ran off. In a dream that night, a booming voice told him to build an appropriate home for the cross- rood is another word for cross, so this is the Holy Cross House.
Holyrood Abbey, where Mendelssohn was inspired to write his Scottish symphony after seeing ‘everything in ruins and mouldering.’
View from the side.
Windows wide open.
Closeup of the entryway.
Inside the ruined Abbey. After this, I did not feel so bad about missing Melrose Abbey in the Borders area.
It took us three full days to see Edinburgh (and there was still more left!) so we did not get to go to St. Andrews and the nearby Ann Struther’s famous fish and chips. However, we saw this chippy just down the street from our B&B and it turned out to be the most highly regarded fish and chips place in Edinburgh. There were news clippings on the wall, one told how it was the one thing that the lead singer of Garbage really missed from home. In the owner’s native Italian, “L’Alba D’oro” means “The Gold Coast,” but Alba is also an ancient name for Scotland.
Hit the road
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