England, Scotland and Wales Part 2!

 Our last day in Glasgow was visiting the Kelvingrove Museum. (https://tinyurl.com/5dzkac7f). There were some amazing pieces of art, including a weird hanging head exhibit that greets you when you walk in.  

They also had many, many paintings by some of my favorite artists - Georges Seurat and Mary Cassett.

From there, we headed to the train station for a short trip to Edinburgh. They are only about 47 miles apart, so it was a quick trip.  Did you know that Chewbacca and the Storm Troopers spoke with a Scottish brogue? There were several characters walking around the Edinburgh Train Station. 

We stayed on Prince's Street, which is down "The Mound" from Edinburgh Castle. It is a majestic sight to behold, sitting on top of the hill like that.  

While we were there, we visited our church's missionary, Ben Canstaneta. Ben is teaching at the Free Church of Scotland's seminary, training those who want to learn conservative Reformed Theology.  He took us on a tour of the seminary, including a hike up to the very top, where we were treated to stunning views of the city. He also showed us the library, where there are many ancient texts, totally uncatalogued. I volunteered to come back for six months and work on creating an index of them.  Honestly, I would do it in a heartbeat, if they wanted me to!  

I half expected to hear Dick Van Dyke singing "Step in Time" when I saw this view! 

Edinburg is beautiful. It was raining a lot of the time we were there, but it also cleared up frequently. The saying "if you don't like the weather, wait a minute," is so very true there!  We had fish and chips, again, at Berties, which is a popular spot. Tom got the traditional fried fish, but they had a baked option, which I got, and yes, it was just as yummy.  

A must-visit to the Edinburgh Castle, which is so full of history that I really don't know. I need to read some Scottish/English/Welsh history books now!  They had numerous displays that were dedicated to various regiments of Scots that served in various wars. It's actually a military museum.  

I took tons of pictures, and simply don't have the bandwith to post all of them, but suffice it to say, it was sobering and at the same time very moving and beautiful in its own way. 

We toured St. Giles Cathedral, which served as John Knox's parish church, and is considered the mother church of Presbyterianism.  

If you have never heard of the story of the Greyfriar's Bobby, read about him here:  https://tinyurl.com/ms3jffff.  If in Edinburgh, you have to find him and rub his nose.  We didn't get to grab a bite at the pub, so that's a definite plan on our return trip!

Another highlight of Edinburg was having the opportunity to worship at St. Columba Free Presbyterian Church.  It was literally like being at home at our own church! Up to and including the fact that their pastor is from the States - Mississippi, to be exact! That was a bit of a shock, but the people we met who were Scots or English were very engaging, friendly and really reflected the love of Christ.  

The National Museum of Scotland was fantastic, and we really didn't have the time to do it justice. We also visited a Chocolatorium where we were told how chocolate is created, and got to pour our own samples, which, by the way, were amazing. Our chocolate here doesn't hold a candle to theirs. The quality is simply superior.  

The last highlight I'll tell about is the Edinburgh Literary Pub Tour. Yes, it's a walking tour (likely in the rain as ours was!) but honestly I recommend taking it if you are a literary fan.  The two gentlemen/actors who gave the tour were not only very entertaining, but very knowledgable about Scotland's literary heritage.  

Since this has gotten pretty lengthy already, and I haven't even gotten to York, London or Cambridge, I'll stop here and add a part 3!  

Oh, one last picture. Bagpipers were a frequent sight and sound. Honestly, I'm not sure who can dislike a man in a kilt, blowing on a bagpipe!