We started form Orkney at 7:30 AM and arrived back at Dalkeith on the mainland at 10:30 PM. Continuous travel: car to ferry to trains to bus and then a good walk. Even the bathrooms are up multiple flights of stairs in Scotland! Plan that particular trip early rather than when the need is great…. We were glad to see Dalkeith Palace again where we stayed before the trip up to Orkney and a day after so I could meet with another student-William- working on his project on the Scottish Romantics in Edinburgh.
Will and I were able to visit the Roselyn Chapel during our meeting (after a wrong bus trip and subsequent cab ride thanks to my travel savvy- my “being lost” record remains untarnished). What a revelation that was! I had visited it in 1997 in the very early years of restoration. It was not a “tourist destination” and the family actually went there for Easter service that year, a chilly experience but memorable for the traditional egg roll that took place down the aisles. (As I remember Adam tried to emulate that event at Dalkeith House but was a bit peeved at the lack of cooperation of the students he organized- surprisingly they did not listen carefully to the directions of the seven year old on how to conduct an egg roll!) The inside has been cleaned and the fabulous carvings are now clearly visible. There is a visitor’s center, movie, exhibit and tour guide talk for groups visiting. The income is helping the Stewart Family with he costs of the restoration. It has ties to works by the Romantics such as William Scott and Mary Wordsworth who commented on its demise and mentioned it in their works. Dan Brown’s novels have caused a boom of tourists now so my experience was very different than the visit to a little appreciated gem years ago.But It was a worthwhile trip to revisit it now. And I left wondering about the deep crypts beneath the chapel discovered with x-ray but never opened. Besides the family and knights interred are all the statues meant for all these intricately carved platforms in there? And what other treasures lie in spaces as deep as the Gothic church itself?
Our room in the “palace “was tucked away- four flights of stairs and then another short flight for good measure. Another “hostel” (since it is dormitory facilities for the Wisconsin in Scotland Program) so again, the less than comfortable twin bed with the WC and shower 4 hallways away! But the visit brought back our experience of the House- a 17th century estate house built on the foundation of a castle. We were in Room 208 and I can honestly say I didn’t know that part of the house existed. This may explain how Adam, at seven, could hide from me so effectively in that house!
We had a great visit with our friend Charlie Radar who is teaching there this term. He is such a wonderful conversationalist with a steel trap memory and great sense of humor that infiltrates his stories. A few pub dinners and wee drams later we left grateful for such fine company.
We left Dalkeith early this morning, a beautiful day on the grounds and bused into Edinburgh, a city everyone should have a chance to visit. Its historic vistas due to the old city building up on a dead volcano ridge are so outstanding! Edinburgh is a lively place with contemporary music, art and culture happening everywhere in town. I hope I return there again soon. Highly recommended!
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