Travel Story - Glimpses of Edinburgh, Scotland

We planned a return to pre-pandemic travel, a trip to Edinburgh, Scotland. We would spend week in a nice hotel with day trips into the countryside. The plan was good, but didn't allow for catching a cold. I haven't had a cold in easily five years...I felt lousy and lacked interest in being a tourist. However, I have argued that you can enjoy new places without the need to rush around to see everything. Looking back, the very reduced vacation was still neat.

Edinburgh, Scotland

Visiting Scotland--Beautiful Orkney

Sometimes the places I go are imbued with romance from my childhood. Ah, Orkney! In the King Arthur tales of my childhood, Sir Gareth of Orkney was my favorite. (Cliffnotes) Many places associated with King Arthur are in southern England, for example Cornwall, so I never grasped how far Gareth traveled to serve with King Arthur.

Visiting Scotland--A glimpse of Shetland's prehistory

Northern Europe has absolutely marvelous archaelogical sites dating back thousands of years. 

On Shetland I visited Jarlshof. Here, the brutal Earl Patrick Stewart built a fortified manor on the same site as a 800 BC Bronze-age village. 

Today nobody lives there, but the ruins and artifacts are from the Neotlithic (2500-1500 BC), then Bronze Age, Iron Age, Pict, Norse and Scots' settlements! (link)  

Visiting Scotland-- a bit of wild Shetland

Last May I visited the Shetlands on a tour with Academic Arrangements Abroad and the Met. The northmost part of Scotland, they are beautiful!

First I looked out at the stunning view above, then down at the grass. Here you see plantains, Plantago lanceolata, flowering in the grass (blog on plantains).

narrow-leafed plantain, Plantago lanceolata, in the grass