This weekend, while we HAD planned to go up to the Highlands for a nice break from the city rush, we instead hung out in town and took it easy. Jonmikel threw out his back and it was bothering him pretty bad, so we decided not to do anything strenuous. Instead, we headed out to Rosslyn Chapel, of The Da Vinci Code fame, which is about 7 miles southish of Edinburgh. To do this, we first had to brave the Scottish public transportation system. In reality, this was quite easy. The bus system here is actually very nice, and the buses run more or less on time. There are a number of stops right close to our place here in Abbeyhill. So it was just a matter of braving some light rain to get there. And a simple question to the bus driver, "Is this the stop for the Chapel?" (actually not asked by us but by another tourist couple) let us know that, in fact, the chapel was one stop down from where we were at that moment. We could have walked it, seeing as Roslin (the town in which Rosslyn Chapel resides) is awfully small. But it WAS nice to see some of the countryside. It was interesting how the city of Edinburgh suddenly just... stops. In a quick flash, you cross the bypass and suddenly there are no more homes. Just farms and fields. It's rather peaceful, really. Not to see houses right on top of each other and peope everywhere.

The chapel itself was not as crowded as I though it would be, either. Partially due to the rain, and partially due to the oncoming autumn weather we've had as of late. It's just not tourist season anymore. The big dissapointment of the day was, however, that the entire chapel is covered in scaffolding. This actually serves a practical purpose, as we found out. A number of years ago, people noticed that it was damp inside the chapel, so they sealed it up with concrete, you know, like you do. More recently, they realized that by sealing up the ceiling with concrete, they, in fact, sealed in all the water, and the whole place started to decay. Wonderful archaeologists they are. So they put up all this scaffolding to try to dry it out, and it will be up for the next few years. Best save any trips until then. Not that it isn't cool in its own right, it's just covered in metal piping. Not worth it if you're not already in the area. BUT, the inside is pretty cool. It's a big mix of Christian and Pagan symbols, which I always find fascinating in these old churches, especially those in the UK and Ireland. The Celts seemed particularly keen on mixing religions in interesting and heretical ways. For example, here at Rosslyn, there are figures of The Green Man everywhere, over 100 of them. This guy, carved as a face witrh vines growing from his mouth and ears, represents tha pagan idea of man as being tied intimately with nature. And on the Apprentice Pillar, there are 8 dragons surrounding its base, seen to represent the dragons that knaw on the tree that binds the heavens, hell and earth together in Norse mythology. This next to all the symbology of the Knights Templar and, of course, Jesus. He tends to be important in Christian tradition, also.

The cripts, too, were interesting, if only because they have a tomb of one of the Knights Templar there. One of the actual guys. I mean, how cool is that? They relocated him from a nearby cemetery, where rests another of his kin. The symbolism and history surrounding this place is just amazing. To think that in the 15th century, people lived and died there, and that there are still services there every Sunday. People worshipping as they have worshipped there for over 500 years. That's something Americans can hardly comprehend. We think things are old once they hit 30-Jonmikel, of course, being no exception :-).

After seeing the chapel, we were able to explore the grounds. The area surroudning it is motsly privately owned, but they owners have given permission for people to explore it using these well-marked foot paths. One goes down to Rosslyn Castle, which is privately owned by the descendants of the people who built Rosslyn Chapel (the St. Clairs) and is rented out for (expensive, I would imagine) holidays. It is intersting to see the castle, the top couple of floors renovated to be living spaces, while the rest of the castle (actually built into part of a small canyon created by the "river" below) remains as it was a couple hundred years ago. And you can meander the property, go down to the river, and explore the surrounding cemeteries. Of course, we had to visit the cemeteries, for Jonmikel's sake :-) before heading back toward town for a snack and to make sure we didn't miss the last bus back to town.

Map and Photos for As a Postgrad in Edinburgh...

Map data ©2008 Tele Atlas - Terms of Use
Tip: Use arrow keys to flip through the slideshow.

Ratings for

good food

0%

5 votes