Day 2 - The Tattoo

Breakfast at the Cross Keys

Needless to say, after our long, sleepless trip here and our day at the castle, we weren't up and out early. In fact, we sat around till about 11:30. I, of course, was up early in order to post our first day here. I'm up early again but today we plan to be out around 8:30.

We hit the road and I found that, after the first day of acclimating to driving on the wrong side of the road I felt much more comfortable. (More on that below.)

Our first stop of the day was, as you might guess, for lunch. I chose the Cross Keys in Biggar, not because I had ever eaten there but because my dear friend, Alex, often sang about it. (And I admit that it's one of my favorite shower songs!)

At the Cross Keys Inn live the sisters four
The landlord's daughters fair.
And every night when they put out the light
I'd tiptoe up the stairs...Singing!

Rosslyn Chapel

After our meal we were back on the road for we had an appointment at Rosslyn Chapel for 2:00pm. Constructed in 1446 by Sir William St Clair, 1^st Earl of Caithness, in rural Midlothian, until recently, it was best know for its skilled stone work. Its mysterious carvings have fascinated writers for centuries.

It was originally founded as the Collegiate Chapel of St Matthew and to hold Catholic masses. Among its many carvings is the Apprentice's Pillar. It seems that, during the Chapel's construction, the master mason saved the completion of the last pillar for himself. To prepare for its design, he traveled to Rome to see the pillar that would inspire his design. While the master was away, his young apprentice had a dream regarding the pillar and, believing it was a message from God Himself, he set about carving the pillar. When the master mason returned to find his pillar completed, in a fit of jealous rage he struck the apprentice on the head with his mallet, killing the apprentice on the spot! While this is thought to be a legend, three carvings of heads appear in the Chapel, purported to be as follows - the master mason, the apprentice...and the apprentice's mother.

Unfortunately, after the Scottish Reformation in 1560, Catholic worship in the chapel was ended. The Chapel fell into disrepair and, in 1650, Cromwell’s troops attacked Rosslyn Castle and stabled their horses inside the Chapel.

Following a period of Victorian repair and restoration, the Chapel was rededicated in 1862 and weekly services began again. However, by the mid 20^th century, it had once more fallen into disrepair. A 1995 report of its sorry state led to a trust being set up and major restoration once again taken.

For some years the Chapel continued in quiet solitude until...in 2003 Dan Brown wrote the world renowned novel, The Da Vinci Code. When, in 2006, it was released as a major movie, Rosslyn Chapel's notoriety sky rocketed. As a result, the Chapel's annual tourist attendance grew to over 176,000 at its peak providing the income for the trust to complete its work.

From Rosslyn Chapel, our plan had been to eat at a nearby restaurant (we had booked at the Esk Valley Table, something that is common here). But we decided to go on to Edinburgh and find dinner there. We knew it would be tricky with the Tattoo crowd there.

So our plan was simple - park at the Sherrifhall Park and Ride (a free city owned lot) and catch the Lothian Buslines #47 to just down the hill from the Royal Mile and Edinburgh Castle. This plan went well...well except with one complication. The bus driver said "Sorry, exact change only". I had £200 in bills, no coin. A young lady was waiting for another bus and suggested that I install the app. I easily found it and started the installation process; though I wasn't sure that I had loaded the CORRECT app.

As it happened, the next bus stopped and the driver got out to check something in the engine compartment. So I took the opportunity to ask if I had the right app. He said yes but also said the we could pay with a credit card, debit card, paypal and a few other ways that I was either unfamiliar with or didn't understand. Now, I thought, why wasn't the first bus driver forthcoming with this information? It just happened that this bus was the #47 (remember the #47?) and so we hopped aboard, I presented my card and we happily journeyed to the Castle.

Dinner at Maxie's Bistro

Having passed on Esky Valley, our first task was to find dinner. The first two places we tried to eat were booked up. Finally I saw a doorway with stairs leading down. So we elected John to go down and make sure they were in fact a restaurant. Turns out that this was Maxie's Bistro and they served excellent food. Cissy had the Seafood Linguine, John had the Lamb Chops on a nest of Haggis, Neeps and Tatties (apparently he's become somewhat of a haggis lover) and I had the most excellent Steamed Clams in Creamy Garlic Sauce. I also ordered a Poached Oyster with Curry Sauce appetizer that I shared with John. Cissy ordered some ice cream with toffee sauce so John and I split a plain ice cream and I ordered a cup of coffee.

The Tattoo

While all of this was excellent, we lost all sense of time and, unfortunately, didn't arrive at the Tattoo in time to see the massed bands march out of the Castle, probably the highlight of the event. Too bad because this was my fifth time to attend and I'm sure it will be my last. With that said, the entertainment was excellent and included the following:

• The US Air Force Honor Guard
• A band from New Zealand that put on one of those Maori war dances
• A band from Mexico featuring a Mariachi band and girls dressed in Monarch butterfly costumes (a standout) and accompanied by Banda Monumental in dramatic costume
• Scottish Dancers
• The US Air Force Band including three servicewomen singing Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy ( a real hit with the crowd)
• A female trio, The Highland Divas, singing Gaelic Songs
• A Celtic rock band
• The always popular Swiss Top Secret Drummers
• And, of course, the Massed Pipe Bands

I must add that, while the weather wasn't clear and sunny, the periodic light rain was of no consequence and the temperature was cool but very agreeable.

Last Ride on the Old 47

Leaving the Tattoo, we headed back toward our original bus stop. We suddenly realized that we did not ask the bus driver where to catch our return bus. We were standing at one of the outgoing stops when a passing bus stopped. John stepped on and asked the driver how to get back to Sherrifhall. Turns out he could take us to a stop where the #47 (remember the #47?) would pick us up and deposit us back at Sheriffhall. Of course, they didn't have transfers and I had to pay twice. However, at this point I was ready to make donation to the
if it would get us back to Sheriffhall.

This left us with a 1 hour+ car ride back to Crawfordjohn. Well, that would be 1 hour at the speed limit in the daylight. First, even the wider A-roads in Scotland are windy and curvy with Slow zones every quarter mile or so for sharp curves. This meant that I never approached the 60mph speed limit outside of towns. Oh yeah, there were small towns every few miles many with 20mph limits. And driving on the wrong side of the road at night, any car coming around a curve from the left appears to be on the wrong side of the road. Needless to say, it took us considerably more than an hour. Enough about that for now.

Arriving home, we sat long enough for the adrenaline to work its way out of our system and then retired for the night.