Yesterday I took advantage of the weather to visit Edinburgh for the first time. I got the bus into the city, and headed up to the Royal Mile, intending to visit the Castle. As I approached it, I heard a pipe band, and saw red-uniformed soldiers escorting a car down the street from the Castle towards Holyrood Palace. I looked into the car, expecting to see some important personage, but all I saw was the Scottish Crown, resplendent on a purple cushion. Later on I realized that this was part of the ceremonial opening of the Scottish Parliament by the Queen.
Oblivious to this, I visited Edinburgh Castle, then headed down the Royal Mile towards Holyrood. By now the opening ceremonies were over, and a party had developed with crowds, music, and even dancing. The (controversial) Scottish Parliament building was open to visitors, but the line was long and I decided to get lunch. By now the rain was threatening, so I headed down towards Princes Street and ducked into the National Gallery of Scotland. While I enjoyed the collection, there was just one piece that took my breath away: the most moving Rembrandt self-portrait (of all the dozens) I’ve seen:
Now it gets a little weird… Before heading back to South Queensferry, I stopped at Waterstone’s to pick up a book I’ve wanted to read for some time: Nafeez Ahmed’s The London Bombings: An Independent Inquiry. I ran across the street to the bus-stop through the rain that was now bucketing down, boarded a 43 bus, got back to the hotel 40 minutes later, turned on the television, and watched the unfolding coverage of the car bomb attack at Glasgow Airport.
Today I had planned to drive up to Stirling, but the rain and mist (practically fog) makes that an unattractive proposition. I think I’ll read my book, watch the French Grand Prix at noon (Massa on pole, Hamilton next to him – should be good!), and catch up with a couple of work items. And I’ll upload the photographs that I took as soon as I can; I’m wrestling with the configuration of Galley Remote. (The copy on my home computer is configured correctly, but of course I can’t remember how I did it! None of the obvious URLs are working for me.)
UPDATED: The photos are here.