Edinburgh, Scotland

Edinburgh might be the best-kept secret in Europe. Well, at least one of them. 

It takes only a few minutes for it to move up in the rankings of favorite cities to visit. Just arrive in the middle of the city, take a walk, and you'll be hooked. A friend of mine who had been there before agreed with me that the best part of a visit is just experiencing the Old World atmosphere. 

This is impressive considering how little I knew about the place going in. Honestly, I probably would have said Glasgow was the capital of Scotland before taking this trip, and I certainly would have mispronounced its name. (it's said more like Edinboro, although a Scottish accent seems to shorten it by a syllable.)

Not only is it the center of government, but it's known for its education. The University of Edinburgh is considered one of the great research centers in the world. About a million people in the region call it home. 

Besides, Edinburgh makes one of the great introductory statement of any city on earth. The Castle stands above everything, displaying strength and beauty to those looking up at it. 

If you are in the neighborhood on a vacation, be sure to allow enough time to see it all.

Edinburgh, Scotland: National Museum of Scotland

The National Museum of Scotland is a huge, beautiful facility, filled with all sorts of displays and objects. 

For some, though, it will take a back seat to a sheep.

Even the Museum says that "Dolly" is a big star of the place. You see, the sheep was the first mammal to be cloned from an adult somatic cell. For the record, it wasn't the first animal ever cloned, but it was still quite a step forward. It received a ton of attention at the time. 

Dolly lived a happy life at a scientific institute in Scotland, bearing six lambs along the way. At age six, she developed a lung disease that wasn't related to the cloning, and was euthanized.  Dolly was stuffed and put on display. There are items on display about her in the gift shop.

This is a vast museum, nicely constructed. There are all sorts of areas covering Scottish history and culture. You'll probably come away convinced that civilization wouldn't have advanced so far without the help of the Scots. There's other items too - everything from Ancient Egyptian items to one of Elton John's suits. We didn't have the chance to spend too much time there, so block out at least a couple of hours to see it during a visit.

Edinburgh, Scotland: Usher Hall

London has Royal Albert Hall, and Edinburgh has the Usher Hall. It's the same concept, and both are beautiful places.

Usher Hall goes back more than a century. The title has nothing to do with the people that check your tickets on the way in. Rather, it's a tribute to a man named Harry Usher. He was in the whiskey business way back when, and he donated 100,000 pounds toward the construction of a new hall. It took a while to come up with a design, but advances in concrete construction allowed the walls to be curved. The building opened in 1914; Usher died before he had the chance to see it open.

It's the home for the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and several other musical organizations. The Hall seats 2,200, and the acoustics are supposedly terrific. 

But it's an old building, and you know what that means. In 1996, a good-sized piece of plaster fell from the room. Since it was after a concert, only chairs were damaged. But clearly Usher Hall needed some work. It took 11 years to figure out how to pay for it, but renovations were started in 2007 and completed in 2010. 

Edinburgh, Scotland: St. Cuthbert's Graveyard

An innocently taken photo led to quite a back story in Edinburgh.

This tower was built in the 19th century as part of St. Cuthbert's Graveyard. Someone was hired to live and work there. 

And what was the job? To stand guard against ... grave robbers. Yuck.

That had been a problem since the 1700s, and the walls of the cemetery were raised in an attempt to keep people out. Thefts eventually became so frequent that this tower was built in 1827 to keep an eye on things. It seems that "resurrectionists" would sneak in and do their worst. The pay for the job of night watchman was pretty good - something like 1,000 pounds a month at one point. Since houses went for 3,000 pounds at that stage of 19th century life, it was a pretty good living. 

If you like that sort of work. 

 

Edinburgh, Scotland: St. Andrew's House

Scotland is a small country, relatively speaking, and it doesn't take that much space to hold the top of the government. Even so, St. Andrew's House is an attractive spot for the people's business.

The facility opened in 1939, and it marked the first time that the major portions of the government were put under one roof. The catch is that the date for the opening was supposed to be September 2, and the Germans spoiled that plan by invading Poland and starting World War II the day before. The formal ceremony was delayed until 1940. Luckily the area wasn't a primary target for enemy forces during the war.

The First Minister and his deputy work out of this building and most of the key decisions are made here. The building stands on the former site of a prison, which prompts an interesting story. The graves of ten murderers are still in place, buried under the car park of the complex. 

.