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Scotland's National Gallery

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Today we went to St. Giles Cathedral, saw some paintings and went on a "Doomed Dead and Buried" Mercat Ghost Tour and ended the day at the Albanach with another whisky flight, a couple beers, a sticky toffee pudding and five whole onion rings. 

St. Giles Cathedral is small but very pretty. 





We went to the Scottish National Gallery (SNG) that has a decent number of paintings. Our time there was mercifully short for Libby. The building is from the mid-nineteenth century, and is currently under some external work. There were signs apologizing for any noise, but I heard none. The SNG seems to be part of the UK's free arts program where a number of museums are free to enter. The range and chronological scope the collection covers is impressive. They do focus on Early Modern works (so 15th-18th century), but have a fair amount of pieces from medieval triptychs (Libby's favorites (eye roll)), and even has a Davinci and piece from the Raphael workshop. The name of the Raphael one is very elegant and really rolls off the tongue: "The Holy Family Meeting the infant St John the Baptist ('The Madonna del Passeggio')". The title in parentheses is supposedly the original title. The placard says the work was likely pained by an assistant of Raphael's named Gianfracesco Penni. It's got a landscape that I appreciate, and who I assume is a Joseph who is looking right at the viewer with this puzzling look. I can't tell if he's knowing or offended. 

Anyway, I'm not going to go on and on about what I liked there. From there we got lunch at Deacon Brodie's Tavern. Libby had fried chicken burger and fries, Bob had a pulled pork sandwich, and I had a pork and...wait for it....haggis "Toad in the hole". This consisted of three sausages made from pork and haggis, mashed potatoes, some steamed cabbage and carrots, all inside a giant Yorkshire pudding. I really liked my beer there. It was called Stewart's 80 from Stewart Brewing Ltd. It was suggested by our server so I obliged and was very happy with the results. 

After lunch we strolled through some shops got Starbucks and headed home before our trip out on the ghost tour.

We met our guide at the Mercat cross near St. Giles. Our guide's name was Margaret Ann and she was a theater major with a history minor if there ever was one. It was like walking around with a one-woman theater show. We all really enjoyed her storytelling even if it wasn't dark. The first part of the tour spent time within one of the "vaults" under South Bridge. As a result of Edinburgh's geography there are a couple roads that are ground level at the top of the Royal Mile, but become bridges to the south of there. In fact where we are staying is midway down a hill to the valley below where a road runs perpendicular and underneath said bridge. We're right across the street from Mercat's HQ and where we went into their building to enter the vault they access. 

She started with some gruesome tales about how folks were punished/tortured in early modern Edinburgh. Then we were regaled with stories of the "history" of the bridge, and the vaults underneath--both past and contemporary. All with a hefty flair for the dramatic. She even got one girl to yelp in the vaults. 

The stories were all very fanciful but still entertaining. 


When the tour ended we found our selves at Albanach again. Now we're home.




Tomorrow is the Edinburgh Castle and we'll see where the day takes us. 




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