Scotland: Day 1, June 14, 2009—Edinburgh

Our first full day began with breakfast at our lodgings and a short bus tour of the city on our way to church. We worshipped that morning at St. Giles Cathedral. It was a really neat experience worshiping in such an old, magnificent building. St. Giles had an amazing choir—relatively small, but very powerful, with great harmonies. I sat next to a nice Scottish Lady who very kindly helped us figure out where to turn in the little worship books they gave us. The communion at this service was very different; I'd never experienced one like it before. Rather than either passing the elements down the aisles or inviting everyone to come forward to receive the elements from the pastor or the elders, the pastor invited sub-group of the church up to the middle of the church, where the pulpit was situated. They formed a circle, and a loaf of bread was passed around the circle, followed by a goblet of wine. Everyone tore off a piece of the bread and took a sip from the cup. When all were served, they sat back down, and the next sub-group came up. It took three groups to serve everyone. I had never seen communion done like that before, but the Scottish lady I was sitting by was very kind and assured us that we were very welcome.

After service, we went around to the side of the church to see the burial site of John Knox. Knox, as well as many other Protestant performers in Scotland, was concerned with the use of images and statues in worship and in churches. They feared it would lead to idolatry. So, accordingly, Knox wanted an unmarked grave. So now, several centuries later, John Knox's unmarked grave is located in the midst of, of all things, a parking lot. Some days, you can't see it, because there is a car parked on top of it. But we were lucky—Knox's spot was vacant that day. On parking space #23, there was a small, pale yellow square, the only indication that an influential religious reformer reposed beneath the pavement.

After visiting John Knox's grave, we quickly changed out of our church clothes and walked up the Royal Mile to Edinburgh Castle. The features of this castle include, among others, the Scottish Crown Jewels, The Scottish National War Memorial, for those Scotsmen who had died in World War II, the birthplace of King James VI, and St. Margaret's Chapel, the oldest building in Edinburgh. My favorite exhibit in the castle was the prison exhibit. As grim as that sounds, there was a section of the exhibit displaying items made by prisoners of war. As was explained to me, a prisoner of war then wasn't like a prisoner of state; while they were kept incarcerated, they weren't considered a criminal. It was merely what happened in war—people got captured. So prisoners of war weren't necessarily treated poorly or tortured. To fill their time, then, these prisoners of war would create the gorgeous hand crafts, including models of ships and inlaid jewelry boxes.

We had lunch at the café inside the castle, and once again I was impressed with the prominence of Fair Trade products and the thought given to environmentally friendly practices. I had already noticed the Fair Trade coffee, tea, and sugar in our lodgings. Here, there was not only Fair Trade coffee and tea, but also Fair Trade juice drinks. And the wrapping of my sandwich was 100% biodegradable. These are rather random observations, but they made me very happy, and contributed to my overall love of the country.

After our visit to Edinburgh castle, we took a short walking tour of downtown Edinburgh. This tour took us through the Grassmarket Square—which excited me, because there are several cafes in this district that were favorite haunts of JK Rowling while she was writing the Harry Potter books (yeah, my nerdiness is showing). There is one café with a sign that designates it as the birthplace of Harry Potter. I didn't actually get to see it, but some others in our group took a ghost tour that evening and were able to get a picture of it. I would like to know, though, on what grounds they claim to be the birthplace of Harry Potter, since Rowling first conceived Harry Potter while sitting on a train.

I digress. Anyway, we continued on to the Greyfriars Kirk. Originally, this site hosted a Franciscan friary, and it still contains the oldest graveyard in Edinburgh. The present church was the first new church erected in Edinburgh after the Reformation. In 1638, the National Covenant was signed here. This Covenant proclaimed the resistance of the supporters to attempts by King Charles to regulate the Church of Scotland and make it conform more closely to the Church of England. Those who signed and supported the Covenant called themselves "Covenanters." (I hope I'm getting all this history right; there was a lot of it. If anyone happens to read this, and sees that I have made a mistake, please feel free to correct me in t he comments.) The Covenanters Prison is also located in the Greyfriars Kirkyard, where many Covenanters and Presbyterians were imprisoned and persecuted for their faith and their refusal to follow the Church of England.

It began to rain while we were visiting the Kirkyard (the first of many times we would be caught in the rain). We sought shelter briefly inside the Kirk—however, there was a wedding about to commence, and we felt awkward shivering in our wet jeans while the wedding party awaited the arrival of the bride. So as soon as the rain let up a little, we left the Kirk and escaped the rain once again in the Royal Museum of Scotland. This was a vast museum, with an extensive collection of exhibits ranging from history to religion to geography and natural history. I didn't walk around the museum as much as maybe I should have, because by that time the jet lag was starting to creep up on me, and my feet were tired. But we did see several artifacts from the Reformation, including Jenny Geddes stool. As the story goes, the Dean of St. Giles church, during a service in 1637, read a liturgy by the Archbishop Laud. This was during the Presbyterians' fight to separate from the rituals and regulations of the Church of England. Jenny Geddes, angered at hearing what sounded like a mass being read, stood up and threw her stool at the Dean. This incident started a riot, which lead to the signing of the National Covenant the next year.

After our visit to the Royal Museum, we had dinner at a restaurant in downtown Edinburgh called Garfunkel's. I had my first fish and chips in Britain here—which excited me very much. The rest of the evening was ours.

Our lodgings were located next to Holyrood Park, in which there is an extinct volcano called Arthur's seat. We had driven past the park on our way to our lodgings the night before, and I thought it looked like a nice place for a walk or hike. So Clay, Denise, and I found our way over to the park and hiked around Arthur's Seat. The ground was still fairly wet, and we reached a point where the trail gave way to more rocky terrain. I didn't want to slip, as I'm a bit clumsy, so I stopped there, while Clay climbed up higher. But even the height I had reached offered a beautiful, panoramic view of the city.

After our excursion in Holyrood Park, we went with others in our group to a pub called the Three Sisters. This pub had been recommended to us by a friend of one our group members who lives in Edinburgh. She met us at the pub, and she was very friendly and wanted to make sure we were all enjoying Edinburgh. She also helped us figure out what bus to take back to our lodgings, which was also helpful. I had never been to a pub or bar before (as I am only 20, and can't legally do so here), so it was a new experience for me. But this was a really great group to have my first pub experience with, because they were all very mature. No one got trashed, and everyone kept track of everyone else and made sure we all knew where everyone was and that no one got left behind.

I suppose that's it for day 1. It was a very full day, and a very good day, and I slept very well. Which is good, as we had another full day planned in the morning.