OBU in London #17 - August 3 (to Scotland)

July 16 – August 14, 2018 – “The London 15” – OBU Student Abroad in London, England

This summer, I had the privilege of spending a month in England with a group of 15 students from Oklahoma Baptist University.  Dr. Lindsey Panxhi (an English faculty colleague) and myself, along with our respective spouses, conducted a faculty-led Study Abroad that spent four weeks on the ground in London teaching OBU courses to OBU students while being immersed in the culture and history of Great Britain.  These are our stories! 

Friday, August 3 – The Royal Military Tattoo, Edinburgh

Soft-shell crab burger

Today we headed to Scotland with Sierra and Saydi.  We left at 7:00 to walk to King’s Cross in plenty of time for our 8:00 train to Edinburgh.  I wasn’t able to read or write on the train as easily as I thought I would.  I dozed a bit, though. 

Haggis, Neeps, and Tatties!

Edinburgh Castle in the distance

Arrived at 12:20, wandered (getting lost) to the Enterprise to pick up our rental—mostly so we could leave our bags in the trunk.  We left the car in the parkade, then walked up to “The Royal Mile”—the very trendy tourist section of town.  We were really focused on getting lunch, but quickly got overwhelmed by the crowds!  The “EdFringe”—the Fringe Festival Edinburgh—is in full force (August 2-24), so there were street performers throughout the area (they even had streets shut down to vehicle traffic) and massive throngs of tourists and crowds.  A good reminder of Edmonton’s Fringe Festival! 

We did, however, find and eat at Deacon Brodie’s Tavern – somewhere that Nelson Ferguson insisted that we had to visit.  Deacon Brodie was a carpenter who moonlighted as a gangster who victimized rich individuals and businesses.  Brodie was a local hero, and is thought to be the inspiration behind Dr. Jekyll &

Mr. Hyde.  The meal was good—Saydi had “haggis, neeps, and tatties.”  Proud of her adventurous spirit—and the food tasted good too!  Vanessa had yummy fish and chips; I had a very cool soft-shell crab burger.  Awesome!  

After lunch we went up to Edinburgh Castle, which is built on top of an extinct volcano.  The Castle’s oldest buildings are 900 years old, and are on very uneven hills.  We did a

short guided tour, then explored on our own.  We saw the pit prisons, the great hall, the garrison buildings, and the armory.  The big cannons were impressive—most impressive, though, were the views of the city from the highest points of the Castle.  You can see the whole city going east, all the way to the ocean (The Firth of Forth), including many of the beautiful old buildings—bridges, cathedrals, etc.  Quite striking.  We’ve fallen in love with Scotland already! 

Eventually, we had to leave the Castle and go back to get our rental and drive out to Seabreeze, our B&B.  The drive out of the city center was … interesting.  Had to drive on the opposite side of the road, through very narrow and busy streets.  It was a very stressful beginning to my driving experience, but we made it

unscathed.  Seabreeze is gorgeous!  We have 2 rooms upstairs—both with ocean views.  The beach is directly across the street—so close!  Opening our windows, we could smell the sea air.  And our room is fantastic!  A king-sized bed, ensuite bathroom, sitting chair, and a nice day bed in front of the massive bay window opening out to the ocean.  Happy trails!  The weather is perfect – 22C, light breeze, mix of sun and clouds. 

We settled in, then took the bus back into the city center for the Royal Scotland Military Tattoo – a world-famous musical and dance extravaganza.  There were bands and ensembles from Scotland, England, Switzerland, Africa (Malawi), Oman, Mexico, and the US.  A couple of military performances, drum lines, and lots of bagpipes, including horseback pipers!  Amazing—words don’t do it justice, but it was an absolutely phenomenal two-hour performance.  We could have listened to hours more.  At several points, the combination of the music and the visual beauty had tears in my eyes.

One of my favorite groups was a drum line from Switzerland, who were dressed as spies and had an incredibly complex and choreographed routine.  The grand finale for the evening had all of the piping bands together for an absolutely massive display of bagpipes.  What an evening!  The evening was one of the top-five outings of my adult life, an absolutely awe-inspiring concert.

Took the bus back to Seabreeze, got there about midnight, and went straight to bed.  What a fantastic introduction to Scotland!