Category Archives: United Kingdom

Leaving the Highlands

When you arrive in Glasgow coming from the Highlands you feel a sense of being out of place. Glasgow seems like a letdown but not because of what it has to offer. As one of the first European cultural capital, Glasgow morphed from an industrial city to a vibrant center of culture and creativity.

Its old university, its interesting and numerous museums, the daily Kelvingrove organ concert, its charming location around the river, its parks, the cathedral and its Victorian buildings are for sure major attractions for any visitor.

And most probably if we had come to Glasgow in the first days after we landed in Scotland we would have enjoyed it more. But in spite of Macintosh’s architectural spirit that dominates the city style and the interesting new architecture, what can match the mysterious Highlands in Scotland ever?

So I will defer my last thoughts to Robert Burns, the national poet of Scotland:

“My heart’s in the Highlands, my heart is not here,

My heart’s in the Highlands, a-chasing the deer;

Chasing the wild deer, and following the roe,

My heart’s in the Highlands, wherever I go.”

“Farewell to the Highlands, farewell to the North,

The birth-place of Valour, the country of Worth;

Wherever I wander, wherever I rove,

The hills of the Highlands forever I’ll love.”

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Glencoe

We passed parts of Glencoe in a Scottish drizzle when we drove towards the Isle of Skye. In spite of the constant drizzle, the valley seemed magical with tumbling waterfalls formed from the rain pouring on all mountain versants. It seemed that all the surrounding mountains were covered in multiple threads of a magic potion as offered from gods. Glencoe is probably one of the most spectacular hiking destinations in the Scottish Highlands.

Because of its spectacular beauty, Glencoe is a remarkable place for photography. It was noticed also by the movie producers who shot in the valley scenes in several movies from Harry Potter to James Bond.

Close to the Isle of Skye, at the entrance to Glencoe is the much-photographed castle of Eilean Donan. It is located on a small island at the confluence of three sea lochs. The castle was built in the 13th century as a stronghold of the Mackenzie Clan. The winners’ written history put the Mackenzies on the wrong side because of their involvement in the Jacobite rebellions that for more than 60 years tried to bring back a Stuart king to the Scottish throne. The united government of England and Scotland formed in 1707 had a different opinion about who had to be the ruling monarch and sent ships that destroyed the castle in 1719. The present-day castle and its picturesque bridge are a 20th-century reconstruction.

And of course, it would be no Scotland without the Scotch. Whiskey distilleries are everywhere. The traditional manufacturing of Scotch makes for a very interesting story about its long fermentation process happening in gigantic wooden casks and copper recipients with elegant long goosenecks. After processing, “The Scotch” as the Scottish whiskey is called is kept in old casks, each of them taking about six years to get manufactured. Their wood comes from specific places where it is collected, transported with care, and kept for a long time to dry after that being scented for another long period with vanilla or bourbon. A good cask costs a lot but it can be used for up to 60 years. The caves preserving them have casks as old as 1972 that are tasted by a master brewer who can identify up to 80 scents of whiskey. With such a long and detailed processing it may be no surprise that a bottle of scotch from a 1972 cask will cause damage in your wallet of no less than …$220.000.

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A hidden waterfall

Steall Gorge and Waterfall, Ben Nevis Area, Scotland

The second-largest waterfall in Scotland, Steall Falls tumbled 120m into an open scenic valley formed by the tall mountains of the Nevis Gorge. In Scottish Gaelic, it is called Eas an Steill or An Steall Ban, meaning the white spout. The waterfall became quite famous after it was featured in one of the Harry Potter movies where he took on the Hungarian Horntail dragon.

Crossing the river on a wire by the Steal Gorge Waterfall, Ben Nevis Area, Scotland

The entire area is owned by John Muir Trust whose aim was to restore it to its original natural state. One of the cool things about the hike to the waterfall is the river crossing on a three-wire bridge over the Nevis River, You can also wad into the river and cross it the old-fashioned way but it would be no story to tell this way.

The waterfall is in close proximity to Ben Nevis, the tallest mountain in Britain part of the Grampian Mountain range. “The mountain with its head in the clouds” as Ben Nevis is called in Gaelic was a massive active volcano that once exploded and collapsed inwards.

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Quiraing

Around Quiraing the earth shifts continuously. Every year, the road has to be repaired for cracks caused by tiny shifts in the surrounding hills. It’s a place of amazing beauty in a craggy landscape that seems taken out of a fairy tale. The clouds float over the jagged cliffs, and rocky peaks, bathing in a sea of green maintained by the constant Scottish drizzle.

Quiraing is part of the Trotternish landslip that created most of the formations in the Isle of Sky including the Old Man of Storr. Its landscape was formed by constant terrestrial turmoil and its collection of hidden nooks and crannies helped the islanders centuries ago to hide their cattle from Viking raiders.

The name Quiraing comes from the Norse word for “Round Fold”. There are lots of trails that wind through this magnificent landscape. The famous Quiraing Circuit passes a long valley with stupendous views of the surrounding peaks with plunging waterfalls ending in mirror lochs. It reaches a peak with great views all around and continues on top of the ridge from where the hikers in the valley look like tiny colorful ants moving steadily. With the continuous Scottish rain, the terrain can be very muddy and the steep descent from the ridge may seem like a mudslide so a better option is to descend earlier from the ridge on more rocky ground.

The serenity of the place called now Brother’s Point lured the monks to create a hermitage close to the ocean. Its ruins still stand but they are of less interest for the few visitors who stroll on the rocks diving into the water covered in the white of the limpets.

Rubha nam Brathairean as Brother’s Point is known in Scottish Gaelic looks so remote that it’s no surprise to see traces of dinosaurs that once roamed this land, a land that today is grazed only by … sheep.

Dinosaur print at Brothers’ Point, Isle of Skye, Scotland

The most famous clans who once ruled the Isle of Skye were the McLeods and McDonalds. The Dunvegan Castle located on the western side of the island was built by the McLeod Clan. The castle is surrounded by an impressive garden built at the request of a McLeod lady who complained that no garden can sprout on this rocky Isle of Skye, an island made only of dreams and populated by spirits.

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Old Man

Hidden behind a veiling mist the Old Man of Storr is luring visitors to its mysterious realm. It is probably one of the most well-known hikes on the Isle of Skye, a collection of the rugged vistas entwined with folkloric mysticism.

The Old Man of Storr is a 160-foot towery rock formation seemingly looking like a man. The Storr, which derives from the Norse word for “Great Man”, is the group of outcrops that surround the pinnacle rock of the “Old Man”. It is located on the Trotternish Ridge, part of the eastern peninsula of the Isle of Skye, once connected with the eastern mountain range on the American continent.

The local folk legends tell about an old giant living once on the Trotternish Ridge who after he died was buried but his huge thumb, the “Old Man” pinnacle, stuck out of the ground. The hike to the Old Man of Storr is magically in the mist reaching an elevation of 2300 feet, a hike over grassy mounds and slippery paths.

But besides the Old Man of Storr, a drive around the eastern peninsula of the Isle of Skye unveils the magic of the island. On hanging ridges that confer phenomenal views over the ocean roam sheep that watch the visitors as intruders in their realm.

Tumbling waterfalls descend directly into the ocean filling it with a magic fluid from which ageless legends lift into the encompassing mist. Spread out white painted houses look like child’s toys on the forever green that expands to the horizon.

Kilt Rock & Mealt Falls, Isle of Skye, Scotland

Among the waterfalls are traces of the island’s history, old ruined castles occupied once by the Isle’s clans that are still standing strong in the fiery winds that blow over the island’s outcrops. Lost in the empty fields are old stones inscribed by the ancient Pictish tribes that once ruled the island before the Romans, Saxons, Normans, Scots, English, and all others who became temporary inhabitants of this land that seemed to be roamed by spirits.

The only remaining Pictish inscribed stone, Isle of Skye, Scotland

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Nessie

We missed the monster. It was again a no-show for the famous cryptozoological inhabitant of the lake maybe because the waters of Loch Ness were choppy and the boat was swaying like in a Shakespearean “Tempest”. This is cool in Scotland, you switch from ghosts to monsters in a landscape that somehow makes you feel that all are entitled to roam there as the most natural thing in the world. And while looking for the monster you find yourself in front of the Urquhart Castle. A castle with such a cool name, waiting with its walls weathered by storms and enemies’ attacks.

The lake is about 37 km long and fed by River Ness, the second largest in Scotland after Lake Lomond. Its picturesque castle, Urquhart was founded in the 13th century playing a role in the Scottish war of Independence. It ended up “self-destroyed” by the Scottish army not to fall into the hands of the English.

At the southern end of the lake is Fort Augustus, the end of the man-made Caledonian Canal that traverses a number of “lochs” connecting Inverness through Loch Ness with Scotland’s western coast by Fort William.

The long road around the lake has a collection of old stone bridges, forests in bloom, and spectacular waterfalls that beg you to stop and admire.

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Cairngorms

A cultural revilement of everything Scottish brought to the surface the Scottish Gaelic language. It is spoken by a bit more than 50000 people in a country of 5 million. But its prevalence is impressive. Lots of signs are bilingual and especially in the highlands, you can see it written everywhere. It’s hard to read so each time I had to copy and paste the Gaelic names into Gaelic.

The Cairngorms is a national park located in the middle of the Highlands. The main towns from where most of the hikes leave are Newtonmore and Aviemore. We hiked the Wildcat Trail that passes mainly bucolic pastures where sheep graze meditating and twisted forests descend into rivers and ravines.

From Aviemore, a great hike is the Meall a’Bhuachaille loop -did I spell it right? – that reaches the top of the hill at 840 meters. Before you start climbing you pass An Lochan Uaine Lake, a turquoise loch lost in the deserted hills. The tree line in these hills is somewhere around 400 meters and from there on you encounter only winds blasting the small bush vegetation, a tundra climate more like Canada than the Alps. Hiking the mountain hill an entire panorama of “lochs” unveils under you, up to 10 “lochs” could be seen from the top.

Even if the weather was calm at the base brutal winds were tormenting the top. Because rain is always close in Scotland you feel that you walk in the clouds with the advantage that … you get better reception on the iPhone, the higher you get 🙂

The descent of the mountain toward the bottom lake is through forests with tall straight trees filled with lots of singing birds. Loch Morlich, whose name sounds like taken from “The Lord of the Rings”, has a great beach, unexpected in that setting.

The closest large city to the park is Inverness, a good place to spend the night. It has a lovely promenade around the river Ness overlooked by a castle in a permanent state of restoration.

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Ghosts

For a castle to be cool it needs a ghost. Glamis Castle has no less than 9 ghosts that haunt its corridors and walkways day and night. Located not far from Perth, Glamis Castle was in the possession of the same family since the time of Robert de Bruce who granted the land to Sir John Loyd in 1372.

William Shakespeare placed the plot of “Macbeth” in Glamis Castle in spite of the fact that the real King Macbeth of Scotland was dead for 400 years when the castle began to be built. But up to more contemporary history, Glamis was the castle of Queen Elisabeth II’s “Queen Mother”.

With a such illustrious history, the ghosts of the castle abound. It’s the lady without a tongue who points to her mouth, the Grey Lady of Glamis sitting in the corner chair in one bedroom, the young servant boy showing up occasionally in the same place and the ghost of Earl Berdie still playing cards with the devil in a secret room of the castle sealed for centuries. In that rooms were also discovered skeletons of the Ogilvy clan killed in the 15th century by an enemy clan adding to the collection of ghosts.

Besides the ghosts, the castle had also an official monster declared dead at birth but aged hidden inside the castle, a grand-grandfather of Queen Elisabeth II. Personally, we did not see any ghosts but I still have to check the footage to see if it’s anything lurking in the background. A piece of less esoteric news about the castle was the recent arrest of Earl of Strathmore, the current owner of the castle and cousin to the Queen who spent five months in jail for sexual assault. It happened in the middle of the night right inside the castle with no other ghosts involved. So stay away from his future ghost.

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Holy Stone

Not all palaces are alike. Some played important roles in history. Scone’s land was probably one of the most important location in Scotland’s history because here, since the 9th century were crowned all Scottish kings.

Moot Hill Chapel with the copy of the Stone of Scone, Scone Palace, Scotland

In the 9th century Kenneth MacAlpin arrived in Scone. He brought with him a rock from the Hebrides that became the holy coronation stone of Scotland. It became known also as the Stone of Scone because was kept in the abbey that was built on the palace’s land. The chapel that still stands today is on the grounds of the old abbey where coronations took place, in a location named Moot Hill or the Mud Hill.

The tradition said that the hill was built by the mud brought from all over Scotland by the nobles who came to Scone to be part of the new king’s coronation. The king was coronated on top of all this mud so he became by this act the king of the entire country. The coronation rituals asked the king to step on the Stone of Scone as a symbol of his marriage to the land.

In the 13th century the stone was taken from Scone and moved to Westminster Abbey in London and since then all kings of England were coronated stepping onto the stone, the last being Queen Elisabeth II in 1953. However, the stone was stolen from London by a group of Scottish nationalists and brought stealthy to Scotland in 1950, just to be returned after being found and officially to be return to the Edinburgh Castle in 1996. But when a new monarch will be crowned in London the stone has to be transported there for the ceremony before coming back to Scotland.

But in reality nobody knows if the stone that was moved for century across the British isles is the original or the copy left in Scone is actually a copy. The legends mentioned that when Edward I invaded in 1296, the abbey’s monks hid the real stone and they gave the English king a fake. Looking for the real stone it may be the subject of future books and movies.

Hero

In the old days of no roads, Stirling’s position was key. It represented the bridging point over the River Forth connecting the Lowlands to Scotland’s Highlands. And of course, the city that for a while was the capital of Scotland was highly coveted by the English.

The Great Hall of Stirling Castle, Stirling, Scotland

But for the first-time visitor once entered Stirling the history of Scotland would parade in front getting him dazzled and confused among so many James and Edwards each with his own numeral. They all fought around the city winning or being defeated, spilling lots of blood on the nearby fields. But in spite of all the battles fought around it the Stirling castle resisted the times and its gigantic Banquet Hall hosts today’s large meetings of the European Union’s bureaucrats.

The Unicorn tapestries, Stirling Castle, Stirling, Scotland

The stunning Unicorn tapestries in splendid vivid colors that decorate the royal chambers of the castle are actually copies of the original ones that hang in … New York City at the Cloisters branch of the Metropolitan Museum. An original set depicting “the history of the unicorn” was part of a large collection of tapestries that Scotland’s James V had in Stirling Castle but nobody knows what exactly happened to that collection. The unicorn was chosen as the national animal of Scotland’s kings and it is displayed on Scotland’s coats of arms. It symbolizes purity and innocence as well as power and masculinity. But were those Scottish kings delusional to think of themselves as innocent and pure or it was just marketing?

But putting aside all Scotland’s kings and their egos, Stirling is known mainly for Scotland’s war of independence fomented by William Wallace, a local hero of lesser nobility who was able to aggregate the Scottish forces in spite of the bickering and deals made behind the back of the local nobles. Wallace fought and defeated a large invading army of the English king in the battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297. Wallace rose to prominence in a time of great turmoil for Scotland’s leadership where no less than 13 nobles were fighting for succession to the throne and his effort seemed to galvanize the national spirit of the country.

Church of the Hollyrood, Stirling, Scotland

In spite of being apprehended and executed by the English seven years after the famous battle, Wallace’ spirit prevailed and the next Scottish king, Robert de Bruce was able to fight and win the country’s independence for a good period of time. But William Wallace remained a monumental figure in the history of Scotland, the national hero whose memorial was built near the field on which he won the famous battle of the Stirling Bridge.

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Templars … or not

Roslin Chapel is for sure an extremely beautiful church with remarkable decorations. But its reputation surprisingly does not stem from its amazing look. Built in the 15th century the church was never finished because, as it happens today the funds ran out.

The decoration inside is stunning with intricately ornate columns and figures of men surrounded by vegetation – green men – or angels complemented by haunting gargoyles outside. But no matter all these spectacular details the chapel remained unknown till the 1980s when it became the hub of speculations about its possible connection with the Knights Templar. It did not matter that the Templar order was closed 150 years before the chapel was built. What mattered was that the DC Comics’ Batman traced a hidden treasure in the chapel in a quest in Scotland that triggered the rumors.

Apprentice Pillar, Roslin Chapel, Scotland

Another author made connections between the Chapel’s Apprentice Pillar to Hiram Abiff in Masonic ritual and from here it followed the connections with the Masonry. It helped that one of the later Sinclairs of the family who founded the chapel was the first Grand Master of the Scottish Lodge.

But nothing would have fueled more interest in Rosslyn Chapel than the scenes in “The Da Vinci Code” movie that happened in the chapel’s crypt thought to be connected with an extensive underground where hidden the real tomb of Jesus and/or the Holy Grail. This was QAnon before QAnon and to an extent of imagination, it can be connected further to Pizzagate or to JFK jr. as a running mate. But what it came up to was that it forced the chapel to build an extensive, and expensive visitor center to accommodate hordes of new visitors looking to decipher the hidden mysteries of Christianity.

The Ruins of the Roslin Castle, Scotland

Not far from Roslin chapel, the Palace of Linlithgow is still closed for renovation evading for the moment any conspiracies. It was the main palace of Scotland and the one where Mary Queen of Scots was born. The palace has also a castle by the sea at Blackness, reached by a pleasant stroll on the shore of the bay.

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Castle Rock

Edinburgh is fun. The streets are full morning to night and the pubs are doing brisk business since the early hours. The host of the best International Theater Festival is alive even without its main cultural event. Tourists and travelers alike flood the High Street sites making Edinburg, Scotland’s capital since the 15th century, the second most visited city in the UK after London.

On top of Castle Rock stands proud Edinburgh Castle. It got used for centuries to be under the assault of various enemies and now dealing only with peaceful visitors. In the street noise, you could distinguish the chord of the bagpipes calling not armies to battle but the tourists to donate a coin.

Palace of Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh, Scotland

Edinburgh is the summer residence of the British Queen who comes to spend an event-filled week in the Palace of Holyrood House that stands on the other side of the town.

The impressive St Giles Cathedral has inside the Chapel of the Thistle, the home of the noblest order of chivalry in Scotland. The order was established in 1687 but many legends pushed it back in history all the way to 786. The members of the order are appointed by the British monarch and consist of only 16 knights. The thistle is the national flower of Scotland and is represented on various palaces. The chapel in St Giles is intensely ornate and covered in decorated furniture inserted with the coats of arms of the past knights whose names are listed at its entrance. The Order of the Thistle is second in importance in the UK after the Order of the Garter.

The Thistle Chapel, St Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh, Scotland

Walter Scott Memorial, Edinburgh, Scotland

A great and very popular hike is the climb of Arthur’s Seat, a hill with great views over the city, and one of the oldest places in the area that traces human inhabitance. The apparent benign hill is actually the peak of an old volcano covered now not in lava but in an expanse of yellow gorse bushes.

Gorse bushes towards Arthur’s Seat, Edinburgh, Scotland

And of course, Arthur’s Seat is considered by some the location of the Camelot Court of the legendary King Arthur. Though no trace remained of it trampled by lots of people taking selfies for Instagram hoping to catch the ghost of King Arthur in the background. With the collection of smiling selfies on their phones, they will fill the city’s pubs for a relaxing evening with friends.

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Pupils

Windsor Castle is the place where the British Queen spends all her weekends. The castle is the oldest and largest of its kind among the occupied royal properties. The original castle was built here in the 11th century by William the Conqueror after the battle of Hastings that speared the Norman invasion of the British Isles. Since around 1100 during the reign of Henry the First, the castle was used as a royal residence. Renovated in the 19th century the castle’s architecture spans a millennium of construction styles.

Seen from the Thames river that flows lazily nearby the castle is a foreboding presence, a staunch protector of the British Royal Family and British traditions. On the opposite shore of the river, across Windsor, is the charming town of Eton.

A much smaller town, Eton formed around its well-known college. Eton College was founded in the middle of the 15th century by King Henry VI as a school to offer free education for impoverished children. After being educated in Eton these pupils continued their education at King’s College in Cambridge.

In spite of changes in its endowment in the centuries that followed after its founding, Eton remained even today one of the most prestigious high schools in England, its alumni ending up in higher positions in society. Several prime ministers besides numerous politicians, professors, actors, journalists, and officials were graduates of Eton College. The corporal punishment for which Eton was known in the past was abolished only in the 1980s but the code of conduct remains including the dress code of a black tailcoat or black waistcoat with a starched stiff collar and black pinstriped trousers.

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London’s Art

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London’s Streets

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The Bard

Shakespeare’s Birthplace, Stratford Upon Avon, England

A visit To Stratford Upon Avon is a pilgrimage. Shakespeare’s birthplace deserves more than a simple casual visit. The house where he was born has on one wall a panel painted with the naive images from all his plays each with a short line that summarizes its synopsis. The entire town is marked by places related to the bard’s life, the house where his wife Anna Hathaway lived before their wedding, and the church where both are buried.

The Arlechin statue, Stratford Upon Avon, England

But the town was packed with people roaming its High Street morphed for the day into a car show with sports models delighting the audiences and families picnicking near the Shakespeare’s Globe Theater by the shores of Avon River.

Stratford is in the Warwickshire district, close to Warwick Castle, one of the most impressive in England. The castle has a large courtyard surrounded by tall well preserved fortifications. Its first build was in 1068 by William the Conquerer, two years after the battle of Hastings.

The castle changed hands many times and today is owned by Merlin Entertainment, the second-largest entertainment company in the world after Disney. They fixed the castle and opened it in 1978 but they “disnefied” it with children’s places and treasure hunts. For the ones who came to visit the old interiors, the company preserved several rooms in the original state and a walk around the ramparts with great views over the countryside’s yellow rape seed fields.

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Oxbridge

The histories of the two famous education institutions in England, Oxford, and Cambridge, are deeply entangled. And the same can be said about the antagonism and the competition that developed between them. However, they represent the main hub of talent that feed the British elites of all sorts and are known under one name as Oxbridge.

Oxford was established in 1167 following an edict of the king that banned students to study at the University of Paris. However, the city of Oxford had already a monastic school where teaching started around 1096. Oxford is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. After a quarrel between the students and the townfolks 40 years later after its founding, a group of professors and students from Oxford left east to establish what will become Cambridge University.

But the fascinating history of the university and its important role pale in comparison with its modern history as the shooting location of the Harry Potter movies. Tourists flock to see and take selfies for Instagram in front of the real-life Hogwarts. And what can be more iconic than the Divinity School that was featured as the Hogwarts infirmary in several of the famous series?

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The City

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Punting

With its winding cobblestone-covered streets lined up with teeny stores, Cambridge invites you for a serene stroll in its center. Its unpaired charm is augmented by the remarkable architecture of the buildings of its 31 colleges that together form the University of Cambridge, the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world. The university was founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231. All 31 colleges are self-governing institutions within the university, each with its own internal structure and activities for its own members. All students are members of one of these colleges.

The city of Cambridge traces its history to 1068 when William of Normandy built a castle on Castle Hill. The college buildings date from various periods of time but they are not places of study anymore but just dorms for students. And for obvious reasons, in spite of their splendid architecture, students prefer more modern buildings to live in while the study is done in modern teaching halls and top-of-line labs.

Punting on River Cam, Cambridge, England

The cool activity and the best way to visit Cambridge is by punting, a relaxing pastime spent on flat bottom boats being pushed with a pole along the River Cam’s canals. The canals, named the “backs” because they are flowing by the back of the college buildings, were the main way to transport and pass goods in Cambridge. The college land was private and could not be accessed so the only way to move around between colleges was through these canals whose bottoms were cemented, becoming a sort of submerged roads.

Bridge of Sighs on the “backs”, Cambridge, England

The punting tradition was not invented in Cambridge. Punting was done on the lower levels areas of the Thames River long before but in 1903 it was introduced with great success in Cambridge and it became one of the most looked-after activities during the summer months. Manned by students, the punting trip is the best way to learn about the colleges, their rivalry, and many of the old traditions of this charming university city.

C-Sunday on Jesus Green, Cambridge, England

The first Sunday in May is always the last weekend before the exam term, a month of hard study, and multiple exams for Cambridge students. The celebration is known as C-Sunday and is named after the Jesus drinking society, the “Cesarians” that used to fight monsters on the Common. So drinking is mandatory and drinking societies usually initiate new recruits on the morning of C-Sunday, before joining the others in the Jesus Green Park.

“Some initiations started as early as 2am with first years having to down a pint of coffee before switching to beers at 5am. Other drinking societies were more gentle, starting initiations at 10am. One drinking society asked its members to bring a total of 5L of alcohol per person to the initiations. An initiator said he felt ‘sorry’ for those being initiated. Yet another student celebrated the inclusivity of her initiation, stating it was very much a case of “drink this pint (if you want to)”. (from Varsity local newspaper)

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Tourists’ London

Each heart for one life lost during the Covid Pandemic, London

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Stones

I was reluctant to visit Stonehenge expecting to see large crowds mobbing the circle of hanging stones. But on the contrary, the entire experience of visiting England’s most famous archeological site proved to be pleasant and serene. In the 11th century, it was recorded for the first time that Stanheng were “stones supported in the air”. Since then so much was written about the remarkable archeological complex near Salisbury, England.

Who built Stonehenge remains a mystery. Its original purpose also remains subject to speculations. And when science stumbles legends prevail. So according to folk tales, Stonehenge was created by Merlin, King Arthur’s wizard. He used magic to transport the massive stones from Ireland, where he employed a group of giants to assemble them. Other legends credit the invading Danes to assemble the stone complex while others consider the enclosure to be the ruins of a Roman temple. The site was first surveyed in the 17th century and was considered at the time to be of Celtic origin, a religious center presided over by Druid priests. The new-age theories of today are way spicier considering the complex to be an airport for alien spacecraft or a giant fertility symbol in the shape of female genitalia. So pick your own legend…

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The Romans

Even if the Romans founded Bath, England millenniums ago what arrests the view before anything else is the remarkable elegant architecture of the city. There are grandiose assemblies of buildings lined up in circles or squares with large green spaces in the middle or with attached parks where people lay down on the grass enjoying a sunny day of spring.

This elegant classical architecture makes Bath one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, a spa city for the elites of the 18th century. Its neoclassical style of architecture was inspired at the time by the work of Italian architect Palladio reflected throughout the city in the numerous Georgian buildings that represent the name style of the city.

Pulteney Bridge over River Avon, Bath, England

The city was founded in the first century AD by the Romans. They captured the city’s hot springs into a thermal spa building a large complex with a temple dedicated to the goddess Sulis Minerva. Sulis was the Celtic deity of healing and sacred waters while Minerva was the Roman goddess of wisdom and the Romans named the town Aquae Sulis. The bath complex the Romans built two millenniums ago remains the most important Roman construction north of the Alps.

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“Brexit was a healthy shock”

The current impasse of Europe does not come from the fact that one member voted to leave the Union but by the forced recognition of the “luminaries” from Brussels and Berlin that the people do not like their project. For sure this is not “new news” but till now, with no referendum whatsoever even when the countries had to be accepted in the Union, the European politicians in their Brussels ivory tower could save face by pretending that everything is fine and all the countries and people’s complains are just moaning. But the UK referendum is more like the cry of the child pointing that the emperor is naked because is not just a small child but is one of the most important of the adults of the group. And the first reaction of the emperor was anger. But instead to accept that their utopia does not work the way they constructed and to start rethinking it, Ms Merkel & Co jogs along with a failed project, bracing for a summer in which they will again try to hide the news that their countries are invaded by refugees.
The frustration and the lack of hope in the European project is explained the best by John Cleese, the famous Monthy Pyton: “If I thought there was any chance of major reform in the EU, I’d vote to stay in. But there isn’t. Sad. Sorry, Paddy,’ he tweeted and he suggested that “the only way of reforming the EU is to KILL European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker”, a catastrophically incompetent bureaucrat who would have been much better situated as a Communist Party secretary in the old Soviet Union. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3637610/John-Cleese-backs-Brexit-suggests-way-reforming-EU-KILL-European-Commission-President-Jean-Claude-Juncker.htm

However the UK vote was, hopefully, a “healthy shock” for all who somehow still have a faint belief that the Union can be reformed. Surprisingly this statement comes from an old EU commissioner Günter Verheugen who does not hope that the Union will survive:
http://www.dw.com/en/former-eu-commissioner-verheugen-brexit-was-a-healthy-shock/a-19365292

And this is very sad because EU is by far a grandiose idea that would serve both the countries that cannot withstand by themselves and neither its people. EU was able to bring the core values of the European democracy and law in full force in the newly accepted countries of Eastern Europe marred by the old dictatorial mentality and corruption. Europe needs the Union with all that it comes with but with an intelligent and flexible leadership not with the current apparatchiks paid with bloated salaries that make the Union resemble more the Soviet one than the American version. The Brexit was a shock for many of the Brits and to add insult to the injury England soccer team could not put up with the tiny Iceland and was kicked out of Euro. A real disaster for many, worse than the Brexit vote, especially for the “Leave” camp who has to contemplate using exclusively the meager local talent of the British soccer for its hyped up Premier League.

Fog

Flying around holidays is a challenge even for FlyingMonk. Cancelled flights or missed connections can be taxing. Somehow, no matter that United was able to find my reservation, they could not issue a boarding on my connecting flights to US and they put me on a direct flight to Newark. Way better than expected…

Heathrow Airport, London

Roaming the world

FLYING MONK

Category Archives: United Kingdom

Leaving the Highlands

Glencoe

A hidden waterfall

Quiraing

Old Man

Nessie

Cairngorms

Ghosts

Holy Stone

Hero

Templars … or not

Castle Rock

Pupils

London’s Art

London’s Streets

The Bard

Oxbridge

The City

Punting

Tourists’ London

Stones

The Romans

“Brexit was a healthy shock”

Fog