Today we said, “Bye for noo!” to Glasgow, picked up a car from the airport, and made our way to Edinburgh, but not before stopping at Linlithgow Palace on the way there.
Now, the last time I drove in the U.K., we spent most of our time in the southwest corner of the island, where motorways were few and narrow country lanes were many. Perhaps naively, I expected the same today as we made our way from Glasgow to Edinburgh via Linlithgow, but I was terribly mistaken.
The M8 is a major artery for automobile traffic that connects Glasgow and Edinburgh. It’s about an hourlong drive, and the whole way is at least four to six lanes. We all found ourselves remarking that it didn’t quite feel like we were in Scotland while on this drive. We all had this image of narrow country lanes, castles, sheep, stone walls, and green bens (i.e. mountains or peaks). But this stretch of roadway wouldn’t’ve been out of place in Minnesota, apart from the fact that we were driving on the left side of the road and the road signs and license plates were a bit different.
However, as we started to get nearer to Linlithgow as we exited the M8, we did, indeed, start to encounter narrow country lanes, sheep, stone walls, and bens. And, indeed, we eventually arrived at Linlithgow Palace.
Apart from the roofs that were destroyed in a fire in the 1700s, much of Linlithgow Palace survives. It dates back to the 1300s when a fort known as the Peel was built on the site of a manor from the 1100s. However, much of the town of Linlithgow was partly destroyed in a fire in 1424, so James I decided to rebuild the fort as a palace. It was also during this time that the adjacent Church of Saint Michael was built. Over the years, many kings (all named James, incidentally) continued adding additions to the structure. In 1542, Mary Queen of Scots was born in the palace. After the union of the crowns, the palace fell into disuse, went through one more rebuilding, then two occupations, the second of which (by the Duke of Cumberland’s army) destroyed much of the buildings by fire in 1746.
Today, a striking amount of the palace actually survives that not much imagination is required to imagine what it was like in its heyday. You can view royal bedchambers, the chapel, the great hall, the royal kitchen, many nooks and crannies, long hallways, spiral staircases, and tall, tall towers. Since all the roofs are gone, it’s possible to view, for example, the great hall from a staggering height, uninterrupted by a roof or intervening floors. There is also one tower that you can climb all the way to the top, which provides not only spectacular views of the palace but also the town of Linlithgow and Linlithgow Loch. It’s so high up, in fact, and open to sheer drops, that it tests anyone with a fear of heights (er, like myself). Even still, Linlithgow is worth a visit, and it’s enjoyably easy to get turned around in it’s somewhat labyrinthine halls, staircases, and chambers. The only criticism I have is that there should be more placards placed about to explain certain areas beyond the main ones that were available at the great hall and the chapel and so forth.
Our day continued on with a drive to Edinburgh, and it was somewhat of a challenge and kind of stressful driving in this city. Unlike Glasgow, Edinburgh checks off some of those traits that we expect from old, old cities: narrow lanes, a spaghetti grid, and old architecture that isn’t pushed aside by the new.
As we sat down to dinner at a fantastic British gastropub called the Blackbird (located on Leven Street), we all agreed that because we’re in Edinburgh, we now really fully feel like we are actually in Scotland. Glasgow had a striking newness about it that we found distracting. Edinburgh, however, really does feel like an old Scottish city in the way London feels like and old, English city. We’re quite looking forward to exploring it!
Stray Observations:
1. Now, I do have to say, Glasgow is marvelous in its own right and is worth a visit. The people are kind, warm, and welcoming, the history is engrossing, and the food and beer are delightful. However, there’re just a little bit too many chain stores, the streets are too uniform and therefore distract from expectations of what old cities should be like, and everything is just a little bit too new.
2. It is so, so nice that they post prices with taxes included. If you pick out an item that costs £10, you can go to the counter and give the cashier a £10 note. There won’t be some percentage of money added to the posted price.
3. I neglected to mention yesterday that our walk back to Glasgow’s city centre after viewing the Necropolis also took us by the City Chambers, a striking building designed in an interpretation of Renaissance Classicism. However, on Sundays it’s closed, so if you want to go inside, then visit any other day of the week.
4. While I quite enjoy driving around this country and it’s cities, parking in Edinburgh is a nightmare and made coming into the city all that more stressful as we navigated the charmingly narrow and twisting streets.