The Family Life is the Good Life: Edinburgh

Edinburgh is a beautiful old city. I of course enjoy the parks more because a crazy crowded city just isn't my thing. I may have enjoyed it more at a less busy time of year. August is the busiest time of the year, tourist high season. The entire month is considered the Edinburgh Festival and while we were there it was also the Fringe Festival which I guess is all about performing art and there are tons of shows and performances including strange street performers. Europeans in general seem very artsy to me but too much, like they consider everything art. I kind of was like that a bit in my teens but now I'm so over it and many things I think are lazy cop out versions of art. So there are some things I come across that I find wonderful and others that I find to be only slightly better than rubbish.

We basically walked up the Royal Mile and back stopping to look at a few places like parks, places to eat, castles and cathedrals. Oh and we stopped by the mall to buy Aiden a belt because his pants kept falling. It's funny that we bought one at Superdry in Edinburgh because the store originated here in Cheltenham. It's become a huge trendy shop here in the UK. We also stopped at a cemetery because we find it interesting and the boys like to play there. After we had enough city we walked over to Holyrood Park which is next to the Queen's Holyrood Palace which is where she stays when up there. Balmoral is further north in Scotland. We didn't go there because it was closed to visitors because she was there. I liked Holyrood Park and hiking up to Arthur's Seat. This is another place they think Camelot could have been. In 1840 Orson Pratt climbed the hill a few times too. Here is an article from the Friend about it.

Within the city of Edinburgh, Scotland are the hilly remnants of a long-extinct volcano. On top of one of these hills is Arthur’s Seat, a rocky crag that towers 823 feet (251 m) above the city below. The hills and moors, cliffs and lochs, and marshes and bogs surrounding Arthur’s Seat all form part of Holyrood Park.

An ancient fort once graced the slopes leading up to the crag. People lived on the hillsides and terraced the land to raise crops. Thieves made their home in a secluded cave. Armies prepared for battle and camped on the slopes. Bonfires lit on top of the peak warned inhabitants of invasion or marked royal celebrations.

But Arthur’s Seat has been the site of some lesser-known important events. On May 3, 1840, Orson Pratt arrived in Scotland as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He organized the first Scottish branch of the Church in Paisley. Then, after laboring in several other cities, Elder Pratt made his way to Edinburgh, where he found it very difficult to get the people to listen to the message of the restored gospel.

Sometimes when things seemed difficult, he would climb to the top of Arthur’s Seat. There, looking out across the city of Edinburgh, he could see the high peaks of mountains on the horizon and the Firth of Forth stretching to join the North Sea. Below, the tracks of one of Scotland’s first railroad lines ran through one of the earliest railroad tunnels. The echo of rifle practice may have risen up to greet Elder Pratt from Hunter’s Bog, while the ruins of St. Anthony’s chapel silently blended into the background on a lower ridge where sheep grazed. Holyrood Palace, the royal residence, lay at the foot of the hill, and across the way Edinburgh Castle guarded the top of another hill. On top of Arthur’s Seat, Elder Pratt prayed that the people would be receptive to the gospel. He then went down into the city and preached for endless hours, trying to establish the gospel in this important city of Edinburgh.

In one of his prayers, Elder Pratt pleaded with the Lord to help him find two hundred converts. After working very hard for ten months, Elder Pratt left Edinburgh having seen more than two hundred people enter into the covenant of baptism.

Here are a few pics taken on our drive to Scotland

That purple patch is a field full of rosebay willow herb. It is called fireweed in America.
It was all over the place, especially along the side of the road, on our drive.