After completing our Hadrian's Wall walk, we rented a car to visit Glasgow and Edinburgh. Glasgow made a strongly favorable impression, especially the lovely Argyll Hotel near Glasgow University--tartan carpeting and drapes, kippers for breakfast. Lots of culture nearby: Charles Rennie Mackintosh, the Glasgow School of Art, the Hunterian Museum, the Kelvingrove Museum, the Glasgow Museum of Modern Art. The town has definitely been "regenned," as the British say. Scotsman Gordon Brown probably was of some help in this. Afterwards, we visited Edinburgh--where Gordon Brown went to University. We didn't go into the castle because they wanted 11 pounds per person ($22), but stayed outside. We did see the wonderful National Gallery of Scotland, which had some real masteripieces as well as a nice (though crowded) cafe--free admission--and the National Museum of Scotland (admission free). It had an incredible collection of ancient artifacts from Druids, Vikings, and Romans--including an actual leather Roman tent preserved in a peat bog, Roman fabrics, jewelery, and Viking graves. The Museum exhibits gave the story of Hadrian's wall from the other side of the wall--Romans were "alien invaders," who "oppressed" the natives in an "Imperial" power grab. For Romans, substitute "English" and you get the picture of what's going on. We had just seen Sir Trevor McDonald blast Gordon Brown on ITV's News Knight by saying he was "not democratically elected, too fat--and Scottish." So the Scots may have a point (one wonders if any of Sir Trevor's clan members among the McDonalds have had a word with him). No wonder that Scottish pound notes features a picture of Robert the Bruce instead of Queen Elizabeth.
Coincidentally, the British government had just approved construction of two aircraft carriers at Clydeside shipyards. The Scottish National Party minister in charge was asked on television how she could be in favor of aircraft carrier construction while opposed to the Iraq war and militarism. She seemed to answer that with devolution, not only would the ships provide jobs, but indicated the vessels might also become ships in a future Scottish Navy after full independence. After watching that interview on TV, we just had to see the Scottish Parliament. Also, free admission.
The building is covered in faux-wicker on the outside, and not much to look at. Inside, it is beautiful. One curious decorative element was a motif of silhouttes along the walls of debating chamber (you can see them in the left-hand photo above). A tour group told their guide that they thought the figures looked like "whisky bottles" on shelves. No, their tour guide answered, the shapes represent the people looking in on the transparent process of an open democracy--a reminder to parliamentarians.
That sounded reasonable--until we went into the Scottish Parliament's Holyrood gift shop and found a display case with souvenirs including "Scottish Parliament Whisky" described as "our 15 year old Member’s Pure Speyside Malt." Now I think the tour group may have been right--the Parliament decorations may be a tribute to the spirit of the Scottish bard Robert Burns, who wrote: "Freedom and whisky gang thegither..."
