UK Diary, Day 2 (part 1)

In which we head to Edinburgh Castle, mainly

Greetings, everyone! Here’s a quote from Evelyn Underhill, a luminous Anglican Christian writer who died in AD 1941:

“The whole duty of man, said S. Ignatius of Loyola, is to ‘praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord"‘—that is our contribution to the purpose of the universe. In it we transcend the ordinary visible world of time, and join with the whole Communion of Saints, the living and the dead, in reverent adoring delight in God. Each time we ‘go to church’ we ought in spirit to be entering that eternal world”
(from her book, Worship)

Yesterday was a day given over to visiting Edinburgh Castle, then window shopping in the neighborhood (including our street, pictured above), stopping primarily at charity shops (called thrift shops in the US) for clothing and stopping at used bookstores. Whereas our first day was very sunny, yesterday as cloudy and misty — “more like it,” as some would say.

As I said, today’s entry (and most diary entries) is available for paid subscribers. If you are not a paid subscriber, please consider doing so. Your support goes entirely to my ministry, both in my parish and my wider ministry to the Church through Akenside Institute, which I founded.

Plus, you get to see all the photographs my family and I have taken in our UK holiday/vacation. Here is one of most of my family:

and here’s Twyla and me

And now, the rest of the story.

Our apartment is about a five minute walk to Edinburgh Castle. That however does not include the crowds. It was about 20 minutes to get to the entrance. It was actually kind of nice to be amidst the throng. Grandstands were being set up for Highland Games, I believe this weekend. Tons of energy in the air. And we bumped into a woman, Carol McCrary, we knew from the Diocese of Springfield (Illinois) and a Society of Mary prayer group we were part of.

Mary is in the foreground. This photograph will also give a sense of the crowd heading to the Castle.

Once inside, there was much to see. The Castle is in excellent condition, being as it is an active Castle beyond merely being a tourist attraction. Here are photographs:

Above was from the top of the Castle looking through an opening in the wall upon the city of Edinburgh below.

One of the spots inside the Castle we spent some time in was the Great Hall. Description is below:

It was all about armor, swords and guns on display. Really: pretty much that.

It is possible that the experience of the Great Hall inspired Martin to use his gift shop money in the way he did:

And as does big brother, so does little sister:

Head to Part 2 of today’s diary!