Rosslyn Chapel - History at its best

We decided not to waste another weekend and to continue our quest for discovering interesting places even if the weather was not inviting!

With this in mind, we set out for an adventure: to explore the Chapel from the well known movie The Da Vinci Code and we were not disappointed! Although in the movie Rosslyn Chapel is depicted as having secret passages the reality is that those were pure fiction. Despite that, the place didn't fall short of beauty. And the weather actually helped as it started to snow like in a fairy tale.

Puzzle

' What is the thing that the person who makes it gives it away, the person that takes it doesn't use it and the person who uses it never sees it? '
                                                                                                           ' A coffin.'
                                                               

This is how many of the tales about Rosslyn Chapel and the people that are part of its history start: with a puzzle. Although with a hint of macabre, the history and myths surrounding Rosslyn Chapel are fabulous! The Chapel is dated 1446 and it is part of the legacy of William St. Clair. According to the guide that told the story, it took the masons 38 long years to build it! And that was only a small part of the initial plan!

The story says that the mason ended up killing his apprentice in a moment of anger and envy when, after arriving from a long journey dedicated to bringing inspiration, he found out that his apprentice finished a pillar that he meant to do and that was actually considered a more difficult and exquisite work!

Neil, the guide, had an unique way of story telling! Such passion and dedication! History can usually be a bit tedious but he had the skills to draw you in and make you wanting to hear more! Kudos to him!

There is also the story of William, a cat that is part of a generation of guardians for the place. You can usually find him curled up next to a heater being lazy and watching stories unfold.

Rosslyn Chapel is truly a fabulous and magnificent place, a must see!

The start of 2016 - what happened so far...

Hello again!!

I haven't written much lately but I decided I should try harder in the new year...at least to share memories and pictures that are precious to me in order to make sure I will always have a way of keeping them and looking back when I need. That is more because unfortunately, last year I've lost all my photos and I had no way of retrieving them! Why didn't I use a 'cloud' like any technology savvy person would do?!

I must say the 2 weeks I had off over the festive period were exactly what I needed! I spent a lot of time with by amazing boyfriend and as always, I have enjoyed it so much! I had a catch up with my friends, discovering different cultures and customs. I revisited old but dear places and also discovered new ones.

Starting with the old, we went back to that French café on Victoria Road (La Barantine) I told you about a couple of years ago when I started this blog. It's as nice and welcoming as before and the cakes are as tempting. Still very popular!

A new place we've tried this year, after we long wondered about it, is Tigerlily on George Street. It's a very trendy and modern restaurant. The prices are a bit higher but in tandem with the rest of the bars and restaurants on George Street. I very eagerly recommend the fondue! Superb! My boyfriend kept raving and dreaming about it for days after! (I must specify that we are on a diet and because we are not used to moderation we are in the 'all about chocolate and crisps' hallucinating stage!!).

Dublin, Ireland

Oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling
From glen to glen, and down the mountain side
The summer's gone, and all the roses falling.....

Sorry for my goat like singing folks, it's probably the nostalgia! It's been a few months now since we've been to Dublin and the memories are still fresh! We fell in love with that city! The buzz, the shops, the Irish pubs, the views - a delight!

Firstly, I must say that although architecture wise it's nowhere near as beautiful as Edinburgh this city has a really good feel to it! The busyness, the street entertainers, the modern buildings mingling with the old ones, the cafes, the restaurants - all blended for an amazing show for the eyes and senses!

There are shops and banks in very old but stylish buildings. From the outside no one would blame you if you thought those are museums or old libraries!

One main attraction that we completely loved is the Guinness Storehouse! Pure delight and entertainment! The Guinness shop is compelling, the restaurants very inviting and many to choose from, the story of making beer very insightful, the images of hops are very refreshing, the tasting room is more than tempting and the 360 degree view over the city room at the top of the Storehouse is the climax! We easily spent there a good few hours and if we weren't worn out by the crowds and all the excitement we could have easily spent there another day or two!

What more can I say about Dublin? The pubs and the Guinness can make your head spin...but leaving you wanting for more! ...Oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling...oops...maybe I had one two many beers....but who could blame me? :)

Alnwick Castle

Drama, glamour, history....all this could easily sum up Downton Abbey! Yes, you guessed! Our next place to visit was one of the magnificent location of Downton Abbey! Who could say pass to Alnwick Castle and oh, boy! we had fun! :)

Not only it was a beautiful sunny day but the place had plenty of entertainment for all ages! The lost cellars with their frightening stories, the historical tour, the crafts (a pretty accurate depiction of life in the 1900s), the film tour - showing the Downton Abbey cast and the places where they filmed inside the castle. The ballroom scene in the movie and the dinning room were spectacular! The elegance, the size, the history were breathtakingly beautiful! They made the whole experience interesting for the little ones as well. In each room they hid in plane sight a lion toy to capture the children's interest in finding it while browsing the glamorous rooms!

One of my favourite activities was the 'have a go archery' which is so much fun, even more if you discover this is one of your hidden talents and you are better at it than your partner and he, being jealous of your new found skills, accuses you of secretly being a hunter. :) Oh yes, that really happened!

Needless to say, we tried their cafe and because it was such a warm sunny day we decided to sit at a table outside for a change. We had a beans jacket potato and a burger, both really tasty. We couldn't help trying a scone with cream and jam. Must say, that wasn't the best decision ever. Although looking tempting, the taste was disappointing, dry and very hard!  We'll know better next time :)

Won't say anything else but there are still plenty things to discover there, the Alnwick Gardens being one of them! Bye-bye now!

My perfect person

Considering I don't have many followers I wouldn't expect many complaints about my very sporadic posts. Wrong! Apparently someone is missing my jibber jabber. So I decided to keep blabbering one more time for him :) Hope that'll make him happy!

A lot of things happened since last time I posted. Many places were visited, more coffee shops tried and lot's of thoughts were exchanged on the matter.

From Portobello to city centre, from Alnwick Castle to Ireland we enjoyed them all and that only enhanced our appetite for eating our way around Scotland and further away! What could possible make this even better if not doing it all alongside your perfect person?

In good company the grass looks greener, the sky bluer, the rain less sharper and the wind less biting...yes, even in Scotland! But someone as amazing and funny as my sweet cheeky darlingo has the power to make all this real! The power of love ? (...now that song's stuck in my head!!)

There are more adventurous times ahead of us I'm sure! Let's enjoy them all! :)

Day dreaming

Another good thing about Edinburgh is that I get to enjoy it with my darlingo :) He decided to surprise me today by coming and meeting me on my lunch break!...so now I'm just counting the minutes while day dreaming about our picnic :)

It's a nice, crisp autumn day. The sun is shining, not sending too much warmth though, the sky is bright blue, the clouds white and fluffy and the colours of the trees...like fairytales :)

I can already picture us sitting on the grass enjoying the day...well, the hour, but we take what we can and say thank you...hope he'll bring 'Claire' along ;) as my sweet tooth troubled me these last few days...who am I kidding, it was there my entire life. I just love sweets!! Can't resist them, not for too long anyway! Confused? Let me bring some light into this...'Claire' is our code for eclair! Cheesy, I know!

Bye bye, going to see his cheeky face now!

More places to try...

We continued our quest of discovering the best coffee shop in Edinburgh by checking out 3 new places in one weekend! Quite an achievement I would say :)

The first place is The Square. Lovely, friendly staff, creative interior, delicious food (we tried the all day breakfast and we recommend it)! Lucky you if you are an early bird as the place gets busy really fast! And as we always say, this is a healthy sign for a good place :)

Fortitude was the next lucky place to try....or were we the lucky ones to have found it? Great coffee, really tasty cakes, the inside is nicely decorated. Central location, as the above one
hence, no need to say, seats go fast!

My darlingo was flagging a bit after 6 hours of shopping so I thought he could do with the energy boost that good caffeine intake gives you. That's how we ended up at Hendersons! Although we got there quite late and they sold out on scones and other cakes, they had a large variety of high quality chocolate and coffee! Exactly what we needed to recharge our batteries. :)