For as long as I have known Leith, he has told me about the castle that will be his sometime.... or at least that is how I remember the story. So when I found out that I had gotten the Fund for Teacher's Fellowship to study dark skies in Scotland, my mind immediately went back to seeing the sign for Leith and finding the castle to take a picture for my friend. Leith is within walking distance of Edinburgh and so none of us thought too much about the plan- we would walk to Leith , find the house and take a picture of it... as simple as that. What could go wrong? It was a straight shot down the Leith Walkway from Princes street. We are adults, studied the map endlessly and if all else failed, can read a street sign. 8 :30 and off we go to catch the bus to Centre City and the completion of our quest. Down Princes Road, turn by the horse statue ( really was Wellington ) , down the hill to the round-a-bout and by the Palace Theater. But then, the unthinkable happened and the signs disappeared.. ok .. no worries. Engage plan B .... look at the map and try to figure out which way to go.... so we do and off to the right we tramp! And tramp ! and tramp! And the road becomes like the song that goes on and on..... we pass by all these really cool neighborhoods, but there is no sign of the road we are desperately hunting : Elm Street. Yes, I said Elm Street...... we walked for about 30 minutes after our turn and finally I was just too antsy not to ask someone how much farther. Looking for someone, anyone that I could ask I spied a Dustman. They know everything because they are all over the city! So, I ventured over and said, Excuse me, but I am looking for your expert advice. I am looking for Elm Street and wondered how much father a walk it might be?".... He looked at me, gave me a toothy grin and said," Oh Darling, you have about 2 miles to go...... back the way you came! " Oh man! How can I tell the others that bit of news? Well, just do it I guess...... I did and we turned around and headed to the beginning of Leith Walkway which was at the turn ( yea , we should have gone straight and not turned ! ) The entire time we have been walking, it has been drizzling heavily and now as we start down the hill to Leith, the rain picks up in intensity so that my Gore-Tex is shedding water like a duck sheds water. We pass by a controversial section of the walkway and get the skinny on it from several sources. Apparently the University has a down payment on a block of extremely old buildings which they are planning to tear down and build student housing units. The public outcry is obvious by all the " save Leith walkway" and " stop the University" posters and graffiti everywhere along the block.
We swim, I mean walk to the foot of Leith Walkway and start to follow signs for the Leith Hermitage. I mean a hermitage is a home , right? Best guess anyway. No luck, but there were tons of signs on the dust bins saying , " Leith thanks you for cleaning up after your dog!" I get to the point where I am ready to bust if I can't ask someone about this crazy house.... so I check in with a small breakfast shop whose owners have been there a combined total of 100 years and they look at me like I am from Mars when I ask about the house. Between all of us, we finally determine that Leith had no clue where his home was and that it really is Leith Hall in Aberdeen. We opt not to walk there - 3 hours by car and about 100 miles or so.....
As the rain poured, we explored the Port of Leith , beautifully referred to as the Water of Leith and finally just couldn't stand looking at things through a constant drip from our hoods and wall of water pouring from the sky. So back up the walkway, up to Princes Street and back into Centre City. Did you ever notice how quickly you seem to return from a place versus going to that same place? We headed for Edinburgh University ( the old, ancient campus ) and after touring around it a bit decided to visits the Royal Museum and their astronomy section. It was amazing! I have never seen pieces of meteorite like they have on display.. one was almost a big as me! We stayed until closing time and then jumped on the 100 bus and enjoyed the ride to the hotel....... we are planning on visiting a rock site in the morning before we return the car , so it is early to bed, early to rise.......
We swim, I mean walk to the foot of Leith Walkway and start to follow signs for the Leith Hermitage. I mean a hermitage is a home , right? Best guess anyway. No luck, but there were tons of signs on the dust bins saying , " Leith thanks you for cleaning up after your dog!" I get to the point where I am ready to bust if I can't ask someone about this crazy house.... so I check in with a small breakfast shop whose owners have been there a combined total of 100 years and they look at me like I am from Mars when I ask about the house. Between all of us, we finally determine that Leith had no clue where his home was and that it really is Leith Hall in Aberdeen. We opt not to walk there - 3 hours by car and about 100 miles or so.....
As the rain poured, we explored the Port of Leith , beautifully referred to as the Water of Leith and finally just couldn't stand looking at things through a constant drip from our hoods and wall of water pouring from the sky. So back up the walkway, up to Princes Street and back into Centre City. Did you ever notice how quickly you seem to return from a place versus going to that same place? We headed for Edinburgh University ( the old, ancient campus ) and after touring around it a bit decided to visits the Royal Museum and their astronomy section. It was amazing! I have never seen pieces of meteorite like they have on display.. one was almost a big as me! We stayed until closing time and then jumped on the 100 bus and enjoyed the ride to the hotel....... we are planning on visiting a rock site in the morning before we return the car , so it is early to bed, early to rise.......
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