Here are some short notes about our upcoming trip—a mixture of advice, suggestions, things I’ve been thinking about, and excitement!

Things To Do in Melrose
We are staying for three nights in Melrose, Scotland, while investigating all things Sir Walter Scott. I sometimes fantasize about moving to this lovely Scottish Borders town that grew up around Melrose Abbey in the twelfth century. Surrounded by the Eildon Hills (supposed burial place of King Arthur) on the River Tweed, the town boasts not only Scott but several famous Rugby players and an Australian suffragist, Catherine Spence, as its former denizens. Our sister hotels—Burt’s Hotel and the Townhouse Hotel—are across the narrow main street from each other and very close to everything else in town. Restaurants and shops abound—our hotel restaurants rate #3 and #4 on Tripadvisor’s “Best of Melrose” list—and you could do no better than take an afternoon stroll around the town, visit Melrose Abbey, make a few purchases at the craft shop, and stop for a coffee or tea at the Old Melrose Tea Rooms and Bookshop or one of the several cafes nearby.

While there are a number of interesting castles, manor houses, and other historical sites in the region that would make good day trips from Melrose, you don’t have to leave town to fill your free time. There are two lovely gardens in the town, Priorwood and Harmony, the latter run by the National Trust for Scotland, and a small but famous museum of artifacts from a nearby Roman fort called the Three Hills Trimontium Museum.

Dr. Finlay
Speaking of small, delightful Scottish villages, my husband and I recently binge-watched the Doctor Finlay series, a BBC production made in the 1990s that takes place in the fictional “Tannochbrae,” a village very much like what Melrose must have been in the era following World War II. Dr. Finlay (David Rintoul) returns home from the war to rejoin the practice of Dr. Alexander Cameron (Ian Bannen) and his housekeeper-receptionist, Janet MacPherson (Annette Crosbie). This beautifully scripted series takes up many issues of the those times and ours and has a satisfying four seasons (twenty-seven episodes) to keep you busy. The series offers great insights about life in Scotland and so much more. Ron and I wanted twenty-seven more episodes when we reluctantly viewed the final one. (I watched the series on Acorn, a streaming service that is part of Amazon.)

A History of Scotland with Neil Oliver
While we’re on the subject of binge-watching, I recommend another BBC production, A History of Scotland with Neil Oliver, ten one-hour episodes first broadcast by BBC One in 2008-10. I have the DVDs, but the series may be available to stream or as a download. Though there’s a lot of Neil Oliver walking around on bleak, windy braes, this documentary is full of information and insight and was well received in Scotland.

Food!
I have always eaten very well in Scotland, but the real joy of food there is the vast array of adorable names for various dishes. Haggis, you know, but what about cullen skink? Cranachan? Clootie, tablet, clapshot, bannock, rumbledethumps, skirlie, crowdie, bridie, collops, and stovies? Hint: at least five of these involve potatoes!

I am going to recommend to you one Scottish food item that has a perfectly understandable name. The people of the United Kingdom from Cornwall to Shetland really understand dessert–they call all desserts “pudding” in some places– and are not afraid to consume a little sugar. We all know that shortbread is a Scottish specialty; even though the ingredients and cooking process are quite simple, people in Scotland compete with each other for the best recipe (I’ve witnessed this). But have you ever had “millionaire’s shortbread”? Name the three best things about dessert: shortbread, caramel, and chocolate, right? A piece of millionaire’s shortbread has all three in equal proportion, and in that order, with the chocolate on top. Ron and I tried one when we stopped for coffee on a long drive to the Isle of Mull one summer. We were going to share, but after one bite we ordered a second one. Wow.

Bookshelf
Besides the literature itself, two books stand out in my study of Scotland and Scottish literature. Stone Voices: The Search for Scotland by Neal Acherson (Hill and Wang 2002) is a Scotsman’s meditation on his native land and on what it means to be Scottish. The beautifully written book is full of history, contemporary observations, and reflection. I learned more about Scotland—and more that I couldn’t learn anywhere else—from this book than from any other source. Stuart Kelly’s Scott-Land: The Man Who Invented a Nation (Polygon 2010) makes the case that Sir Walter Scott invented Scotland and does so with great verve, as well as considerable erudition. You don’t have to have read Scott’s novels to enjoy this lively and insightful look at the man and his unique legacy.

Travel Tips
Some of you have asked about electricity, money, what to wear, etc.  Don’t forget that I’ve posted a handout on this subject under “Trip Basics” (to find this page look at the top under the main picture to the right). To reiterate a few things, Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Scotland (and the rest of the UK) all use the same power plug adapter, pictured here. Hotels will have them, but it’s always nice to bring your own. Just don’t leave them plugged into the wall when you check out of the hotel, as I often do.

AMEX, VISA and MasterCard are the main credit cards accepted, with AMEX accepted on a much more limited basis than in the US.

I get money from ATM machines in both Northern Ireland and Scotland. Don’t load up on British Sterling in NI–use it up before we leave for Scotland. Even though Northern Ireland bank notes are legal tender in Scotland, because banks print the money, NI money is often rejected on mainland UK.  The people of Northern Ireland get very annoyed by this, and so do travelers. See the ten pound notes below: the first note is from the Danske Bank and was printed in Northern Ireland (yes, it’s a Danish bank!); the second was printed in Scotland by the Royal Bank of Scotland; the third is the newest member of the ten pound note family, printed in England by the Bank of England.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love bridges. I love to look at them, walk or drive across them, think about their history, and ponder their significance. Scotland has some of the UK’s most beautiful and interesting bridges, and we’re going to be able to see several of them on our travels. Driving around the country, I sometimes think the Scots built bridges just for the fun of it, whether or not they needed to get from one place to the next.

The most famous of all the bridges in Scotland is probably Glenfinnan Viaduct crossing the Finnan River in Inverness-shire—which is sadly not on our itinerary. I can’t resist talking about it, though, because it is both an architectural wonder and a jaw-dropping sight. The bridge opened in 1901 and is 416 yards long. Set in a lush river valley, it has twenty-one semicircular spans of fifty feet that curve slightly. Imposing and elegant, Glenfinnan Viaduct owes its fame not only to engineering brilliance, but also to the work of Scotland’s most famous writer, J. K. Rowling and the film versions of her Harry Potter books. The train to and from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry chugs along the bridge, billows of steam pouring romantically–if anachronistically–from its smokestacks.

Scottish bridges are legendary and not just because of Harry Potter. A country with as many rivers, firths (estuaries), and lochs (lakes) as Scotland has—some of them very inconveniently situated—was bound to need ways to cross them. Long known for their ingenuity, Scots built amazing bridges for centuries before civil engineering became a recognized and important science at their universities in the second half of the nineteenth century. After that, there was no holding them back. The natural scenery of Scotland is stunning almost everywhere, but man-made bridges throughout the country add to that grandeur by showing us the web of human aspiration and connection laid over the landscape.

Brig O’Doon
We’ve already discussed another bridge made famous by a writer, Brig O’ Doon in Alloway, the bridge across which Robert Burns’s Tam O’ Shanter rode on his wild night ride through the countryside chased by witches. We’ll see this bridge and be able to walk across it when we visit Burns’s birthplace. The setting—a lovely garden and wooded banks—and the stunning single arch of the bridge spanning the River Doon create the magic that is Brig O’ Doon.

The real Brig O’ Doon, sometimes called “the Auld Bridge,” was built in the early fifteenth century and has been ruined and rebuilt several times. It is said that the uneven cobblestones on the span are set awry to stop witches from crossing. As early as 1816, traffic was diverted from the bridge to another nearby as it was just too crowded. As you may have guessed, Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe derived the name of their mythical Scottish village in the eponymous musical Brigadoon from Burns’s beloved bridge (click here to listen to the title song “Brigadoon”).

The Twa Brigs O’ Ayr
Not far (.7 miles) from the hotel where we’ll be staying in Ayr, the “Twa Brigs O’ Ayr” stretch across the river of the same name.  The “Auld Brig” was built in the late sixteenth century on the site of an earlier structure and has three broad arches. It was repaired and rebuilt many times after that. The earliest bridge at this point is said to have been founded by two sisters after the suitor of one drowned while attempting to ford the river.  The Old Bridge is today a pedestrian crossing, the fate of so many of the older structures and a boon for today’s tourists and walkers.

 

Just up the River Ayr to the northwest, the New Bridge was first built in 1789. Robert Burns knew the Old Bridge and the original New Bridge well and wrote a famous poem about them, “The Brigs of Ayr” (click here to read the poem in its entirety). In the poem, the two bridges argue with each other over which one of them is better and will endure. Here’s a sample of the debate between the Auld Brig and the New Brig in Burns’s poem.

The New Brig

There’s men of taste wou’d tak the Ducat stream,
Tho’ they should cast the very sark and swim,
E’er they would grate their feelings wi’ the view
O’ sic an ugly, Gothic hulk as you.”

The Auld  Brig

“Conceited gowk! puff’d up wi’ windy pride!
This mony a year I’ve stood the flood an’ tide;
And tho’ wi’ crazy eild I’m sair forfairn ,
I’ll be a brig when ye’re a shapeless cairn!

Prescient in this as in so many things, Burns foresaw the shoddy nature of some “modern” construction. The New Bridge of 1789 was destroyed by repeated flooding, and the new New Bridge replaced it in 1878.  Today you can enjoy the two structures together on a walk through the Ayr city centre.

Devorgilla Bridge
When we’re visiting Burns’s house and tomb in Dumfries, we will be a short walk from Devorgilla Bridge, one of the oldest still in use in Scotland. Built in the early 1600s on the site of several earlier bridges across the River Nith, the bridge justifies our tendency to call structures like this “she”: Devorgilla, Lady of Galloway, was the mother of King John Balliol of Scotland and the patron of the first bridge here in the thirteenth century. She must have been a formidable woman. Balliol College at Oxford is named after Devorgilla’s huband, but she provided the endowment upon his death and formulated the college statutes. Built of the red stone used in the area, this sturdy but remarkably graceful structure stretches across the river in six semi-circular arches, down from nine because the river narrowed over time. The bridge house still stands on the far side. Burns himself would have walked across the bridge, as people do today. The view of the town of Dumfries from the bridge takes us back to an older world.

Leaderfoot Viaduct
With its tall (126 feet), graceful arches, Leaderfoot Viaduct near Melrose is clearly a more modern achievement. When you come upon it reaching across the River Tweed in the green hills around Melrose, your heart soars. Melrose resident Sir Walter Scott died twenty-two years before it was built, but I believe he would have approved. It was opened in 1863 during the boom era for bridge building and the railways.

Like Glenfinnan Viaduct, which it resembles, Leaderfoot Viaduct (sometimes called Drygrange Viaduct) was built for the railway. These dramatic railroad bridges of yesteryear speak for the ambition of their designers and illustrate a grand idea about the industrial revolution and how it would change the countryside. No such feat would be attempted in this remote place today, and indeed, the viaduct was almost pulled down in 1981 when it seemed to be beyond repair. Now in the stewardship of Historic Scotland, a government agency concerned with heritage (now Historic Environment Scotland), the bridge draws tourists, bridge and train enthusiasts, and wedding photographers. Two nearby rivers, the Tweed and the Leader, often flood the valley in which the viaduct stands, adding to the need for constant maintenance. Today, Leaderfoot Viaduct no longer bears the railway, but Historic Scotland has created a walkway that is open to the public, weather permitting .

The Three Bridges: Three Bridges Spanning Three Centuries
The Three Bridges across the Firth of Forth near Edinburgh area are one of Scotland’s most stunning sights. Even the aerial photographs  don’t do justice to the awe you feel looking up at them from the shore at South Queensferry. Built at this logical crossing point over more than a hundred years at one of the busiest places in Scotland, these edifices together offer a crash course in civil engineering.

 

The Forth Bridge, sometimes called the Forth Rail Bridge, started it all in 1890, at that time the longest single cantilever bridge span in the world and the first such structure in the UK to be made of steel. Up until then, ferries had been the only way to cross the Firth. A tunnel was proposed in 1806 but proved unfeasible. Several attempts to design a bridge that could withstand the weather and tidal conditions of the area came to nothing. Given that the structure would need to carry the railway, a suspension bridge was ruled out. A cantilever design by the engineers Sir John Fowler and Sir Benjamin Baker was finally chosen and took eight years to complete. Bridge and train enthusiasts from all over the world come to South Queensferry to see it. The three cantilever structures, each with four towers, and the brick red color make the Forth Bridge stand out dramatically against the blue-gray water of the firth.

The Forth Road Bridge just west of the rail bridge is a long span suspension bridge built in 1964, the first of its kind in the UK at the time. The Firth of Forth cuts deeply into Scotland just north of Edinburgh, and before this bridge was built, if you wanted to go from north to south by car you had to go around the firth or take a ferry. The reality of the age of the automobile finally necessitated a road bridge at South Queensferry. Over a mile and half long, the bridge served all traffic for over fifty years but now carries buses, taxis, and motorcycles and has a path for pedestrians and bicycles. The bridge has a motto in the Scots language, “Guid Passage”: no translation needed.

Queensferry Crossing, a three tower cable-stayed bridge spanning the Firth of Forth, the longest such bridge in the world, opened in 2017. It crosses the firth just to the west of the Forth Road Bridge and was constructed to relieve the heavy-load traffic that was already causing damage to its sister bridge. The M90—the main route north to the Highlands from Edinburgh—is routed across this bridge, The new bridge uses 23,000 miles of cable and suggests a magnificently strung tripartite harp. On the occasion of the opening of the Queensferry Crossing, Malcolm Roughead, Chief Executive of VisitScotland, said

Scotland will celebrate a moment in history on 4 September as the Queensferry Crossing is officially opened by HM The Queen.  At this unique moment, the country will become the world’s first destination to have three bridges spanning three centuries in one stunning location. It is a time to not only celebrate Scotland as a nation of pioneering innovation, design and engineering, but also give thanks all those who have worked tirelessly to create this unique new structure.

 

They may be just ways of getting from one place to another, but the Brigs O’ Scotland tell a compelling story of vision, ingenuity, and persistence, a story that is many centuries old.

 

I’ve been a bit carried away with Burns and Scott lately, so I thought it was time to get back to Belfast, a wonderful city that has transformed itself in the last twenty years from a bleak, barbed-wire-encircled fortress to a vibrant hub of arts and culture. We will have free time there, and while you can use guidebooks and the Internet to find things to do and restaurants to try, I’m going to tell you about a few of my favorite ways to spend time in Northern Ireland’s capital.

I first visited Belfast in January of 1998. The Belfast or Good Friday Peace Agreement was not yet signed (that would happen in March of that year), but a cease-fire had been in place for four years, and the city had already made a slight turn towards peacetime.

But there were still many signs of conflict. Big, hefty, stern bouncer-types stood at the door to every shop in central Belfast and beyond: they weren’t there to weed out the riff-raff but to prevent bombs from being left in innocuous looking shopping bags. The tank-like vehicles that patrolled the streets—these Shorland modified Landrovers were designed for Belfast and the Royal Irish Constabulary—gave the impression of a city under siege. I could not find a postcard, a tee shirt, a pencil or a coffee mug with the word “Belfast” on it, much less a tourist map. With the US government still warning citizens not to travel to Northern Ireland and Belfast’s image as a no-go zone, tourism didn’t really exist. Whenever I mentioned traveling to Northern Ireland, people grimaced and shook their heads.

 

Twenty years later, Lonely Planet named “Belfast and the Causeway Coast” number one on its list of “Top Ten Regions to Visit in 2018.” Gaudy souvenir shops are starting to blight city’s streets. Three “Hop-on / Hop-off” tour bus companies vie for passengers. You can download an App on your phone that gives you a tour of Literary Belfast. Ideas for new touristic sites abound. In 2012 a museum commemorating the building of the Titanic in Belfast opened on the centenary of its sinking, a concept that is filled with delicious irony. “She Was Okay When She Left Here!” is the cheerful motto of a nearby tour company.

A prison that played a role in The Troubles has been refurbished and is now open for business. In addition to offering regular tours during the day, the Crumlin Road Gaol has “Paranormal” tours and “Paranormal Investigation” experiences at night; it’s also a venue for rock concerts, which were unthinkable before 1998. Fine dining establishments are popping up everywhere, and the culture hungry Belfastians (Belfasters? There is no official word for them.) can attend concerts at the elegant Waterfront Concert Hall and many other venues across the city.

There’s even an ice hockey team—a sport unknown in Ireland until recently. In a place where everything is politicized, promoters thought a “foreign” sport might offer an evening of yelling for your team that didn’t evolve into sectarian strife. The existing sports were strictly partisan: Gaelic football and hurling matches were associated with Republicanism, and association football and cricket were associated with Loyalism. Rugby, interestingly, started out as a purely British sport but has recently developed more universal appeal.

There were many jokes about what the Belfast ice hockey team should be named. “The Belfast Bombers” had a certain ring to it, but a more peaceful name—the Belfast Giants—was eventually chosen. The name has meaning in the city because a natural formation on Cave Hill, flanking the city on the west, looks like the profile of a gigantic man’s face as he lies on his back (see the photo at the top). It is said that when Jonathan Swift was serving as a clergyman in Belfast, he saw the “sleeping giant” in the hills and got the idea for Gulliver’s Travels.

Here’s a list in no particular order of my favorite things to do when in Belfast. I’ve left out the places that are already on our itinerary.

Hop-on / Hop-off Bus Tour
They are a bit hokey sometimes, but don’t sniff at the hop-on / hop-off bus tours of the city. It’s fun to ride on the top of a double decker bus, and you have time to look about and really get the feel of the city. The buses take you up to the Titanic quarter and museum, Belfast Castle on Cave Hill, the Crumlin Road Gaol just outside the city centre, all worth a “hop-off” for a tour. Belfast City Sightseeing seems to be the one to use, and the tour with no hops-off takes about 90 minutes. There are stops throughout the city and near our hotel. I have heard that when these tours started, anxious sectarians from both sides road the bus incognito to spy on the guides and challenge their narration. When I last road the bus, I found the narration pretty even-handed and quite interesting.

Mount Stewart
Mount Stewart is a splendid mansion about 25 minutes by car from Belfast (a taxi will cost you $50-60 each way), or one hour by bus (Line 10, $6-$9). If you love houses and the decorative arts (I do!) or gardens (ditto), this would be a great place to spend an afternoon. The home of the Marquesses of Londonderry, the estate is now run by the National Trust. It has been recently restored with many more rooms open to the public. Set in a beautiful location on Strangford Lough, the neoclassical house has many quirky and wonderful features and stunning collections of furniture, china, silver, and paintings. You could spend your entire afternoon in the garden (I have), which has both formal and informal sections and includes a Temple of the Winds, extensive topiary, a rose garden, the Dodo Terrace (fanciful creatures in topiary and stone), Italian and Spanish gardens, a sunken garden, and woodland walks.

Queen’s University, the Botanic Gardens, and the Ulster Museum
Our Belfast hotel is a few blocks from Queens’ University, which has a beautiful campus, some elegant buildings, and lots to see. The Botanic Gardens is adjacent to the university and has 28 acres with paths and an early Victorian glasshouse called the Palm House designed by Sir Charles Lanyon, who also designed parts of the university—college Gothic on steroids! The Palm House is home to tropical plants and birds and makes a welcoming retreat on rainy days. The Ulster Museum is located at the edge of the park; it houses exceptional collections of art, history, and natural sciences.

Donegall Place
Donegall Place (north side of City Hall), the streets that lead off from it, and the area on the other sides of City Hall comprise Belfast’s main shopping area. Even if shopping is not your thing, this is a great area for wandering and people watching. The Victorian facades belie the fact that Belfast city centre was heavily bombed during World War II, and the facades are just that—supported by rebuilt structures. There are often fairs and vendors on the grounds of City Hall, and you might even catch a mini protest at the front or back gates.

 

Traditional Pub Crawl
Belfast has a fantastic collection of historic pubs that really give you insight into the city’s Victorian past and more. A list of 10 Pubs: Traditional Irish Pub Crawl takes you on a unique tour, all in walking distance from each other. If you’re interested in architecture, atmosphere, characters, or beer and spirits, a visit to even a few of these pubs would be worthwhile, and of course you can do your crawl from lunchtime to closing. Many of these places also serve excellent pub-style food.

Victoria Square Victoria Square Shopping Centre is in the heart of Belfast near City Hall. About ten years old, the centre definitely is a “peace dividend,” reflecting the change in people’s attitudes about spending time in downtown Belfast. It has all sorts of American and British stores that will be familiar and a few others, but the best part about it is not the shopping. “The Dome” atop the mall is made of glass and offers a 360˚ view of the city, worth seeing in rain or shine (but not in fog, and not in high wind when it closes).

Cathedral Quarter
This part of Belfast located a few blocks north of the city center is being developed as an arts site. It has a couple of small theatres and arts venues, shops, a literary pub named after the poet John Hewitt, and other interesting buildings. St. Anne’s or Belfast Cathedral (Church of Ireland) gives the quarter its name and is worth a visit. The sole tomb in the cathedral is that of Lord Edward Carson, hero to Unionists but blamed for intensifying sectarianism

in Northern Ireland, something he is supposed to have been uneasy about. He defended the Marquess of Queensbury in the Oscar Wilde trial and played a role in the “Winslow boy” case (there’s a famous play about it). Across from the cathedral, there’s a plaza with quotations from famous Irish writers etched on the pavement.

A Few More Thoughts…
I’ve not yet visited the Irish Republican History Museum, but it sounds interesting and would very likely represent the extreme Republican position. A taxi or bus ride out to the well-preserved medieval Carrickfergus Castle will take you to the shores of Belfast Lough. The Somme Museum and Heritage Centre in Newtownards (bus or taxi) tells the story of Irish involvement in the great World War I battle and even has a mock trench system that you can walk through surrounded by the noise of battle. According to their website, “The Museum has increasingly focused upon the community relations potential of this shared history as a vehicle to further cross-community and cross-border contact, mutual understanding and reconciliation.”