Scotland Heritage Pilgrimage, Days 1 & 2, 13-14 July

Yesterday we hit the ground running. Our coach picked us up from the airport after our overnight flight, and we had an orientation tour of Edinburgh. After lunch on our own, we gathered at St Giles’ Cathedral (or High Kirk, if your Presbyterian sensibilities just can’t call it a Cathedral) for a guided tour. I’ve been in St Giles a few times before, but never for a guided tour, and it added a lot—even though many of us were swaying on our feet at that point and in danger of falling asleep standing up. We were privileged to be taken into the Thistle Chapel, which is usually kept locked and most tourists don’t get to see it. This is where the order of the Thistle gathers. Just a couple of weeks ago King Charles was there, for his coronation ceremony in Edinburgh, and sat in the central seat to induct new members into the Order of the Thistle. I was so tired I can’t really remember just what the purpose of the Order of the Thistle is, but you all know how to Google it!

As one tour member remarked, “if Charles was sitting in this small space less than two weeks ago, this is probably the closest I will ever get to having an audience with the king”. It is a beautiful, small chapel and we were grateful for the privilege of seeing it.

St. Giles’ church’s known history goes back as far as the 11th century, though only a few stones in the Kirk today go back that far. We ended our tour with Aaron (our senior pastor Dr. Janklow) giving an abbreviated talk on the Reformation in Scotland—unfortunately cut short because we were due back on the coach, and everyone was falling asleep. We’ll revisit the Reformation tomorrow at the museum.

After a group dinner at an Italian restaurant we gratefully fell into our beds. When is the last time I slept 9 hours straight??? Couldn’t tell you.

Today we were back at St. Giles for their 9:30 service, which includes communion. The choir was beautiful, the liturgy as high as you can get and still be Presbyterian (I loved it), the sermon was good, and my friend Sigi from Iona days, who is currently the Associate Pastor at St. Giles helped lead the service, which made it even more meaningful.

Then it was off to lunch, and then up to the Castle for an early afternoon tour. Andrew, Mary and I took time in the war memorial to find the name of the cousin of a church member, James Fleming McFarlane, who was in the RAF and shot down over the ocean in 1943. It took a while for them to find it for us, but we got a photo of the page on which his name is recorded to send back to our church member.

Then, the big adventure! Eight of us climbed up to the top of Arthur’s Seat—a long dormant volcano. (The castle is on top of a dormant volcano as well.) I’ve been wanting to climb up every time I’ve been to Edinburgh, and finally made it. It is a strenuous climb and the scramble up the final bit of rocks to get to the top is a challenge, but we all made it to the top and back down again safely and will have the aching joints and muscles tomorrow to prove it (and the photos, of course!).

After the castle, Lauren and I met my friend James for tea. One of the best things, personally, about coming to Edinburgh is the opportunity to catch up with friends I worked with on Iona 32 years ago. We had brunch today with Ruth and Hugo, tea with James, and tomorrow I’ll have dinner with Sigi. I hope to see more friends as the trip continues. And continue to strengthen friendships with church members on the trip. It’s fun having time for conversations with people you’ve known for 20 years and finding things out about them that you never knew!