This robin's egg blue was my favorite house:
Our next stop was the Rosslyn chapel. For those of you who have not read Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code (or seen the movie, in which the chapel is featured), this chapel is the fabled secret hiding place of the Holy Grail, which by the way is not some jeweled cup that Christ drank out of at the last supper. Sounds a little bizarre, huh? Well, the family who has owned the church since it was built in the 1400s, the Sinclairs, have held secret what lies in the crypt of the chapel. It has been permanently sealed, and the family will not talk about what is down there. In fact, in the 1970s one of the Sinclairs wanted to be buried in the "secret" crypt, but no one was able to unseal it. The tour guide told us that the present leader of the Sinclair family (also the Earl of Roslyn) has allowed a scan of the crypt which detected metal, attributed to some Knights Templar buried in their armor in the crypt. Other scans, which would reveal more of what's down there have been offered for free, but the Sinclairs want none of it. Isn't that strange!? Lots more thoughts about this, but I'll leave it at that. Our visit to the Rosslyn chapel was by far the most interesting of the day.
It's going through extensive renovation because it is literally falling apart:
Sadly, no photos were allowed inside, which was by far the most fascinating part. There were so many symbols in the carvings and the stories were incredible.
We went down to Princess Gardens in the afternoon (it was only 4:00 but looked like 9:00pm) so I could look at the Scottish Highlands Christmas Market. It was a shame compared the German Markets we have seen. Oh well. It was pretty.
A view of the ice rink, old town and castle from the Christmas Market.
4 comments:
Oh it is absolutely beautiful! You look nice and warm in your coat though. :) Love the picture of the ice skating rink. Have so much fun!! Can't wait to see more pictures!
I love the houses with the doors right on the street, so interesting to me. Have you found any good food at all?
I love Christmas crackers....besides the crazy paper hats, did you get any great prizes inside? I tried to talk Harold into buying some at Costco this year....it didn't take. :)
Glad you're enjoying yourself.
I could hardly wait for your trip, hoping the postings would be as timely as last summer. You do a super-duper job sweetie.
I think it all looks pretty magical.
The gods must have been with you two as you managed to squeeze out of the US before the east coast airports all but shut down over the weekend. Way to go.
Have the best time ever and we'll all enjoy vicariously for now.
Thanks for having so much fun in celebration of my birth! hehe
It looks SO COLD! Good thing you were already prepared for the weather. (Thank you, Nebraska!)
Everything is so beautiful in your pictures - I can only imagine the "in person" effect!
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