To ride the bus one trip takes 1 pound 20 pence. That is about $2.20. We usually go to the top level to ride because there are great views from up there. All along the bus, there are hand rails and bars. That's because the drivers do not wait for you to be seated. I've already talked about the way they drive. It is crazy... swinging around corners, missing pedestrians, corners of buildings and other buses, by only inches. And I don't mean that they do it carefully, oh no. They do it at break-neck speed. So hold on tight or you will be flung about the bus.
Today we are going to see the Scottish National Gallery. It is located just across the street and down a very impressive hill known here as "the Mound" from New College where David is working. So, I got off the bus and walked to the courtyard of New College. I called David to let him know I had arrived and he came down to meet me. John Knox waited with me.
I need to let David tell you about this fellow, in order to get all the facts right. But he was a Scottish clergyman and a leader of the Protestant Reformation and is considered the founder of the Presbyterian denomination. He and Mary, Queen of Scots had some rather heated debates and a few choice words not really fit for a blog.
Any way, I digress. On to the National Gallery which houses some famous paintings by some well known artists and also a great collection of art specifically from Scottish artists.
The Gallery, as I mentioned, is across the street and down the hill from New College. It is actually composed of two buildings. This one faces the university, which would be behind me in this photo. We began our tour around 3:30 in this building.
You can see that the stone on this building has been cleaned. Almost all the buildings in Edinburgh are made from this native stone. I think that is part of why the city is so beautiful, because it has a continuity to it. Anyway, over hundreds of years, the stone becomes gray and almost black in some places. (see the color behind John Knox) But because it is a soft stone, you can't just power wash it (so to speak). The cleaning has to be done very carefully as not to damage it, using only specific cleaning products and methods. Because of this, it is not something that is done very often.
On the first floor, are mainly European paintings (and a little sculpture and furniture) from the 16-19th centuries. We saw works by Titan, Poussin, Rembrandt, Rubens and Gainsborough. Remember your Art History class?
On the second floor were the Impressionists, Delacroix, Singer-Sargent, Cezanne, Monet, Degas and more. As you would expect, no photography is allowed so you will just have to do with my descriptions. We have mentioned before that everything here closes at 5:00 or 5:30 pm. And in the Autumn, some of it closes at 4:30 pm. I don't just mean a few things, I mean everything. Tourist places, shops, stores-large and small. Apparently they are satisfied with the business they do before 5:00 pm. So we quickly dashed downstairs to see a little of the Sottish collection. We were shortly told that they would be closing in 5 minutes so we basically walked and looked. After that they followed us around until we just left. No stopping.
Yes, it's free but you better get out by 5:00 pm!I would like to go back and see more but time does not allow on this trip. Just to give you a sense of the location of the Gallery and a beautiful parting glance at the Castle in Autumn.....
Have a wonderful day, email us, call us, we miss you all. More tomorrow.
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