Trails Less Traveled

My daughter called about 6 months ago and told me she was going to present a paper at a conference in Scotland and would I want to go with her.  The words were barely out of her mouth before I said "Yes"!  It would be my first trip to Europe and the prospect of seeing another country was tantalizing.  We left on August 30 and after a long "red-eye" flight reached Edinburgh about 8:00 am.  Excitement kept us from getting much sleep on the plane, but adrenaline enabled us to get a train to Glasgow and walk the city streets until about 3:00pm when we finally gave in and took a nap.  Then back out for more city walking.

Scotland has a rich history starting with the Picti, on through Roman conquerors who could not long hold the land to the Gaels/Scoti from Northern Ireland, the Vikings, and finally David I who with the backing of the British under Henry I was able to bring the tribes together under a state of feudalism.  The historical artifacts are amazing!  Cairns from 2000 BC in the North, ruins of Roman walls from 300 AD in the South and abbeys, cathedrals, castles and war memorials in between.  Most are open to visitors - many for a fee - and to experience the history is overwhelming at times.  I felt saddened that our Native peoples left few remnants of their civilization other than the cliff ruins in the Southeast, shell mounds in Florida and some burial grounds in the mid-section of our country.  I also felt it disappointing that our government has not taken more efforts to find and excavate other sites of Native American settlements.  Maybe it is the fact that many are on reservations and therefore under the auspices of the tribal government to do so.

So stay tuned and interspersed with the blogs on local hiking, will be highlights of the trip and the hiking we discovered both in the cities and country.