Rosslyn Chapel

Posted by Ramon van der Woning on May 11, 2017

Rosslyn Chapel

Today was all about Rosslyn Chapel. We woke up a little earlier to get ready and head out to catch the bus. With breakfast in our room finished we caught the number 37 bus to the Chapel. Its about a half hour to 45 min ride. Once in the town of Roslin, Pamela already spotted where we would have our afternoon tea afterwards.

A quick little walk, we headed in to the visitor center, paid for our tickets, and walked the grounds around the old church. There will be a brief history at 11:00am. There are so many architectural aspects to take pictures of and impossible to get them all….inside even more but no cameras are allowed in there. I could literally spend hours and hours there if we had the time and Pamela would let me.

The history of this building is amazing, be them true or not. Obviously, ” The Da Vinci Code” book & movie put this Chapel on the big map with visitors skyrocketing after each came out. They thank the Vatican for “stirring the pot” on these as the revenue generated from visitors continues to fund to help restorations and preservation of the building. As for the movie, they did make some slight modifications from what is actually there.

Other storied include the Knights Templar & The Freemasons but these are not proven and most likely added after some time…mostly in the 1980’s and after The Da Vinci Code. These of course are another good “selling feature” that brings in more visitors. As for the carvings, there are too many storied to tell, and the history of what they symbolize. The carving of the ‘trillium’ the provincial flower of Ontario, is a mystery of why it is there as it is only found in North America and the Chapel was completed years before recorded history of North America and it’s ‘discovery.

There is a lot more, but you’ll just have to look it up or come here yourself. We browsed the gift shop then went back to town to Dolly’s Tea House. Lunch, a grilled ham & cheese we just right and we had grand plans for dinner. We jumped on the #37 and headed back to Edinburgh.

Dinner was at The Witchery by the Castle, just down from Edinburgh Castle. We were told of this restaurant by a woman in Dublin and told us about ‘the secret garden.’ It sounded expensive….and it was….but sometime you have to spoil yourselves. It was a fantastic dinner with drinks in a gorgeous spot. Just the two of us. Our starter was ‘haggis’, yes we finally did it. It was fantastic and I’m looking forward to having more while we are here. Pamela had halibut and myself the ribeye for mains. Wrapping up with a cappuccino and shortbread, we sat and relaxed and just enjoyed a nice, quite evening.

Back to the hotel for a good sleep as we leave Edinburgh in the morning and I get to try my hand at driving on the opposite side of the road. Campbeltown is calling.