Day 12: St. Andrews and the William Wallace Monument
To my surprise, none of the students had any interest in blogging today, so for the moment you’ll have to put up with me. But I promise a photo or two so you can see what we were up to all day.
The morning began with a walk to a local Starbucks. I know what you’re thinking: “You guys didn’t go to Europe to go to Starbucks.” Yes, you’re right, but there were surprisingly few places open when we were out and about, and we wanted to get on the road to St. Andrews, so we cut our losses and wound up at Starbucks. It turned out to be a fantastic decision; the baristas were speedy drink artists and there was a spacious lounging area upstairs that overlooked the Royal Mile, so we were very happy at Starbucks…in EUROPE!
Anyway, on to St. Andrews. We could tell straight away that we were going to enjoy the day if nothing else due to the 70-degree temperature and sunny skies. Word has it the conditions have been slightly different back home…. We’ll do our best to bring the sunshine with us when we return on Sunday.
We ventured to St. Andrews – yes, the home of golf – and saw the traditional birthplace of the Scottish Reformation: St. Andrews Castle. It was here that George Wishart, the Reformer and friend of John Knox, was burned at the stake by Cardinal David Beaton (Nope. No link for him. I don’t have a whole ton of respect for guys who make vows to celibacy then prolifically father illegitimate children – or who burn reformers at the stake…but that’s me, and I’m blogging, so yeah.). That event was the spark that really ignited the Reformation in Scotland, and it happened where we were today.
In a somewhat comical or even ironic twist, the site of Wishart’s execution is about as heralded as that of John Knox’s burial. Both were men who were focused on directing the attention and affection of men Godward rather than on other men (particularly saints). Well, my guess is that relatively few make pilgrimages to parking spot number 23 on the south side of St. Giles’ church, where there is a small, tan concrete square amid the asphalt. It is unmarked, but it does serve as Knox’s only grave marker. Similarly, a Ford van was parked on the spot where Wishart was executed, and both men would be glad that the land were being used for something other than pushing up flowers, or distracting men’s attention from God in some man-centered worship. Just a thought.
So, after spending some time at St. Andrews Castle, we grabbed some lunch and some of the students did a bit of shopping before we headed to the William Wallace Memorial, near Sterling, Scotland.
After this, we ventured back to Edinburgh, ate some fish ‘n’ chips (most of us, anyway), and came back to our hostel before the social life on the Royal Mile really went from a “PG” to an “R” rating. Enjoy the pics, and perhaps tomorrow I’ll be able to coerce some student into blogging about Holyrood Palace (the Queen’s residence in Scotland) and a day spent hanging out in Edinburgh…our last day in the UK!
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- The site of George Wishart’s execution, and clearly a parking space.
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- John Knox’s final resting place, a.k.a. parking spot #23 at St. Giles Church. (Sorry, I didn’t have a pic with students in it at this site.)
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- The students at the William Wallace Monument.
