I’d never had a building I’d been in catch on fire, I’d never had a fire alarm go off at a hotel I was staying in….

and then both things happened on this vacation. Ha!

Anyway, everything was fine, so we went inside and went to bed for a bit.

One of the things I really wanted to do on this trip was visit the Scottish National Gallery, because they have the Vermeer “Christ in the House of Martha and Mary.” Vermeer is one of my favorite artists, and this is one of my favorite paintings, so I was absolutely wild to see it.

We had lunch at the museum (which also had free admission)—it was a beautiful day in Scotland and we had a gorgeous view of the crowd on the Mound and the Scott Monument.

The National Gallery downplays their collection, but it’s pretty amazing…they have Botticelli, Vermeer, Da Vinci, two Raphaels, Monets, Renoirs, Rembrandts, and of course lots of Scottish artists like Ramsey. When we were visiting the Impressionists were being overhauled so we couldn’t see those paintings.

A taste of the museum….

I think I looked at the Vermeer for about 10 to 15 minutes. I wanted to haul other tourists who just glanced at it and moved on back in front of it and make them appreciate it, hahah.

I was surprised at how big the painting was—most of Vermeer’s paintings are much smaller. Being in its presence was remarkable.

The there was tea—of course there was tea—at Eteaket.

We had cream tea, which is tea and scones (plain or with fruit—I chose plain) and I also chose their sea buckthorn tea, which I really liked! There was definitely some shopping here, too.

(And yes, you get a timer with your tea—sometimes they offer options, like at the Palace of Holyroodhouse (below)

where you can pour the tea depending on ho strong you like your tea and also what kind of tea you have—you can brew herbal tea for a much longer time than say, a white tea.)

Eteaket was really cute and I loved being able to shop after!

The tea at the hotel and Mimi’s was from Eteaket, so they’re well-known around Edinburgh. While I was there, I had their Peppermint, Lemon and Ginger, Sea Buckthorn, Cranberry and Apple, and Isle of Harris Gin tea. (You can order tea from the online shop as well).

After tea it was time to change and head to 6:00 Mass at St. Mary’s Cathedral.

(The organ was amazing, btw)

The really special thing abut this church? The National Shrine of St. Andrew is located here, with some of his bones. (St. Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland.)

Getting to pray in the presence of the relics of someone who knew Our Lord so intimately was a very special experience. This was the first time I’d been to Mass outside of the US, and as soon as the Mass started the same way every other Mass has…that hit me as something special as well. I was saying the same prayers, hearing the same readings, as my parents back in Ohio, as Catholics back in the US, as Catholics in London and Dublin and Paris. The universality of the Church hit me in a way that it never had before, because I was actually living it. It was truly moving.

Dinner was at Badger and Co., located in the former home of Wind and the Willows author Kenneth Grahame and near Edinburgh Castle. We met Richelle again for dinner and had another great meal!