Montag, 29. April 2013

So, ye’re into culture, aye?

Nae borra! No problem, you’re in Edinburgh and it has plenty of it. Being Scotland’s capital city, Edinburgh is actually the London of the North. With its world heritage architecture and its many museums, galleries, and theaters, Edinburgh really is Scotland’s cultural centre. Old and New Town visually bear Scotland’s history from the Middle Ages to the Scottish Enlightenment, and right into the present. But there is a lot of living Scottish history to find in the streets - listen to Gaelic, try the infamous haggis and dance a Ceilidh, once you’re there. We’ve picked out the highlights for you!

Another Way of Remembrance - Memorial Benches

Princes Street Gardens is a very peaceful place to be, tranquil but alive with locals and tourists walking around, taking pictures, relaxing, or enjoying their lunch time. It took a while before I noticed that there is an engraved plaque on every bench; they are not just simple benches, they are Memorial Benches, representing stories of people who lived in Edinburgh or had just been there for a few weeks but fell immediately in love with this city. The benches are paid for by friends or family members so there is somewhere other than the graveyard to remember them. The inscriptions on the plaques are simple messages, illustrating how their closest friends felt about them, or what they had contributed to the life of the city. Once you notice these benches, you will see them everywhere around Edinburgh. They are not just in parks, but also in every public place you can imagine, like golf clubs, hospitals, and churches, as well as right along the garden side of Princes Street itself. Few of us had ever seen these kinds of benches in Europe before, so it is a very unique kind of remembrance.

“It really calms one down if you sit on one of the benches,” said a woman from France who has lived in Edinburgh for four years. You think about your own life and your own mortality. But there is this other side, the side that celebrates peoples’ lives while wondering about what job they had or where they loved to travel. Even if you are just in Edinburgh for a few days, take a little time and sit on one of the benches. You will sense an aura of peace.
Curso/CTR Travel Writing Team Edinburgh

1 Kommentar:

  1. hi there, very nice content. Looking forward to meeting back in Scotland. See you in September.

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