HMY Britannia

We spent a few hours on Her Majesty’s yacht, the Britannia. My only familiarity with the boat is from the Netflix show, The Crown. The ship is beautiful. Instead of the traditional black, she is painted dark blue and highlighted with a gold stripe the length of the ship. Oddly, her name appears nowhere on the hull. Built in the early 1950’s, the ship was one in a long line of royal ships, going back to the 1600’s. The Britannia was commissioned in 1954 and sailed over a million nautical miles before retiring in 1997. In that time, the boat visited 135 different countries. One of my favorite features was the state dining room, where the walls displayed gifts from different countries. There was woodwork from New Zealand, a peace pipe from America, a carved turtle from the Galápagos, and a miniature stone figure from Easter Island. There interior of the boat was exquisite, while many of the furnishings were more humble. Family photos lined many of the living areas, included 1980’s era Princess Di shots. We were provided an audio tour, which guided us through the ship from top to bottom. The three-masted ship has five decks, with its original steam engines that were never replaced. We toured the living quarters of the royals, with bedrooms, dining room, sun room, and drawing room, as well as the crew’s quarters. The admiral was in charge, and he also had some very nice digs. The ship required a huge crew, including a military band that had to be able to play the national anthem of every country in which they entered their port. In addition to the crew and passengers, the ship carried either a Rolls-Royce or a bit shorter Land Rover. The Rolls was so long that they would need to remove the bumper each time they stowed it.

In the last 15 years or so, a a tea room was added as part of the attraction. We popped in after the tour to have lunch and tea. Although the day started with clouds and heavy rain, the skies started to clear, as we sat by the large window overlooking the Firth of Forth (which really just feels like a bay that opens to the North Sea).

We finished our site seeing in Edinburgh’s city center. We stopped into St Giles’ cathedral. Churches have been on this site for centuries, but it now houses a Protestant denomination. It was bustling with tourists inside, which diminished the sacred feel. I just assume that a church is going to be quiet, but this one certainly was not. We left the madness of the church to cross the street. On the corner is a bronze statue of David Hume, born in Edinburgh in 1711. The statue is the dull green blue of bronze except for his toe. Apparently it is good luck to rub his toe, which now gleams golden in the sun. I gave a little rub and hoped his wisdom wears off on me. It’s an unusual tradition given that Hume didn’t believe in superstition or religiosity. I wonder what he would make of his shiny toe.

As we left the downtown area, we ran across a bagpiper. What a way to finish the day!Baca lagi