The last journal entry

And for my final day in Edinburgh and my final thoughts on the trip:

We started the day with our last class of the trip.  Then we went just down the block to St. Giles' Cathedral, which I stated previously is a pilgrimage spot for Presbyterians.  What was interesting about the Cathedral is the stain glass windows.  The only saints I saw in the windows were those that were important to Scotland (St. Columba, St. Giles, St. Catherine).  There were also depictions of John Knox as well as one of Robert Burns (poet from Edinburgh).  Apparently, after the Reformation the original stain glass windows were destroyed and clear glass was replaced.  The Presbyterians did not want any iconography associated with the Cathedral.  It was not until the mid-20th century that the glass was replaced again with the stain glass as it is today.  What I found fascinating though, was that the items that were in the gift shop (yes it had a gift shop and yes I went in) were things that I would call iconography.  There were paintings and carvings of Jesus and Jesus with Mary that I saw at several locations at Catholic sights in France (both Paris and Lourdes).  The only thing that made me know this was not a Catholic Cathedral gift shop were the crosses and the lack of papal items.  There were no crucifixes (crosses with Jesus on them).  As well, other Catholic gift shops had things on Pope John Paul II (since he was just beatified--a step on the way to sainthood--earlier in May).

The Cathedral also includes a chapel called Thistle Chapel.  It is a really cool chapel where select people are knighted by the Queen.  The chapel is also decorated very intricately and there is even an angel playing bagpipes!  Only in Scotland!  Unfortunately, no photos are allowed in the Cathedral (unless you pay for a photography pass), but I sneaked a shot of the bag-pipping angel.

After the Cathedral I continued my literary pilgrimage and headed over to Rosslyn Chapel (about a 45 minute bus ride from Edinburgh).  This was the chapel in the final pages of The Da Vinci Code.  The book (and movie) does not do this chapel justice.  This place is fantastic!  It is small, but there is so much to see in it!  It is quite easy to miss the details because there is so much.  They do, however, have signs throughout the chapel explaining the sections and the imagery.  The coolest thing I saw, I think, was the row of corn in one area.  Corn was not introduced to Europe until after Columbus came back from America...and the chapel was built YEARS before that!  The sign suggested that this might be evidence that the Knights Templar (who built the chapel) had gone to America before Columbus (like some legends explain).  I was curious to find out if the chapel would exploit the fact that it was an integral part of The Da Vinci Code and I was happy to find out that they did not.  In the gift shop (yet again another gift shop) they did sell copies of the book (along with other books that are along the same lines), but that was it.

After Rosslyn Chapel I made my way back to Edinburgh and did some last minute shopping and then we had our last group dinner at Angels & Bagpipes (I highly recommend).

The next morning I left with Dr. Bell and Nicole at the very early time of 4am to make it to the airport for my 6:05 flight home (never again will I book a flight that early from that far away!).  I had two layovers and so had to go through security THREE times!  And two of them required me to go through the full body scanner.  I did learn (after the fact) that my Lourdes Mary Holy Water was actually in my carry on (not on purpose I swear) the whole time and none of the TSAs noticed it.  TSA fail.  But I am very glad because I did not want to lose the water.

On one of my flights I was watching Bizarre Foods and the host was in Iceland.  What was interesting about it was he made his way to a remote island to catch (and eat) puffins!  I'm kind of glad I wasn't able to see the puffins up close in Staffa because then I think the show would have made me cry!  The host did say something interesting that I related to pilgrimage.  He said that the farther you have to go and the harder the food is to catch, the better tasting it is.  The farther someone has to travel and the harder the journey, the more they get out of the trip and the more meaningful the trip is.  If pilgrimage was easy and close by, everyone would do it and it would not be special/meaningful.  The journey is an integral part of the spiritual expedition one takes.  On the way to the place, the person is in prayer and thinking of what they will experience (or hope to experience) once they reach the location.  After they leave the location, they think about what they went through and contemplate how their life has changed.  And, the further the place is, the less likely someone else they know has been to that place.  They can then bring those stories of their journey back home and their friends/loved ones can experience the pilgrimage through that person (similar to you the reader experiencing the trip I took through my blog).

This study abroad was a great experience and I am very grateful that I took the trip.  I do believe, though, that if I were to study abroad again I would do the traditional study abroad in that I would go to one specific school and study there.  The trip was exhausting and it is hard to live with 11 other people and have no "Me time".  I have grown as a student and a person (which is also a goal of a pilgrimage...well not the student part) and I will take the experiences I had back to the classroom (I will definitely incorporate the Lourdes baths into the unit on clean/unclean) next semester.

Some final notes on pilgrimage: While I referenced the "Harry Potter pilgrimage" and the "Da Vinci Code pilgrimage" several times, I am not sure if Turner would consider going to sites associated with the books as a pilgrimage.  There is no danger or risk in going to the locations.  As well, I am not sure how someone is changed after going to the locations.  This may be because they sites do not have a heavily personal interest to me.  Yes, they were neat to visit, but I would have been fine if I could not make it to any of the sites.  However, I do believe that because of my intense love for the Beatles, if I were to go to Liverpool I would consider that a pilgrimage.  I would make sure that I went to every possible location.  The danger associated with it would be that if I go alone, it can be dangerous for a female to travel internationally alone.  If I went with someone else, the danger would be me annoying them so much with my excitement and Beatle knowledge that they may harm me!  Just like religious sites, pilgrimage locations have special meaning to some people, and not to others.  As such, one person may have a deeply religious experience at one place, while another person may just see the site as a tourist location and have no meaningful experience.