History Hound Travels

You’ll note that I did not say Scotch (which is a whisky, dinna be confused). I was doing some research tonight on Hogmanay, which led me to read a bit on the Kirk (Church) of Scotland. Here’s the tidbit that fascinated me: the Kirk discouraged the celebration of Christmas until the 1960s, even while it held it’s normal religious nature. It was a regular working day in Scotland! People celebrated Hogmanay with gifts and parties, though. In fact, Edinburgh (the capital) and several other cities hold all night parties which begin on December 31st and end on January 1st. Unless they carry over, LOL! of course, the Kirk doesn’t care overmuch for Hogmanay either.

And let’s talk about the Church of Scotland. It is a Presbyterian church, shaped during the Scottish reformation. It is a national church without being a state church, and it’s emblem is the burning bush. You’ll find the offices on George Street in Edinburgh. And if you thought American churches were highly fractured and politicized, read this:

However, in the 1920s, the United Kingdom Parliament passed the Church of Scotland Act 1921, finally recognising the full independence of the Church in matters spiritual, and as a result of this the Kirk was able to unite with the United Free Church of Scotland in 1929. The United Free Church of Scotland was itself the product of the union of the former United Presbyterian Church of Scotland and the majority of the Free Church of Scotland in 1900.

Some independent Scottish Presbyterian denominations still remain. These include the Free Church of Scotland (formed of those congregations which refused to unite with the United Presbyterian Church in 1900), the United Free Church of Scotland (formed of congregations which refused to unite with the Church of Scotland in 1929), the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland (which broke from the Free Church of Scotland in 1893), the Associated Presbyterian Churches (which emerged as a result of a split in the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland in the 1980s) and the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) (which emerged from a split in the Free Church of Scotland in 2000).

Wild, huh?

Now, I recommend that you go to Edinburgh around the end of the year. Find a cheap hotel in Edinburgh and attend the Hogmanay party. You’ll need to keep that accomodation in Edinburgh for a few days, because the holiday may last until the 3rd or 4th. When the church offices re-open, visit them, too, just to even things out, see. Hotels in Edinburgh run the gamut from primitive to luxurious–remember my motto: the less you spend on lodging, the more stuff you can afford to do!

In school this term, we are studying Leonardo DaVinci, and as part of our study, we are being very briefly introduced to other Italian artists of the time. It’s been interesting to get a look at some of the great art without having to book hotels in Italy. I was lucky enough to see some of them in person when I went to Europe 20 years ago. If you have never seen it, let me assure you that the Mona Lisa is just as stunning in person.

One of the intriguing things about Rome is that the art isn’t just in Museums. I spent a bit of time just walking around there, and there are statues and fountains and just so much to see, even where you would not expect it. The most famous is the Trevi (shown at left, public domain photo), but that whole area is just incredible. I should also note that it was in Rome that I was served a head-on fish for the first time. I covered the head with the roll, and ate anyway. You can find hotels in this older section of the city, but there are more Roman hotels in the newer areas.

Rome is the only city I saw in Italy, but if I ever get back, I won’t repeat my error. I’ll be booking hotels in Venice, Sicily, Florence….

But I have visited. In fact, I lived in Germany for close to 2 years, but I was in southern Germany, in a little town called Göppingen about an hour from Stuttgart. I was just looking at the Google Map, and thinking of going to Frey (department store), and the Bonnet (pizza place). I found the most interesting yarn shop there, but I wasn’t into real wool then and sadly did not take advantage of it.

I only stayed in a couple of hotels the whole time I was there, and never any Hotels in Berlin or Hotels in Berlin if you sprechen Deutsch.

I really regret that I did not spend more time visiting other countries while I was there. I should have visited France and England and Italy again, but I was young and homesick, and did not take advantage of the close proximity. I could have booked any of the hotels in Vienna for a long weekend, but….no. Oh, hotels in Vienna for you natives.

I was doing some research today so I could post about Hoteles en Barcelona, and found myself looking at the wiki on bullfighting. My dad and I had talked not long ago about how there were people who were trying to get the sport outlawed, which is why it occurred to me to look it up. It is truly a blood sport, and until today, I did not realize that the bull is almost always killed. They sorta forget to show that part on the Saturday morning cartoons, I guess. I also learned that there is more to the sport than just some crazy guy waving a cape at 2000 pounds of fury. There are actually several men and at least one horse involved. Until 1909, the horses were mortally wounded by the bull, too. I think, all things considered that I must recommend you find something else to amuse yourself when in Spain.

As shameful as it sounds, tourists are in large part responsible for the continuation of the sport. As many as 70% of the attendees at Barcelona’s Monumental ring have spent the night in a local hotel. Now you know I am all about going and seeing and doing. But I am going to suggest that when you are going to Spain, and seeing touristy things that you find something to do besides the watch traditional bullfights. The hotels in Barcelona should be able to supply a list of fun things to do that don’t involve bloodletting as a guaranteed course of events. If not, check in to one of the Hotels in Madrid and see the end of the Vuelta a España!

Not too long ago, I spent several posts talking about some of the sites in London and made a few quips about London accommodation. I said then not to let that London hotel go until I said, and then I forget to tell you to check out when we moved on. Oops. Sorry. We’re headed back to England today, but instead of finding accommodation in London, we’ll be booking ourselves into Manchester hotels.

So, what’s in Manchester? So glad you asked!! Manchester is about 160 miles from London, and was once the global center of the cotton trade, and the area suffered greatly during the American Civil War. Remember that the American South, where much cotton was grown, was not heavily industrialized, and the cotton mills in Manchester relied on a steady stream of cotton from that region to keep their spinning and weaving machines humming along productively. After the South was prevented from shipping it’s cotton out, textile mills all over Europe faced shortages. However, even those hardest hit by the cotton shortage would not aid the South because they did not want to be seen as supporting slavery. And this is why, in addition to all those lovely English statues and landmarks, you will also find an rather jarring exhibit in Manchester: a statue of Abraham Lincoln, given to the city by Mr. and Mrs. Charles Phelps Taft, residents of Ohio.

photo from the public domain