As our pilgrimage draws to a close, the sun shone on us again! Having said that, as we headed off to church this morning it was still raining!

Church was at St. Martin of Tours in Edinburgh, the church that I pretty much grew up in and my Dad was the rector. The sermon was given by Michele and Iona who did a marvelous job of presenting who we were, where we are from, what we were doing, what we had to do to get here, and what we learned along the way. There sermon was much appreciated by the congregation and their fellow pilgrims.

After church we walked to my parents hours for lunch. Mum laid on a very fine spread and Dad provided entertainment. Again a great time was had by all – Thanks!!

We then walked some more up to the Union Canal were we boarded the Kelvin and the Kelvin II for a short trip into the centre of Edinburgh. It’s a great way to travel and a unique perspective on the city. The restoration work that has been done on the canal now allows for travel by boat all the way from Edinburgh to Glasgow. From there we jumped in a taxi all the way up to the castle.

There were many hugs exchanged on the castle esplanade, for two reasons: 1. there were folks wandering around giving out free hugs (Iona seemed to be on of their main customers) and 2. It was here that Sister BJ left us to head back to Delaware (she has a flight back from Glasgow tomorrow to Philly and we are flying from Edinburgh to Newark

[actually Iona and I aren’t flying anywhere, but everyone else it]).

The castle (as always) was tremendous, the sunshine only made it more so. We were particularly impressed with Terry making it all the way to the top to see the Scottish Crown Jewels and the Stone of Destiny as well as St Margaret’s Chapel.

We then (after Debbie and Nancy had scoured every last gift shop … twice) headed down the High Street and stopped to watch some street performers. At this point some folks headed back to the hostel while others of us wandered down to Princess Street Gardens to look at the floral clock, some rather large thistles (pretty cool photo huh?), and more spectacular views of the castle. It was then back to the hostel via the Broughton Street Chippy when we dined on some fine local faire (combined with chips smothered in brown sauce.

As this will be my final post with everyone here, I thought I would have all the pilgrims add a sentence. I will blog again once they are one the plane, and feel free to hang around as I blog about the rest of my week in Scotland and when I get back to work.

Thanks to everyone who made this amazing event possible (I will reflect more through the week), especially Therap Services where I occasionally work and this blog is hosted.

:: Justin ::

I hope everything hasn’t completely fallen apart at home. – Chris

I finally found the dragons. Expect pictures. (HI MOM). – Guess. Seriously. – Jason

My eyelashes are purple. Fear me, fear me. – The One Formerly Known as Iona

Hey everyone Scotland was very fun. See you when I get back. (Emily Kara Palinkos)

Thank you all for making this wonderful week possible! So far we got them all with us — haven’t lost any! – Nancy

Regarding Darryl…tried to ditch him, wound up hitching him! See you soon!. Debbie

Looking forward to seeing you all again – Terry

Darryl did write something, but it probably wouldn’t endear him to his newly re-betrothed wife, so I deleted it. Take it from me, it was really, really funny!

I don’t know what to say yet – Eric

After this week of pilgrimage, fun and companionship, it’s going to be hard going back to work! – Bryan

Dear Parents: I am officially moving here. Would you please send my stuff to the cathedral on the Island? Thanks. I will mail you the address tonight. I hope you come visit me. Much Love, Michele <33

(p.s. I am just kidding, but I think you knew that already.)
This trip has been so much fun and I can’t wait to see you all again! Rachelle<3

Hey! I hope everything is going well, even though I miss everyone I’m still dreading leaving. I’ll see you all tomorrow! =D -Amanda