Since my Spiritual Awakening I always felt an urge to explore and learn more and yes, maybe what I was planning to do was a bit reckless, but it needed to be done and somehow I knew I`ll be just fine.
Back in London I took life from where I left off but very determined to make my move to Scotland possible, so I started google-ing. As I had enough of the city life I was looking for something more rural and quiet so I start searching for properties 5 miles radius from Edinburgh. A few properties popped up and they were what I was looking for. Funny enough they were all in Dunfermline. Very excited about it, I took a few days off work, and in December 2016 I was back in Scotland, this time visiting Dunfermline. Just as usual I didn`t know anything about the so called " ancient capital of Scotland", never looked at any pictures or at least to read something about it, so I had no idea what to expect.
Before continuing with my story I`ll admit that while travelling around England I discovered some beautiful villages which made me develop a hot spot for rural life and the idea of being part of a small community where people help each-other and they are there for one another. Not to mention, the beauty of the high street with their shopping centers, the small but welcoming cafes and the church that was the heart of the community was very appealing to me. I guess the older you get the more you feel the need to return to your roots and as i grew up on a farm in a small village I was looking for the same lifestyle but in Scotland.
On my first arrival in Dunfermline the weather wasn`t very welcoming. It was very wet and windy but as I`ve been living in UK for a while was nothing out of the ordinary for me. I got off the train, without knowing that the railway station has 2 exits just like every railway station in the countryside. Also, most of the railway stations here are not close to the city center but not too far either so a bit of a walk is required.
I used the closest exit and I found myself standing on a side of the road, nearby a parking lot with a huge post office at the end of it, houses lined up across the road like a bunch of pearls on a string. I laugh now looking back but in that moment it was nothing like I would've expected so I start panicking saying to myself " What were you thinking?" After a few minutes I switched off the panic mode and I start looking around when I noticed that the exit passage has another exit towards the other platform. I`m finally out on the other side of the station when a blue sign got my attention and it was mentioning the direction towards the city center. Feeling very hopeful I began my walk towards Dunfermline`s high street.
Just after reaching the top of the hill I turned left and the High Street opened to me with it`s impressive architecture, a beautiful mixture of old and new, busy locals walking around like very busy bees sorting out their daily shopping needs, a very talented violinist playing " The Waves of the Danube " by Iosif Ivanovici such a well known tune in my country. This was exactly what I was looking for and everything I imagined it would be.
I was already day dreaming of my life here when I felt someone`s hand on my shoulder. I turned around and this 4 ft and a smile of a lady, with a very long silver hair, starts talking to me : " Hi hen, I saw your daughter the other day. She`s very beautiful. " Imagine my surprise when I`m very aware I don`t have any children. I must`ve had a very confused facial expression as she looked at me and realized I`m not the person she thought I was. She apologized, but as we were walking in the same direction, we decided to walk together and we started chatting. She told me how she moved from Germany to Scotland in the 90`s and she`s been in Dunfermline ever since, how lucky she is to live in Dunfermline and how much she`s enjoying her life here. Before parting ways she hugged me, wished me good luck on my endeavors and told me that she thinks I would fit really well within the community.
With another positive sign sent by the universe I continue my journey on the High Street, noticing on my left a paved road that was leading to a cemetery and an Abbey. Something about it was very inviting and I started walking through the graveyard having on
one side the empty tree trunks and on the other side the opulent Abbey with the name Robert the Bruce very visible engraved at the top of the tower. Just after taking the corner, a board was leading me towards the ticket office and just behind it, the skeleton of what it used to be the Dunfermline Palace, was guarding the Abbey, while looking over the valley with it`s wiggly streets and the few houses. The view was magnificent and on a good day you could see all the the way to the Firth Of Fourth and it`s three bridges.
After entering the ticket office and having a look around the gift shop, a lovely lady approaches me. I tell her roughly about my visit to Dunfermline and without realizing we end up having a conversation about Celtic mythology and the influence of the Celts in the region, when she mentions to me something very interesting:
" the Abbey was actually built on top of the first Celtic Church ". She hands me the keys to the Abbey and tells me to go and have a look around. I felt like a kid that just got their favorite toy or the map to a hidden treasure and I was going on a quest. With my heart pounding of excitement and my hands shaking I twist the key and unlock the door. The loud sound of the lock starts echoing while the heavy wooden door hits the nearby wall with a squeak. The freezing air of December that somehow got locked inside was making it`s way out, a process that made my hair stand and gave me a very unsettling feeling.
It was like walking into a freezer but I don`t know if it was because of the cold weather or because of the many monarchs, 18 royals in total, that got buried in the nearby graveyard. From Queen Margaret in 1039 to Robert Steward, Duke of Albany, in 1420. Robert the Bruce, otherwise known as King Robert I, became the last of seven Scottish kings to be buried at Dunfermline Abbey in 1329, although his heart was taken to Melrose.
With a very shy approach I began looking around despite the darkness surrounding me as the room wasn`t lighted enough and I didn`t know where the switch was. I was standing in Scotland`s most outstanding example of Norman architecture and a monument of medieval design. Soaring vaults over the aisles to fine flourishes in stone, big arched windows and the Victorian stained glass, that was turning the rays of light into different shades of red, yellow, green and blue. The tall pillars of masonry were so imposing that made my 5 ft 2, feel very small in comparison and their height was overwhelming but in a very positive way. It made me feel protected.
Looking down I notice spots of light here and there. As I`m curious by nature, I got closer to take a better look. Under the glass tiles i could see rocks of different shapes and sizes and I start wondering myself " why are those rocks covered? was it a way of preserving another treasure of the past?" That`s when I remembered what i got told when i bought my entrance ticket. The Abbey that we can see now was actually build over what it used to be the old abbey which was at a lower level. Was the old abbey part of the first Celtic church or was there another building before that? This is one question that troubles me and I couldn`t find an answer just yet as i heard different versions so far.
My next step will be to find out more about the matter but until i come back with new facts I`ll let you to enjoy the reading.
Sending all my dear readers Love and Light from Scotland.
