One of the things we wanted to do while we were in Europe was get away from the major tourist areas and experience a part of the country away from the major cities. I planned a side trip in each of the major cities (ironically, to see some of the other tourist sites, but also just to see the country). The sidetrip we planned for Edinburgh was to go out to Stirling, Scotland and see some castles in the countryside. I looked for commercial tours, but none of them seemed to really fit our needs, or our travelling style. So I booked a rental car. And in Scotland that means driving on the left side of the road.
Before we left Edinburgh we first needed to wake up. And since our body clocks were playing havoc on us, we overslept our planned alarm (and it helps if you set your phone alarm to go off at 7 AM instead of 7 PM). We woke up around 9 AM, and feeling the pressure of being two hours behind schedule, we jumped into high gear. That sounded like a good idea until we started getting ready. The plan was for me to jump in the shower and go down to the adjacent cafe and pick up some scones (the English kind), since sitting down for another meal of bacon waffles was out of the question due to time, and then Becky would stay and get ready. This sounded like a good plan, but when we were packing for Europe, Becky bought a 3-pack of contact lens cases and we were both using the same style of case. I made the mistake of leaving mine on the sink counter instead of on the shelf like I had done the night before, and Becky unwittingly put in my contacts. She couldn't see any better than she did before, so she thought maybe she had forgotten to put hers in and put in both sets of contacts. This wasn't working either, and somehow, we thought a contact had fallen on the floor. After about 5 min of searching, we finally realized she was wearing both lenses and we got the problem sorted out...without using our backup spare pair.
The scone I bought in our rush to get ready. We used the hot chocolate packs left in the room, but it wasn't too good. Scones are very dry. There must be a reason the English like to eat them with tea.
We tackled the News Steps on our way back down the hill to the airport bus. Its a lot easier going down with luggage than it was going up.
We rode the airport shuttle bus back to Edinburgh Airport, but we got caught in heavy traffic headed to the Royal Highland Show...an annual "State Fair" to show off farm animals, etc. After an another hour delay, we finally made it to the airport, left our luggage at our hotel for that night, and walked across the street to the car rental agency. I can't tell you how disconcerting it is to get in on the wrong side of the car and try and do everything backwards. All of the mirrors, gauges, etc are exactly mirrored and I kept looking at the wrong thing. We set up the GPS with our first stop, and headed out onto the open road. Once we got going, it wasn't quite as bad, but it became clear during the day (shall we say, after a few near misses) that Becky would need to take a more active role in this left-side driving. We came to an agreement that whenever I turned a corner, she would remind me which way and which side I needed to stay on.
We me made it to our first stop Linlithgow Palace....a royal palace built in the 1300s and now is only a shell. It's where Mary Queen of Scots was born and lived for a while during her reign, but after England and Scotland crowns united, it wasn't used and fell into decay.
Exterior of Palace
Internal courtyard of Palace
Detail of fountain in the courtyard
The lake on the back side of the Palace
Becky was insistent on reading all of the informational signs when we first started out (but got more selective as we were further into the trip).
Hallway within the Palace
This palace was the first of many historic sites that included circular staircases. Each of the four corners of the palace had a circular staircase, and to get around, we had to walk up and down each one of them. Just about every palace or castle we went had a very similar design and it became a running joke about the number of circular staircases we walked up down on this trip.
Overview of the palace from one of the upper towers
View of the lake from the upper tower
Another view of one of the turrets from the upper tower
We spent an hour or two walking around the Palace. It was one of our favorites because it felt so real. Some of the other "restored" palaces feel too antiseptic. This one made you feel that you could really imagine what it must have been like to live here.
The day was a bit overcast with some scattered showers. But fortunately, we only ran into rain showers while we were driving between sites, and never actually had any outside of the car. A perfect scenario!
From Linlithgow, we drove to Sterling, Scotland. When we bought our Scottish Explorer Pass (giving us access to all Scottish Heritage sites), they informed us that Stirling Castle (the one I REALLY wanted to see) would not be available today. I was bummed, so I looked it up online and found that they were hosting an event (that turned out to be a conference of all the Scottish government precincts) but that they would try to open the castle back up to the public by 3 pm. So we tweaked out itinerary and went to Doune Castle next, just a few miles outside of Stirling. Doune Castle was the site of the filming of Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Front of the castle
This and the sidewall (that was under scaffolding and being restored) was the site of the filming of the "French Taunter" scene (better known as the wingspeed of an African Swallow).
Clip of the scene from Monty Python
Interior courtyard
Interior Courtyard looking back at the main entry
The kitchen fireplace and oven
The Great Hall. Also known at the location of filming for the "Spamalot" song.
Clips from the movie
Becky seated on the Duke of Albany's chair
Windows in the Castle. They put up a false door on one of the arches and turned it into the guard's scene.
Clip from the movie
Becky on top of the front watchtower
Looking down from the top of the tower
From Doune Castle we drove back to Stirling and drove up to the castle just as the government event was adjourning. We walked past throngs of tourists who had been waiting for the castle to open and were standing in the ticket line. We already had our Explorer Pass and walked right up to the gate and went into the castle. (So Becky could be the first one into the bathrooms....a scene we reenacted over and over on this trip.)
Garden in the forecourt of Stirling Castle
The portcullis gate
The Great Hall / Golden Hall
Inside the Great Hall with hammerbeam ceiling
The building housing the Scottish Crown Jewels and the Stone of Scone (the stone the Kings/Queens of England sit on to be crowned...we saw the chair in Westminster Abbey in London).
The start of the Scottish Highlands from Stirling Castle
The Kings Knot on the south side of Stirling Castle. Recent excavations theorize that it may be site of Arthur's Round Table.
Our tour guide at Stirling Castle. He had a great Scottish accent!
The real Ben Lomond Peak in the distance. We had tentatively planned to drive out to Loch Lomond to see it, but we ran out of time.
Stirling Bridge below Stirling Castle. This is the site of William Wallace's (Braveheart) stand against the British. This bridge is several hundred years old. The original Wallace bridge was a few yards north or south of this point and was made of wood.
National Wallace Monument on the peak above Stirling Bridge where Wallace's men planned their strategy.
And who can go to Stirling and not eat dinner at the William Wallace Inn? Well, we didn't. We planned to, but we opened the door and cigarette smoke came billowing out, so we decided to walk a few doors up the street to a local Fish and Chips place where we bought dinner, and drove back and had a picnic at Stirling Bridge.
We stopped at a local grocery store, got some cash from the ATM and drove back to Edinburgh airport where we happily returned the rental car (driving on the left side of the road, is not my thing.)
No comments:
Post a Comment