Loch Lomond

This morning we took off to see another lake, on the advice of a fellow tourist we met at Loch Ness. He told us that Loch Lomond was beautiful and had lots of cruises so off we went. Along the way we stopped by Scotland's highest peak, Ben Nevis, and rode a cable car half way up - about 2,200 feet. From there we could have hiked up to the summit, at 4,400 feet high, but we decided instead to continue our journey toward Loch Lomond after enjoying the view.



The ride was beautiful! Scotland is full of forests, lakes, streams, and hills.



We were actually travelling through the "highlands."


The weather was superb. The local people called it "hot," but it only got up to about 70 degrees, with clear, beautiful skies.


Along the way we also stopped by a little town called Glen Coe. It was very small, just a couple of streets of houses, but some of them were very old. Their museum was not yet open for the season. So we went on ahead to Loch Lomond, and were rewarded with this view once we arrived:

Loch Ness

After a good night's rest, we were ready to tackle the job of driving in Scotland again. Our hostess gave us one good tip: if you are not sure which road to take at the roundabout, just circle it again. Roundabouts here may have as many as 4 or 5 roads shooting off in different directions, and you will have approximately 5 seconds to look at the sign and decide which one you need to take. God help you if you are in the wrong lane. Yes, some of their roundabouts have 2 or 3 lanes. The lane on the far left is the one you want to be in if you are taking the first left off the roundabout. If you are going straight, you will need to be in the middle or far right lane, and so on.
So we decided to get on the A9 and head toward Inverness. This is a very narrow, at times only one lane, road that goes right down the southern coast of Loch Ness. There are occasionally "passing places" on the side of the road where you can pull over when there is someone coming from the other way and you need to pass. Believe it or not we passed a couple of semi trucks this way! But the scenery was so beautiful it was almost worth the terror. We stopped along the way to have a picnic lunch and enjoy the view.

Loch (Scottish word meaning lake)Ness is a very long narrow lake that runs essentially north-south. Each time we stopped to take in the beauty of the place, we scanned the lake for any unusual creatures.

Here we stopped again and once again could not see any unusual lake creatures.

The water was unusually placid and calm today, so we kept a sharp eye out for anything that might pop up out of the water to look back at us.

Finally! We spotted them! The Loch Ness Mallards!

Stirling Castle

Today we rented a car at the airport in Edinburgh and took off to explore the Scottish country. We did not have a firm plan for where to go first, so we just went where the road took us. It's really a challenge driving in Scotland....on the left side of the road, shifting gears with your left hand, and trying to figure out how to interpret the road signs and navigate the many roundabouts they have here. So this first day we travelled approximately 50 miles altogether, and we ended up in Stirling, where there is another castle!


There is an open (no hand rail) stair case that leads to a catwalk near the top of the wall. There is no guardrail on the catwalk, either. And that is why I am hugging the wall in this photo:

Robert the Bruce once defended this castle against the English king, but when he realized he was outnumbered and the cause was futile, he began to systematically dismantle the castle so that the English could not use it. Strategically Stirling was important for the English who needed it to access their lands in the north. This is the most narrow place in the country, and there are two navigable rivers.
While the castle was occupied by Scottish royalty, they entertained many guests, and prepared a lot of food. They had at least five buildings dedicated to the "grand kitchens." Here are two of them that remain:


They've just hired some new help. He seems to be more animated than the other two guys, so maybe the royal guests won't have to wait too long for their steak pie, haggis and sticky toffee pudding!

When we walked to dinner, we passed right by Wallace's Monument. It is a tower that stands atop a hill overlooking Stirling Bridge. It was here that William Wallace stood in 1297 and directed his men in their successful attack of King Edward's army. Wallace waited until the English were half way across the narrow Stirling Bridge, then ordered his men to attack. After dinner we walked over to the bridge and this is what it looks like today:

Edinburgh Day Five

We saved the best for last. Today we got up early and had a nourishing breakfast of porridge and toast before heading for Edinburgh Castle. We caught the city bus to downtown, then hopped onto the tour bus - the ticket we bought yesterday was good for 24 hours, which means we can ride it until 11:15 today! This bus got us within walking distance of the castle entrance. Here's Garold entering the castle gates.


The castle itself is huge, but the audio guide we rented was the best I've ever seen. It gave a brief overview of each numbered exhibit, plus an option to hear more if you were interested. One of the more interesting exhibits to me was the tiny little room where Mary gave birth to James. Reportedly when her husband Lord Darnley came to see the child she told him, "He is so much your son that I fear it will be worse for him." Lord Darnley would be dead within a year, and Mary would be suspected of complicity. She would be forced to abdicate her throne to her infant son and would flee to England seeking protection from her cousin Elizabeth. But Elizabeth kept her imprisoned for 19 years before finally signing her death warrant. James would be schooled at Edinburgh Castle, and eventually, after Elizabeth died, be crowned James I King of England.
Another interesting part of the castle were the life sized statues of Robert the Bruce and William Wallace. They both believed in independence for Scotland and fought against English rule. Here's a photo of the statue of Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland:

The King's Room was a large hall that would have been used by the king for entertaining important people. Now it houses a display of suits of armour and a variety of different weapons from the time of Edward I, Bruce, Wallace and James I.


The castle sits atop volcanic rock that is 350 million years old. It appears to have been simply carved out of the rock, but on closer inspection, you can see how the masons simply used the rock that was there and added on to create the walls of the castle.



It creates quite and impressive and intimidating view from the city below:



This is our last day in Edinburgh. Tomorrow we will rent a car and explore the Highlands, the moors and the lochs.

Edinburgh Day Four

Today we decided to take it easy, so we bought a ticket for the Edinburgh Tour Bus. You can ride all day and hop off when you want to see something then hop back on for the rest of the ride. Each tour guide tells the story a little differently so you get a variety of information while you just sit and look. We wanted to see the John Knox House but it was closed (Sunday) so we went to see St. Giles Cathedral, which is the oldest church in Edinburgh. Our tour guide said that it is not a cathedral because it is the Church of Scotland. I think that it may have once been a cathedral and after the reformation, led by John Knox, it became Protestant.



It is beautiful inside, but not nearly as grand as some other churches we have seen. One of the tour guides said that Edinburgh does not do anything to excess. Perhaps this is also reflected in the architecture. The column in the photo below is one of the oldest parts of the building. This is the church where the Order of the Thistles assembles when they have business to conduct or someone to knight. The Queen of England is the head of the Order of the Thistles.



The tour bus took us by the Grass Market, an area that was used for trading of animals. There is a wide space between the two sides of the street where grass once grew, for the cows, sheep and horses to eat. At the end of the street there is a round stone that marks the spot where Edinburgh once held public executions. They say hundreds of people turned out to watch them. We hopped off here to take a look around and took a break at the White Hart Cafe, on the site of the oldest pub in Edinburgh.



At the end of the day we returned to the Royal Mile to have dinner at the World's End. This pub got its name from its location. It is situated near the city wall, which the residents of Edinburgh cosidered to be the end of their world. The food here was great! I had a lamb roast with potatoes and Yorkshire pudding. Garold ordered cranachan for dessert: raspberries soaked in whiskey with granola and creme and a shortbread cookie.



On the bus ride home we had a little trouble figuring out which stop to take, but a very nice elderly couple stood up to help us out. The people of Edinburgh are some of the friendliest I've ever encountered. At least half dozen times in the last few days people have offered to help us find our way around.

Edinburgh Day Three

Today we took a bus to the city center and went to the National Museum of Scotland. On the way there we passed by the Court of Judiciary building where this man was playing the bagpipes.



The museum was pretty nice but not organized as well as some. We wandered around for a long time just looking for exhibits we wanted to see. Some of the more interesting exhibits included a giant steam engine, a skeleton of a young Viking boy of about 12 whose bones show that he was cut into four pieces and buried along with animals....perhaps as a sacrifice, and this life-sized effigy of Mary Queen of Scots that was commissioned by her son, James I, perhaps out of guilt for distancing himself from her during her lifetime.



And there was of course a display of a wide variety of items designed to torture and kill...this seems to be a recurring theme in European museums. Here's a photo of a guillotine that was once used in Scotland, but not for Queen Mary.



After trudging through the museum for several hours along with hoards of school children on a field trip, we were ready for a quiet and peaceful retreat. Lucky for us this nearby garden was free and open to the public.



Around 5 or 6 went back to the apartment, collected our luggage and called a cab to drive us over to the other (West) side of Edinburgh, where we will stay at the Beverly B & B for a few days. On the recommendation of our hostess we walked a couple of blocks to the Hampton Pub for dinner. When we arrived, the place was full of people who were engrossed in watching a soccer game (here they call it football) on TV; once the game was over many people left. I tried the fish (haddock from the North Sea) and chips and Garold had the lasagna.
Some random observations on food in Scotland:
tomatoes, mushrooms and beans are served for breakfast
sausage is served everywhere all the time
vinegar is on almost every table
silver settings almost always include a big (serving) spoon

Edinburgh Day Two

Today our host Gordon drove us out to see Rosslyn Chapel, after a late breakfast at Clarinda's, a tea room located on the "Royal Mile." It is a medieval chapel that conjures up thoughts of William Wallace and Robert the Bruce. The small town of Rosslyn was founded by the masons and artisans who worked on the chapel for 40 years. The inside of the chapel is elaborately decorated with sandstone carvings. It is still owned by the descendants of the St. Clair family who built it. Part of the movie "The Da Vinci Code" was filmed here.



Of course, every chapel must have a cemetery. As luck would have it there were mourners gathering on this day. While we waited for them to pass, I found this old gravestone with the surname Wallace. Could this be a descendant of William?



Behind the chapel and through the cemetary, there lies a path that leads to what is left of the Rosslyn Castle. So of course we had to investigate....



The castle itself was built here with a view of Rosslyn Glen. It is hilly and thickly wooded terrain that could have been easily defended.



Here's a corner stone that bears the date, "1586."



We walked down to the bus stop and caught the local Lothian bus #15 back to Edinburgh. The ride back took about an hour, but it took us all the way to our apartment. We took a little nap before going back out to get some dinner. Tonight we ate at a Thai/Indian restaurant, and had Tom Kah soup, with coconut milk, chicken, lemon grass and ginger. It was spicy but delicious.

This will be our last night at Gordon's apartment. Tomorrow we will move over to the other side of Edinburgh to spend a few nights in a B & B.