Stirling & Scone

Today we drove to get close to the castle, and then walked up the hill.

We spent the morning at the castle, and did a guided tour though I found the guide difficult to understand. Saw the great kitchens and tapestry studio.

We drove onto Perth and visited Scone (pronounced Skoon) palace and gardens. This is where the Stone of Scone was found? for the coronation of the king/queen.

The weather was better but still cloudy. We continued to Newtonmore where we were spending the night. We had a pub dinner at the hotel playing old 80s songs.

Scotland - Falkirk

First day of our 10 day tour of Scotland, beginning with the long drive from London, why drive you might ask? Well flying would have meant going through an airport which is a fairly unpleasant experience, the train would have taken almost as long, so we figured driving was still a fairly cost effective way to get there and since we needed a car to get around anyway it wouldn't be that much extra for a couple more days, never mind the fact that we were finishing our tour on a bank holiday and there didn't appear to be a rental car place in Scotland which is open on that day!
We got a car with a GPS, we didn't ask for one it just came with one!



We arrived at Falkirk mid afternoon. It was cold, rainy and miserable. We saw the wheel in operation (once). We had a hot dog for lunch from one of the food stalls - it wasn't very nice, we were just desperate for food I think.
First stop Falkirk wheel, I've been wanting to see this ever since a guy at Beca showed me a picture of it a few years ago.




We drove onto to Stirling, and checked into our B&B. We had dinner at Hermans which was very nice, lovely lamb rack and schnitzel. It was still raining as we made our way back to the B&B

Bath

On Saturday we caught the train to Bath via Reading. After dropping off bags we headed straight for the Roman Baths. We were greeted with murky green coloured baths which were in no way inviting. It turns out that the sun has turned the water green. There used to be a roof in Roman times which kept the sun out. The audio guide was very helpful, and there was also a regular guided tour. As well as the main bath we saw changing rooms with hypocaust floors (ancient central heating), more smaller baths, the King's Bath and nearby roman foundations and remains.





Near the baths stands the impressive Bath Cathedral with its amazing ceiling and stained glass.



There is a cafe in Sally Lunn's old house which sells the famous Sally Lunn Bun, a large round, slightly sweet bread bun. It goes well with a cuppa so we stopped off here a few times to rest the feet!

We had dinner at a great restaurant called One Fish Two Fish. It was in the basement of a building and part of it extended under the road.

After dinner we headed to the new baths for an evening soak. As well as a large indoor pool and 4 scented steam rooms, we also had a soak in the lovely rooftop pool under the clear evening sky.

On Sunday we went on a walking tour run by the local volunteers. Our guide was very enthusiastic and explained a lot about the city. We saw sites like the Roman Baths, remains of the old Roman wall, passed the Jane Austin museum, stopped at the round road called the Circus (Nicolas Cage recently bought a house here for £3,000,000+) and the Royal Crescent (impressive curved row of houses).




We had a nice lunch overlooking the Avon River, then had a look at the Building of Bath Museum. They have some interesting displays on the history and architecture of Bath and show some of the the construction methods with small sections of buildings.



It was almost time to head back to the train station, but we passed the remaining time by shopping!

Stonehenge & Salisbury

Today we hired a car and headed south/west to Stonehenge. We were fortunate to have a beautiful day. The audio guide was very good and told us about the history of the site. Unfortunately I can't remember it all!




After Stonehenge we decided to check out Salisbury and its famous cathedral. It has beautiful vaulted ceilings and stained glass as well as a clock with no face!

The UK Summer

After a day of rain and thunder, it hailed!!









Not sure if summer is ever going to come.

Edinburgh

After a 5 hours train ride we arrived in Edinburgh. We checked into our B&B, had a cuppa and set off to explore the city. First stop was lunch at the Lonely Planet recommended Maison Bleue. The food was great and although servings were small there were 3-4 courses which filled us up nicely.

Then we set off for Edinburgh castle where we took the guided tour. The castle is quite large, set up on a hill overlooking Edinburgh, and we heard way too many facts to take it all in! Starting in the Lower Ward, through the Portcullis Gate, to the Middle Ward with the one o'clock gun (fired each day at one o'clock). Then to the upper Ward with Mons Meg (giant medieval siege gun), St Margaret's Church, a dog cemetery, someone getting married!, the Half-Moon battery (lots of cannons) and fantastic views of the city. Beneath the half-moon battery is the remains of David's Tower which collapsed during the Lang seige.

Mons Meg - old cannon (L) and views of Edinburgh

the 1 o'clock gun (L), views of Edinburgh and Arthur's Seat

Around Crown square is the Royal Palace (which houses the Honours of Scotland and the Stone of Destiny), the Great Hall (with its amazing timber roof) the Scottish National War Memorial and the Queen Anne Building (with large vaults that served as a prison).

Great hall (L), view of Calton hill (C) and view of Edinburgh Castle (R).

From the castle we walked down the Royal Mile, past all the whiskey shops, more tourist attractions (like Real Mary King's Close). We had dinner at Howie's (thanks to Lonely Planet again) which was in a former chapel. Grace tried a traditional Scottish dish, liver. Andrew can't really remember what he had, but thinks it was good :-)

After dinner, to use up any remaining energy, we walked up Calton hill which had great views over Holyrood Park, the Firth of Forth, Edinburgh and the Castle. The hill is scattered with monuments including the National monument (below).

That's our B&B with the white door on the right!

After a long, tiring day we had a good night's sleep in our very comfy bed.

On Sunday we visited the Scottish Parliament building, which was completed in 2004 for the new Scottish Parliament after the Scottish people voted in 1997 to have their own parliament. It was very controversial because of the cost of the building (over £400m) was way more than the initial £40m idea that was proposed, but it is very impressive.

It incorporates some old buildings as well as modern architecture using mostly local stone, timber and (as our guide made us feel) very smooth concrete. Notable features are the "up-turned boat" roofs, the anvil/hairdryer/gun shaped panels, the lightness of the space - lots of glass to promote the use of daylighting

Just over the road, and beneath the imposing hills is Holyrood House, the Queen's residence when she's in Scotland. Her majesty wasn't in residence at the time so we were able to see quite a lot of the palace. We saw several rooms including the room where Mary Queen of Scots used to sleep and where her secretary Rizzio was murdered. Outside are the remains of Holyrood Abbey and we had a walk around the gardens. The audio guide was really good, as looking around this kind of place can be rather boring.

Entrance (L) and inside the grounds.

The abbey and grounds.

We wanted to climb up Arthur's seat and the Salisbury Crags but we ran out of time - something for next time!

Edinburgh is a beautiful city like everyone says. Gorgeous old buildings and wide roads.

After picking up our bags we were back on the train for the long journey home. Whatever possessed us to do this in just a weekend, I can't remember! but it was a great weekend away.