Scotland!

It has been a while, but we had a great time in Scotland. We arrived back nearly a week ago, but I have been busy with work, and not mentally with it enough to do justice to a proper entry, so I hope this goes ok!!:-) [Please note that this entry has been written over several days, and is in fact being posted online on the 3rd of September]

We left London on the sleeper train at 23:45 on Thursday evening. The train was excellent. We had a drink in the bar to start off our trip (Scotch for Scott and a Baileys for me). Then it was to bed! The beds were narrow, as was the whole cabin, but they were nice and long. I slept well. We arrived at 7.30am or thereabouts. We had a small breakfast given to us on the train, which was a nice bonus! We dumped our luggage in the left luggae bit of Edinburgh Waverley station, then it was off to the Scotsman's Lounge. We were told to go here by a Scottish colleague of mine form work - mainly to check out how many black eyes the barman had and to report back to John! The barman seemed to be without black eyes, and we moved on. We wandered up and down the main drag - the Royal Mile for a bit.

First attraction of the day was The Real Mary King's Close. We thoroughly enjoyed this. When the government built the Royal Exchange building in Edinburgh in 1753, they levelled the buildings on the site and used them as foundations. In other words, there are part streets and houses underneath the building! They were called "closes" and they ran from the main street right down the hill to the then lake (which was drained later to become the main train station). I have ancestors who lived in Canongate, which is just down the Royal Mile a little, and according to one of the certificates I have, lived in Shoemakers Close. So for me, going to The Real Mary Kings Close really gave me an insight into what kind of living conditions my ancestors would have had to contend with.

From there, as the rain had set in, we went to the Whisky Heritage Centre. We were going to go to the Castle, but we figured that we could not enjoy the great views over the city due to the rain, so we would attempt it when we were back in Edinburgh on our way back to London. The Whisky Heritage centre told us about the history of whicky and how to drink it (I don't like the stuff, but it was interesting to see the difference adding water makes!!). After that we popped across the road to a tartan mill. It was a touristy place as well, but it was interesting to see the working tartan looms. It was lunch, then off to pick up the car. We had hired Nissan Micra. The car was black, compact and very economical. It was Scott's first time driving since we had left home (so this was the first time driving for him in a place other than Australia!). It was a bit of a stressful drive to Stirling as it was raining really hard, but we made it to Stirling. Found the B&B then headed back into Edinburgh. Seems like a waste, but we wanted to find the hotel while it was still light! Dinner was with my mum's cousin Veronica and her husband Simon. We were a little late for dinner, which we felt really bad about, but the traffic was something else! We had a lovely view of Edinburgh Castle throughout our dinner, except when it was consumed by a fog which apprently came off the see (called a har, but I am not sure how you spell it). It was fascinating to watch the very well lit-up Castle disappear into the fog, to re-emerge later on! Dinner was pleasant and it was lovely to meet more family on the other side of the world.

Saturday morning we headed off early to Roslin Chapel, which is 7miles south of Edinburgh. Of Da Vinci Code fame (well, recently anyway) it is popular with tourists so we were determined to get there early! We were successful in avoiding all the American tourists. The chapel itself is stunning. The carvings (absolutely everywhere!!!!) are detailed and very interesting - even supposedly one of corn which was carved before Columbus got to America. We listened to a very informative talk on the building and then had a wander about. The whole place is covered in a free-standing roof to protect the stone. The stone was covered in a thin concrete wash in the 1950s and todays conservators are getting rid of it. The concrete does not allow the stone to breathe or dry out. The roof will allow the stonework to dry out, then the concrete will be removed using lasers - not sure how this works, but it is very interesting!! We could see Rosslyn Castle (the ruins thereof) from the walkway of the temporary roof. From there, avoiding the incoming tourists, it was back to Stirling. We climbed the Wallace Monument, and had a look at Stirling Castle. The Wallace Monument is about 200 feet tall (with winding, narrow, stone spiral staircases) and overlooks the town of Stirling. Stirling Castle was interesting - we did a guided tour. We were able to see the restoration work they are doing there. The conservators are taking the castle back to how it would have looked in the 1500s. From there we had a look at the Bannockburn visitor centre and battlefield. And for dinner we ended up in a town called Culross - a town restored by the National Trust. It is on the northern side of the Forth river and was very pretty. We ended up in a charming pub by the riverside (well, the river was just over the train line!!). We ate haggis for the first time - much better than I expected it to be, in fact, Scott and I really liked it. In the ladies toilet, there was a man in my cubicle! Well, he was painted, but he had a kilt on that you could lift up!! ;-)

Sunday we left Stirling and headed north into the Highlands. Had a quick look at Doune Castle where they filmed one of the Monty Python movies. Saw some cute bunnies hopping about too! The first Loch we came to we stopped at. Amazing scenery - not just there of course but all around Scotland. We drove around Loch Leven completely - did not see Castle Lochleven but it was supposed to be in the middle somewhere. Did not drive into Fort William, but to a place outside it. There we could take a cable car up the Nevis Range (Ben Nevis is of course, the highest mountain in the UK). We had great views from the top of Fort William in the distance, as well as lots of green hills and mountains all around us. There was a mountain bike course that seemed very popular (almost straight down I would imagine!!). Briefly spoke to a guy who said a professional can do it in 4 mins, whereas he does it in 30 as he stops on the way down. Amazing. Back down the mountain in the cable car and then it was on to Fort Augustus as the southern end of Loch Ness. We booked a hotel for the night (our three year anniversary) on the eastern sideof the loch in Foyers. Until then, we checked out Fort Augustus with its 5 locks in a row (to move between lochs of course!) with its souvenir shops (bought a poster for our walls) and many tourists. Drove to le hotel (overlooking Loch Ness, very swanky), had dinner there and went for a short wander after dinner to admire the views.

Monday morning we had breakfast at the hotel (which included haggis). We usually opted for a non-cooked breakfast as we are not used to it, but that day we thought why not. Well, we didn't need lunch!! We drove south around the edge of Loch Ness and around up the other side to see Urquhart Castle. It is completely in ruins as those occupying the castle set it alight to prevent the Jacobites from taking it over. Great views of the Loch. Our one grudge was there were too few interpretation panels. I am picky - I want to know what things were, what people might have done there. It gives me an idea, a picture, of what life was like, and what the castle might have looked like. Am I asking too much?? ;-) Anyway, that aside, we then drove north a little. Stopped off to do a cruise on the Loch - sadly no Nessie to be seen. Bought some souvenirs in the town, then continued on to Inverness. By the time we arrived it was nearing 5pm, so nothingwas open anymore. We kept driving and pulled off the highway to go visit the Culloden Battlefield. Again, very interesting (interpretation panels galore!!). Great to see how difficult it would have been for the soldiers to fight each other in the heather-filled marshy land. Heather is a lovely purple colour, for those who have not seen it. From the battlefield, we continued south (Inverness was the farthest north we got before turning south again) towards Aviemore. We had picked up a brochure the previous day about a steam train that ran from Aviemore, so we decided that we would stay there so we could take a ride. Had haggis for dinner in a local pub (shall be a picture somewhere!!).

Tuesday morning we were on the steam train at Aviemore for 10.30am. We went first class, and we had a compartment all to ourselves. The ticket included tea or coffee and shortbread, so it was tres civilised. The whole train journey was about an hour, going from Aviemore to Broomhill and back again. Broomhill, incidentally, was the station they used to film the Glen Bogle station in Monarch of the Glen. From there it was south to Blair Atholl. All the houses at PLC (my school in Melbourne) are named after Scottish castles. I was in Atholl house, so I had always been keen to see Blair Atholl. And I was not disappointed. The family Atholl are still around, and the castle shows off their collection of family heirlooms and the like. Tonnes of antler horns, knick knacks etc, but all very well presented. And we took a walk in the gardens and saw wild raspberries growing (I am such a city girl I had no idea how they even grew!!). From Blair Atholl we headed further south again, through Perth, and over the Forth road bridge (next to the Forth Rail bridge, a cantilever bridge that was the longest bridge in the world for many years, and a lovely bridge to see). Stayed the night (sniff, our last night in Scotland) near Falkirk. The lady in the B&B thought we were great, as all we wanted for breakfast was porridge!!

Wednesday we went to the Falkirk Wheel, which is basically an incredibly complicated looking lock which joins two canals - the Forth and Clyde and the Union canals. It is quite a spectacular piece of engineering. We did a boat trip up to the top and down again. Basically what happens is you drive the boat into the bottom of it like a normal lock, then you are rotated in a semi-circular motion, all the while staying upright in the boat and with no water slopping over the sides, up to the top. Once at the top, the gates open and you slide on through to the rest of the canal. Fantastic and really amazing to be inside as it is all happening. From there it was to Edinburgh, to drop off le car to Thrifty. Dropped off our spare luggage to the left luggage people again, and wandered to Edinburgh Castle. The views were great from the top, I am really glad we left it til then to see, rather than being disappointed on our first day. Edinburgh Castle was interesting, but we were really knackered by the time we got there. Once we returned the car, I think that signalled the end of the holiday in a way, and we started to grind to a halt! Our train back to London was at 5pm, or so I thought. Turns out it was at 5.30pm - no wonder someone else had our seats!!! So we got off the train at Newcastle and waited for our train! Hopeless ;-)

As I mentioned above, PLC's houses were named after Scottish castles. These are the ones we saw, or came very close to. There are 6 houses, so I think we did very well!! :-D
Rosslyn Castle
Blair Atholl Castle
Stirling Castle
Lochleven Castle

So there you have it, our trip to Scotland. Hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading! Sorry it has taken me so long to update.