UK trip day 3
Ok, I have tried posting this a few times, I guess Smoo's pooter just didn't like British internet, hahaha
Sep. 2nd, day 3:
Started the day with a "full" Scottish breakfast: bacon (more like ham), sausages (not that good), fried egg, fried tomato and bakes beans in tomato sauce. I liked this lady who cooked our food, she didn't speak much English but she did load those plates full of food, yum.
And now for the bus incident... so we packed the backpack to go out for the day and as we were exiting the B&B the bus was approaching. I was thinking we were in luck since there was a lady at the stop so we ran to catch the bus since it was stopping. We go a few stops, maybe 4, and at each one someone was getting on and the driver shut off the bus fully inclusive of bells and alarms each time he restarted it. But with all that he kept going forward and this was a very slow progression. At about the 5th stop he pulls up to a bus to tell that driver he needs to take his passengers. So we all disembark to get on the other bus and away we go.. All in all the trip took twice as long when we should have started with not running to catch the bus, so I call this the time Smoo broke the bus.
Then we were finally off to start the walk of the rest of the Royal Mile downhill to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, where the Queen stays when in Edinburgh. The sun was sorta out which made the walk nice. The outer court was beautiful, I had never seen such well manicured grass. We got the self-guided audio tour (part of admission, sweet) and went off. I like the personal audio tours since you can go at your own pace. The funny part is when the queen comes to town, the steward of the city hands her the key to the city in a pomp and circumstance ceremony and then she gives it right back for "safe keeping". Inside, we walked through the state rooms that in olden days were where people went through when granted an audience with the king. Some of the tapestries are original from when Queen Victoria first had residence here and she thought it was too cold and drab, so these are some 500 years old now. I also learned the kings didn't sleep in the King's Bed Chamber, it was for show, for audiences with the king and important meetings. Which I find funny that you can have an importnat meeting in a bed chamber, weird. The grand hall had all the portraits of the Scottish kings. During one of the sieges of the city, English troops had stormed the palace and destroyed all of the portraits, an artist was commissioned to redo all of them back in (uh, I can't remember but it was a while ago).
We were only allowed to view the rooms on the first floor (2nd floor for us Americans), the second floor is where the private apartments are for the royal family and guests. And along the tour we walked through Mary's (Queen of Scots) rooms, some of her furnishings are still here in the temperature/humidity controlled glass rooms, which is neat how they are trying hard to keep their history alive. We also learned about when Mary came back from France with her husband, he had her close Italian confidant murdered there by having soldiers stab him 56 times (just a few to make sure he'll really die) and left him for dead in her room. Her rooms are the oldest part of the palace, maybe 1200s? it was built with thicker walls and was the fortress part of the palace. It was amazing, the walls were 3-4 feet deep? That's a lot of stone.
I wish we could have taken pictures inside (I understand this stuff is old and needs protection) but what kinda ticked me off was with all those postcards, none had any of the cool old stuff inside the palace! Guess I'll just need to go back sometime to refresh my mind :-P
Out back of the palace are the ruins of the abbey, original stonework was from the 1100s and additions were made over 300 or so years. In one of the sieges, soldiers destroyed the abbey completely and ungraved important people to scatter the remains. Afterwards, the locals gathered what remains they could to rebury in a single tomb. There are still some grave markers that make up the floor (kinda spooky how we were walking on the graves of Scots from hundreds of years ago). Most of the walls are gone and the roof is completely not there so all the stone is exposed yet it still stands for all these years, amazing craftsmanship.
The yard/garden around the back of the palace and abbey are beautiful, this is where the queen hosts a tea party every July for a select 800 guests... that's some tea party. We opted not to go through the Palace Gallery after the tour since it currently has a renaissance exhibit, I've seen most of those artists before.
We walked back to the B&B through Holyrood park, it's huge! The craigs (hills) are maybe 3-400 feet tall, Arthur's Seat is the peak at uh... I donno look it up to see how tall it is and why it's named. In the park we found a swan pond, there was a good number of male swans just hanging around, and all tagged which meant they belonged there. There was one female swan without a tag so I made up the story that she was bored and looking for a new male :-P
Starting to get hungry from all that walking we found a hot potato stand where you can get just about anything you want on your baked potato. I opted for the chili and about a pound of cheese practically, and Smoo had the veg curry. After lunch we got in the car to drive out to Stirling. It didn't take us long to figure out the speed limit are all in miles/hour but no one goes speed limit, everyone drives at least 15-20 over even with the speed cameras. Smoo was also getting more comfortable with the round abouts with multiple exits and lanes and when to use turn signals, yet he was going slower than just about every other car out there and he was still speeding.
We got to Stirling in about 45 minutes on the dual carriage way (highway). Stirling is an old village which means very narrow streets that are still two way traffic. We navigated up the hill to the castle and were thankful the rain had stopped in time for us to tour the castle. Of course the castle was on top of the hill (like every other castle). We got some good shots of the Wallace monument that stands on top of another hill across town. We didn't get an audio tour with this castle, that was extra so we wandered around by ourselves. The outer walls are all intact and we were able to walk around on them to get some good shots of the town. The buildings around the castle grounds are in good shape, the old kitchens were beneath ground so it was neat getting into those (and again thankful I'm not that tall). And of course more hill and cobblestone pathways walking among the buildings. The chapel was big and beautiful, Mary, Queen of Scots had baptized her son there. The great hall was HUGE and the windows let in natural light which was nice. It's in the middle of the grounds so it was able to have big windows without being a weak spot in defense. All in all it was worth the trip out to see the castle where so much history had taken place over hundreds of years all before the US was a colony.
Then we headed to a local brewery I had found online which apparently sold out to brew elsewhere and hire out, so this original location is just the tour and shop for tourists. We voted against the tour since the kid there seemed to be a pothead and made fun of us Americans, along wih his buddy and I think those two were maybe 20 years old?
It started raining again and at times poured, so it was time for dinner. We decided on the River House that prides themself in local seafood, and was located on a "pond" not a river. They didn't start serving until 5pm and of course we were there before then so we sat in the lounge waiting for a table. Most restaurants in Scotland have lounges with the bar to be more comfortable while waiting for your party/table/drink more/etc. This restaurant had an interesting menu with local fare with some strange sauces and toppings. So we tried new things, and I had failed. My veg couscous had way too much vinegar and too many peppers, they love peppers on everything. I ate it, didn't like it but it was ok. And it didn't go with my flat soda, yes everywhere in the UK has flas soda I've decided. Smoo had a salmon appetizer and salmon again for his entree topped with smoked salmon, yum. I had coley (a while fish) that I found out I don't care for. We left room for dessert to try something new and decided on sticky toffee pudding. Which is not pudding at all, it's chocolate cake with toffee syrup and whipped cream and is very very sweet. I think I went into a sugar coma.
Throughout dinner the rain hadn't let up and continued when we went out to the Bannockburn battlefield and monument. The visitor's centre was already closed, which was ok since I really didn't need to pay money for history I could look up on the internet. The battlefield is situated in a park surrounded by... take a guess... cow and sheep pastures of course! I think it's a nice monument to remember the battle and there's a statue of William the Bruce. Since the rain hadn't let up we didn't stay long so we went back to the inn and called it a day.
Sep. 2nd, day 3:
Started the day with a "full" Scottish breakfast: bacon (more like ham), sausages (not that good), fried egg, fried tomato and bakes beans in tomato sauce. I liked this lady who cooked our food, she didn't speak much English but she did load those plates full of food, yum.
And now for the bus incident... so we packed the backpack to go out for the day and as we were exiting the B&B the bus was approaching. I was thinking we were in luck since there was a lady at the stop so we ran to catch the bus since it was stopping. We go a few stops, maybe 4, and at each one someone was getting on and the driver shut off the bus fully inclusive of bells and alarms each time he restarted it. But with all that he kept going forward and this was a very slow progression. At about the 5th stop he pulls up to a bus to tell that driver he needs to take his passengers. So we all disembark to get on the other bus and away we go.. All in all the trip took twice as long when we should have started with not running to catch the bus, so I call this the time Smoo broke the bus.
Then we were finally off to start the walk of the rest of the Royal Mile downhill to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, where the Queen stays when in Edinburgh. The sun was sorta out which made the walk nice. The outer court was beautiful, I had never seen such well manicured grass. We got the self-guided audio tour (part of admission, sweet) and went off. I like the personal audio tours since you can go at your own pace. The funny part is when the queen comes to town, the steward of the city hands her the key to the city in a pomp and circumstance ceremony and then she gives it right back for "safe keeping". Inside, we walked through the state rooms that in olden days were where people went through when granted an audience with the king. Some of the tapestries are original from when Queen Victoria first had residence here and she thought it was too cold and drab, so these are some 500 years old now. I also learned the kings didn't sleep in the King's Bed Chamber, it was for show, for audiences with the king and important meetings. Which I find funny that you can have an importnat meeting in a bed chamber, weird. The grand hall had all the portraits of the Scottish kings. During one of the sieges of the city, English troops had stormed the palace and destroyed all of the portraits, an artist was commissioned to redo all of them back in (uh, I can't remember but it was a while ago).
We were only allowed to view the rooms on the first floor (2nd floor for us Americans), the second floor is where the private apartments are for the royal family and guests. And along the tour we walked through Mary's (Queen of Scots) rooms, some of her furnishings are still here in the temperature/humidity controlled glass rooms, which is neat how they are trying hard to keep their history alive. We also learned about when Mary came back from France with her husband, he had her close Italian confidant murdered there by having soldiers stab him 56 times (just a few to make sure he'll really die) and left him for dead in her room. Her rooms are the oldest part of the palace, maybe 1200s? it was built with thicker walls and was the fortress part of the palace. It was amazing, the walls were 3-4 feet deep? That's a lot of stone.
I wish we could have taken pictures inside (I understand this stuff is old and needs protection) but what kinda ticked me off was with all those postcards, none had any of the cool old stuff inside the palace! Guess I'll just need to go back sometime to refresh my mind :-P
Out back of the palace are the ruins of the abbey, original stonework was from the 1100s and additions were made over 300 or so years. In one of the sieges, soldiers destroyed the abbey completely and ungraved important people to scatter the remains. Afterwards, the locals gathered what remains they could to rebury in a single tomb. There are still some grave markers that make up the floor (kinda spooky how we were walking on the graves of Scots from hundreds of years ago). Most of the walls are gone and the roof is completely not there so all the stone is exposed yet it still stands for all these years, amazing craftsmanship.
The yard/garden around the back of the palace and abbey are beautiful, this is where the queen hosts a tea party every July for a select 800 guests... that's some tea party. We opted not to go through the Palace Gallery after the tour since it currently has a renaissance exhibit, I've seen most of those artists before.
We walked back to the B&B through Holyrood park, it's huge! The craigs (hills) are maybe 3-400 feet tall, Arthur's Seat is the peak at uh... I donno look it up to see how tall it is and why it's named. In the park we found a swan pond, there was a good number of male swans just hanging around, and all tagged which meant they belonged there. There was one female swan without a tag so I made up the story that she was bored and looking for a new male :-P
Starting to get hungry from all that walking we found a hot potato stand where you can get just about anything you want on your baked potato. I opted for the chili and about a pound of cheese practically, and Smoo had the veg curry. After lunch we got in the car to drive out to Stirling. It didn't take us long to figure out the speed limit are all in miles/hour but no one goes speed limit, everyone drives at least 15-20 over even with the speed cameras. Smoo was also getting more comfortable with the round abouts with multiple exits and lanes and when to use turn signals, yet he was going slower than just about every other car out there and he was still speeding.
We got to Stirling in about 45 minutes on the dual carriage way (highway). Stirling is an old village which means very narrow streets that are still two way traffic. We navigated up the hill to the castle and were thankful the rain had stopped in time for us to tour the castle. Of course the castle was on top of the hill (like every other castle). We got some good shots of the Wallace monument that stands on top of another hill across town. We didn't get an audio tour with this castle, that was extra so we wandered around by ourselves. The outer walls are all intact and we were able to walk around on them to get some good shots of the town. The buildings around the castle grounds are in good shape, the old kitchens were beneath ground so it was neat getting into those (and again thankful I'm not that tall). And of course more hill and cobblestone pathways walking among the buildings. The chapel was big and beautiful, Mary, Queen of Scots had baptized her son there. The great hall was HUGE and the windows let in natural light which was nice. It's in the middle of the grounds so it was able to have big windows without being a weak spot in defense. All in all it was worth the trip out to see the castle where so much history had taken place over hundreds of years all before the US was a colony.
Then we headed to a local brewery I had found online which apparently sold out to brew elsewhere and hire out, so this original location is just the tour and shop for tourists. We voted against the tour since the kid there seemed to be a pothead and made fun of us Americans, along wih his buddy and I think those two were maybe 20 years old?
It started raining again and at times poured, so it was time for dinner. We decided on the River House that prides themself in local seafood, and was located on a "pond" not a river. They didn't start serving until 5pm and of course we were there before then so we sat in the lounge waiting for a table. Most restaurants in Scotland have lounges with the bar to be more comfortable while waiting for your party/table/drink more/etc. This restaurant had an interesting menu with local fare with some strange sauces and toppings. So we tried new things, and I had failed. My veg couscous had way too much vinegar and too many peppers, they love peppers on everything. I ate it, didn't like it but it was ok. And it didn't go with my flat soda, yes everywhere in the UK has flas soda I've decided. Smoo had a salmon appetizer and salmon again for his entree topped with smoked salmon, yum. I had coley (a while fish) that I found out I don't care for. We left room for dessert to try something new and decided on sticky toffee pudding. Which is not pudding at all, it's chocolate cake with toffee syrup and whipped cream and is very very sweet. I think I went into a sugar coma.
Throughout dinner the rain hadn't let up and continued when we went out to the Bannockburn battlefield and monument. The visitor's centre was already closed, which was ok since I really didn't need to pay money for history I could look up on the internet. The battlefield is situated in a park surrounded by... take a guess... cow and sheep pastures of course! I think it's a nice monument to remember the battle and there's a statue of William the Bruce. Since the rain hadn't let up we didn't stay long so we went back to the inn and called it a day.