One Year Ago Today--May 2nd.

Exactly one year ago today.....

I was here:

                                   INCHCOLM ISLAND!

Absolutely, definitely, indubitably, this one of my two favorite days in Scotland. (The day at Stirling Castle being the other one...)

We left early and drove to Queensferry....












....where we waited for a while for the ferry to come. We hung out at a gift shop, bought a few things, and went for lunch. Amy attempted to write a postcard, but the table was a little wobbly, and I just couldn't resist jiggling it while she tried to write. Mwahahaha. We got chips (For Americans, we call them french fries...really yummy french fries.) to tide us over, and took a few pictures:

We left to catch the ferry and were chased by the restaurant owner, who was waving our (very expensive) camera at us and informing us that "We just left it sitting." Ahem. We did that a lot. True story.


We made it to the ferry and took more pictures:

We found this picture to be hilarious, and anyone who has watched Star Trek, particularly the Original Series, will get why. I mean.... dilithium crystals? And a main impulse engine?
USSS ENTERPRISE!?

And then....(*drumrolllllllllll*) We arrived.

     Inchcolm is a small island is just off the coast of Scotland, where, at one time, an Augustinian Abbey stood, until the 1500’s when it was destroyed and abandoned during Scottish Reformation. It was also used as a line of defense during the first and second World Wars, and bunkers from WWII are still standing to be explored.

I love, love, love exploring ruins. They are awesome. And it's really nice not to have those horrible signs that say, "No entry" or "Employees only beyond this point." (is it just me, or do those signs invariably make me want to surreptitiously look both ways and leap?)

                                                     Grin.

view from a window. :)

The Abbey had loads of little crevices in which to hide.

And tiny little rooms......

THEY WERE SO HAPPY TO BE THERE!!!!

Evil stairs that just kept twisting... And kept getting smaller, so that by the top, they were probably about two feet wide. Tops.

we haz a giggle.

We were higher than the seagulls at one point.

We went up to the anti-aircraft unit which was used during WWII.....

Shhhhh. We iz exploring.....

The haunted tunnel. It was much, much darker in real life. It got so dark in the middle of it that I couldn't see my feet.

We figured out how to set the timer on the camera and got a group shot.... I was standing in nettles. I hurted.










We caught the ferry back and managed to sneak in a visit to Linlithgow Castle....

     ......where King James and Mary Queen of Scots were born...

We got there right before closing time, so we had to literally run through it to see it all. I think we did a pretty good job.

This fireplace awed me.

I therefore proceeded to parade through it several times. =)

                 I went inside the wall, and I found it most delightful.

I couldn't resist putting this picture up. The flag looks so awesome.

What you can't see in this picture is the enormous chasm which was between the camera and us.











We like stairs.

A nice security guard let Amy unlock the giant door with the very heavy giant key. She was quite pleased.

I miss Scotland.








RANDOM FACT: I have a terrible fear of heights, but the only time I got vertigo when I was way up high was when I was climbing the twisty stairs that didn't seem to end. It was distressingly high up.


Until tomorrow then, pepes! Cheers.

One Year Ago Yesterday and Today: April 28th and 29th

Exactly one year ago yesterday....

     I was standing in Mary Queen of Scots' bedroom. In the Palace of Holyrood House. In Scotland.

     Again, there was the whole issue with "THIS STUFF IS OLD, FOLKS! IF YOU TAKE PICTURES, WE WILL ESCORT YOU OUTSIDE AND KILL YOU!!!" Okay, they weren't that radical, but they got the message through. =) So we couldn't take pictures. Which means we didn't get any of the inside of the Palace. Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahahahaaaaaaaaaa!!! :'( This was a big thing in most of the really cool places. Sniff. We took a lot of pictures of the outside. X-)

 I could get used to a view like this. Yep. I'm used to it. Guys, I wanna palace!

  Ain't it purty? :)










 Holyrood Palace is still in use: The Queen stays there when she visits Scotland. Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh.
Eeep! This is the gate that only she is allowed to use.

                                        I have gate envy.

     Holyrood Abbey is in ruins. It used to be a Catholic church. And it still has insane amounts of majesty. I wish I could have seen in before it was destroyed. :-/

Shhhhhhhhhhh. We are being statues.

     RANDOM FACT: When I'm rich and famous, I want to have a backyard just like the Palace Gardens. They were the most impressive gardens ever. Flowers everywhere....thick, thick grass which smelled fantastic....bushes and trees which grew in a way that they made special, scecret looking little alcoves that seemed to be the perfect spot to read a book. I repeat: I want a garden like that. You get me one, I love you for life. (and even after... :)

This is where I wanted to read a book. It looks so peaceful! :)

See Holyrood Abbey in the back?













     When we were done there, we started home to the flat. (It was perfectly, centrally located, we could walk to almost anywhere in Edinburgh. Ish.) We stopped at Clarinda's Tea Shop for tea and scones...

     And later that evening, our friend, Jim, picked us up and we went out to dinner. :)


Exactly on year ago today: April 29th






Two words: Stirling Castle.







     I preferred Stirling Castle to Edinburgh Castle...it was more compact and built for battle. Yeah. Totally my kind of castle. :) Unfortunately, somewhere between being transferred to the laptop which my sister had brought and flying home, all the really good pictures got lost. They vanished. And I was sad. I am still sad. It was sad. But since Stirling was small, it didn't take long to look through.

     We explored the dungeons... I'm glad I never got imprisoned in a castle. Their dungeons are cold. But I had some serious love for the awesome lock.

 



 We had a look at the weavers:

Each of these tapestries were enormous. There were actually six different ones....and they all had to be done by hand. Each tapestry took two years to finish. All in all, it was a twelve year project.

I. Do. Not. Have. That. Much. Patience. **shakes head.**

They had scary waxworks in the castle kitchens:








Surreal...........................











We looked through the gift shop... And you know those coin machines, where you put the penny in and it squishes it into a long thin thingy with a different picture on it? Those were everywhere in Scotland. We sort of got addicted to them. If there was one: We used it. :)

   We went out to the battlements and viewed the view.....

That big tall tower on the hill? That's the Wallace Monument. I'll get to that in later posts. ;)

MORE CANOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNS!

   We got ice cream cones with chocolate sticks in them and got some really, really good pictures.... But the pictures...vanished. And I am sad. :-(

    We went to a town called Luss, which Jim, described as a "doll house" town. I found that description most appropriate.

Cute, yeah?

                                    We took a walk: 

And then! We went to the CELTIC STADIUM!!!! The Celtics are a Catholic football (aka soccer) team. IT was cool. 

We got a group picture in front of it. But we lost it. lol.... This day was one of my favorites while we were in Scotland. It was so fun. I was not a good sport about losing so many pictures. It was really depressing. 

RANDOM FACT: In general, I prefer the looks of British guys over American guys. I like the British look. There were a lot of REALLY HOT guys in Scotland. I had fun sightseeing. LOL :) 

God bless. Until tomorrow!