Scotland!

Friday evening we left for Scotland, the trip is only about 2.5 hrs by coach, including our rest stop. It was a pretty nice ride. The landscape was beautiful, very hilly and rural with cows, sheep and horses. Lots of green, wide open spaces. Plots split up by lines of trees or bushes, some stone walls. We got to our B&B, the Armadillo... however Rita, Katie, Alex and I stayed in a flat down the street from Amaryllis Guest House, where some of the group was. With 30 or so of us, we can't all fit into one bed and breakfast! We explored our spacious flat, which I don't have any pictures of.... entry area, kitchen, sitting room, 2 bedrooms and bathroom. A bunch of us went to this Underground Ghost Tour, where we went through alleys, passageways and vaults that have been haunted or part of Scotland's witch-hunt era.

Saturday we went to Edinburgh castle for a tour, given by a guy named Frank in a kilt, and various exploring there. They have Scotland's Crown Jewels, the Stone of Destiny, some of the rooms for prisoners of war were held, the Scottish National War Memorial, Great Hall and a lot more. They have a gun that is fired at 1pm to alert everyone in the area of the time. We stayed for lunch and saw them fire the gun. Afterwards we walked along the Royal Mile, passing by the Queens Gallery and Scottish Parliament. We climbed a really steep hill, great view from the top! (Yes this has been quite an adventure for my feet. We always climb to the top!) After meeting up with the group, we explored the Queens Gallery/Palace of Holyroodhouse, official residence in Scotland of the Queen. We went through the rooms where Mary, Queen of Scots lived. In one of the courtyards, the columns started out very simple on the ground floor. On the first floor, they were Ionic so a little more decorated, but the ones on the 2nd floor were very decorated. I think they were Corinthian. The rooms started out very simple (i.e. still covered in carpeting and tapestries) but became more complex as you approached the king's bedchamber which was used for political matters. After going through the grounds and gardens, we climbed to the top of Arthur's Seat, 251m to the top! It was so windy up there, but the view was unbelievable. Everything looked so tiny and almost fake. After a long trip up the "mountain" we slowly walked down, of course through some thistle. We had dinner at the Ryal Mile Tavern. I got the Guiness steak and mushroom pot pie thing. It was really good, although apparently I should have had haggis while I was there. One of the guys got it with their chicken. Afterwards we tried to find this place called The Chocolate Soup, but by time we got there they were closed. It was about 9pm on a Saturday!

Sunday we went to Holy Island and Lindisfarne on our way back from Scotland. The road to the island used to be covered by water, and it looks like during high tide the water probably comes close to the road. We went to the castle there and explored a little before walking back towards town. The walk to and from the castle was a mile each way! Grabbed some quick food and went to the priory which used to be a pilgrimage spot. The church was badly damaged when war broke out between the Scots and the English. Lindisfarne is known for mead which is made there. We stopped at the beach front area and found sea glass. I grabbed a few pieces. Slowly amassing a gigantic pile of stuff for a scrapbook.