On Easter Sunday, Mum, Aunt Sheryl and I packed up in Paris and took the train back to London. We then hopped on the next plane from Heathrow Airport to Edinburgh, Scotland. Now, I have been just itching to spend time in Scotland. When I saw the snow-covered highlands, lakes, and greenery through the plane window below us I may have freaked out a little....
We took a taxi to our hotel and settled in. With a little bit of daylight left, I took Mum and Aunt Sheryl to a pub for a bite to eat. It was their very first pub!
After a night's rest, we headed out. It was a cloudy, windy day outside. I like to think of it as Scottish special effects.... :P First stop? The Edinburgh Castle! The city of Edinburgh was originally built around the castle. The castle served, obviously, as a house for the royals. It has seen many battles, heartaches, and joys. And it has seen the transformation historic Edinburgh has taken over the years. Here are some pics of the park below the castle and the beautiful castle itself.
The castle up on the hill.
See the trains at the base of the cliff? :)
There are fresh lilies on the cross from Easter. We climbed up this little footpath to get to the castle at the top.
The view at the top of the hill! Beautiful! I hope you notice the clock tower and the Scott Monument in the background (its the tall, dark pointed structure). I just adore the little rooftops and rich chocolate colours of the city!
See the snow on the mountains in the distance? Edinburgh received 3 inches only a couple of weeks ago. The daffodils were up when we spent time in the city. Although is was cloudy, the weather wasn't frigid (except for evening time). It was INCREDIBLY windy though!!!
Edinburgh Castle: the castle on the cliff! Overlooking the stone city of Edinburgh...
Going inside the castle now! Behind the castle walls, brick buildings create the castle fortress.
Mmmm.... cannons.....
Erhem! Allow me to BLOW YOU AWAY!!! BWAHAHAHAHA ;) Although I look like I'm the one being blown away... hmmmmm
No, we didn't dress alike on purpose. But hey, great symmetry, ey? :P
To the Side: This is a piece of Queen Mary's thorn tree from her castle in Loch Leven. (1849)
To the Side: These performers played at the Hall in the Castle. They played traditional Scottish music. Several female dancers entertained later with an elegant Scottish dance.
The Scottish dancers dressed in their traditional costumes.
*Here is an interesting fact, the Scottish national flower is the thistle. The thistle is also the symbol for the royal Stewart family. So much of the architecture and even the decorations around royal graves will have thistles imprinted on them. I was able to see Mary Queen of Scott's grave and it was decorated with thistles, as she was from the Stewart family.
* One of the most common family symbols is the rose. The rose is the symbol for the Tudor family. I see the rose all over England.
A look inside the dungeon where prisoners were kept. They had special sound effects in this section of the dungeon. Mum wasn't expecting to hear any noises and was scared out of her wits! HAHAHA She jumped up so high!!! :D
This is a close-up look at a door from the dungeon. Prisoners inscribed their names in the wood. This was actually fairly common for prisoners to do. At the Tower of London, one of the towers within the castle held many prisoners awaiting their doomed fate. They would inscribe their name, final thoughts, or wishes into the stone walls.
I like this picture. Because it is so damp in Scotland (and England!), moss grows on everything. Tree limbs, metal bars, wooden fences, brick buildings.... Everything has a green hue to it. The side of this building had moss growing in such a perfect place! On a tree engraving! Cute, ey?
After touring the town a bit, we headed over to
"The Witchery" for a night ghost tour! Spooky, huh? :) Edinburgh is supposedly a haunted city, so we thought we'd hear some of the gory tails that loom 'neath the stone structures and castle walls.
I now feel that I know quite a bit about witch dealings and traditional customs of torture. As terrible as that sounds.... but the English and Scottish had some horrible methods of dealing with such people! Much pleasure was taken in punishment. If you ever want to know about these things, I'll be more than happy to share with you these interesting facts. However, for the sake of those reading this that really don't want to hear that information, I won't elaborate. Here is an interesting fact though, the traditional costume for dealing with witches was lifted in Scotland in the 1950s! Granted, the painful way of punishing witches wasn't used for a while, but the law wasn't actually lifted until the 50's.
Our tour guide was the gentleman in the top hat. His trusty side-kick (the red-head) would dress in characters from the time and elaborate on the tails we were told. Although there are a lot of myths and ghost stories from Edinburgh/Scotland, our tour strictly gave the facts, Jack!
Ok, I will share this one. It's not too gross. Can you guess what this interesting mask was used for?
During the Bubonic Plague, the Scottish people lived VERY close together. The houses were built literally on top of each other in stacks, germs were spread everywhere, and disease spread like wildfire. Me (Little Miss Purell would certainly not survive-- lol :D ).
When the Bubonic Plague hit, people would wave a cloth out their window, letting this man in the attractive mask know that they had a dead body in their house. He would then take away and dispose of the body. The mask he wore acted as a so-called "gas mask." The Scots believed that the Plague was spread by bad smells (unlike the British who thought it was evil spirits).
HAHAHA I look like beyond thrilled to have pictures with our guides. The 2nd pic is the trusty side-kick dressed as Bonnie Prince Charlie. :P
To the Side: Two Edinburgh streets. One at night and the other during the day. Please note how everything is stone and [in the daylight pic] the moss etching the stone in green.
To the Side: The Scott Monument (the tall pointed structure) and a Scottish lad playing the bagpipes for money. Interesting note on his kilt, which not everyone will know: the colours of the kilt represent what clan you come from. Not all kilts look alike because they have family colours that make up how they look.
Above: An old Edinburgh church and the old city centre. The city centre was often the meeting place for the markets, visiting with townspeople, and the place where public punishment occurred.
To the Side: Scottish rooftops and a "close." The buildings in Edinburgh are so close together that the small gaps and alleys in between buildings were given the nickname "closes." The "closes" are still frequently used to get around the town. Many of them open up to little courtyards.
This church is so funky. Check out the top of the church, where the steeple should be. It's the golden head of a stag!
Edinburgh, Scotland is incredible. The Queen visits this remarkable city during the summer months at her home: Palace of Holyroodhouse!
Mum at Palace of Holyrood House! Simply beautiful! :D
Probably my favourite part of my stay in Scotland was being able to climb a bit of the highlands. One of the small mountains has a park at its base, very near Palace of Holyroodhouse. There were steep trails going up the side of the mountain. The dark brown cliffs jagged upwards and tufts of long grass clung to the hillside. The higher up we climbed, the closer the seagulls' flights became level with our heads. Eventually, we were up past the gulls and we had the most incredible view of the city and the landscape. We could see snow trimmed highlands in the distance, little isles resting in the water, and the Edinburgh castle nestled in the middle of its grand city. Here are some pics from the journey up!
Highland moss and flowers!
xoxoxo I love Scotland! xoxoxo
Scotland was a so much more than kilts and cute accents. It was an eccentric mix of British and Irish culture. It had the Celtic pride of Ireland, the lifestyle of Britain, and yet, it had its own unique flair. A deep love and pride in its rich history. Myths, legends, and tales of heros and horrors. A care-free spirit that welcomes visitors with open arms. And of course, yes, they did have kilts and cute accents.
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