Castles and Palaces

 Well, you can't visit Scotland without going to see a few castles and palaces. Before we left I found out about the Historic Scotland Explorer Pass which you can buy for a two week period. It lets you visit a number of sites for free; three of the sites we were planning to visit were on the pass. Since it was less expensive than buying the separate admissions to each place, we each bought a two-week pass.

The first castle we saw was Stirling Castle. It was our first day out of Edinburgh. Our first stop was to see the Kelpies, Duke and Baron in Falkirk. Then it was on to Stirling Castle,  the castle was the childhood home of Mary, Queen of Scots.

Duke and Baron

King's Knot, at one time it was a formal garden

The Great Hall

Robert the Bruce

Stirling Castle

The next day we would see a palace, Scone Palace near Perth. Scone Palace is the home to the Earl of Mansfield and his family, since as it is still a home, photographs inside the palace are not permitted.  I did mange to get one or two.  It is at Scone Palace where Scottish kings were crowned and where at one time you would find the Stone of Destiny. That stone is now in a new museum in Perth, Scotland but it is still used for coronations, the last time being for King Charles III.

One painting that you will see in Scone Palace is that of Dido Belle and Elizabeth Murray. Dido Belle was the illegitimate child of a British Naval Officer, she was raised by her uncle, the first Earl of Mansfield. If you're interested, you can watch a fictionalized account of her life on Disney Plus, the movie is called Belle. The grounds of Scone Palace are quite extensive, we walked some of it but didn't do the maze or the formal gardens as we still had a three hour drive to get to Inverness.

In Inverness, we did see Inverness Castle but only from the outside, like the last time I was in Scotland, the castle wasn't open to the public. Last time, I was there it was still being used a prison, a courthouse and municipal offices; now it's under renovation and, at some point in 2025, it will be opened to the public as a must see visitor attraction, perhaps reason for another trip to Scotland.

After Inverness, we drove the Great Glen, along Loch Ness, famous for a certain monster, to Urquhart Castle. This was another site included with our Historic Scotland Pass so all we had to do was go online to reserve our timed tickets and parking space. Urquhart Castle is a ruined castle, it played a role in the wars of Scottish Independence and was at one time a royal castle.

We drove past the town of Spean Bridge where our B&B was located to spend some time at Glenfinnan where Bonnie Prince Charlie raised the clans.

Loch Shiel

We didn't see our next castle wasn't until we got to the Isle of Arran. We had taken a fairly early ferry over to the island so we went to Brodick Castle before going to our B&B. Brodick Castle was once the seat of the Dukes of Hamilton; it is now owned by the National Trust for Scotland. At Brodick Castle we were allowed to take pictures inside as it is no longer a home but a museum. The grounds again have beautiful gardens.

From the ferry

The sitting room

Country Garden

The Stag

Brodick Castle from the gardens

Library

Staircase with Stag heads

The last castle we visited was actually the first one we saw, Edinburgh Castle. On arrival in Scotland, we only had two nights in Edinburgh, on our return, we had three nights so we had decided to go to Edinburgh Castle when we got back. It was another site on our Historic Scotland Pass so again all we needed to do was book our timed ticket. There were only tickets available from 1pm onwards but that worked out just fine as we'd had the long drive back from the Isle of Arran the evening before. 

Inside the castle

Dog Cemetery

National War Memorial

Great Hall

The crown jewels of Scotland are held in the castle but you can't take pictures of those, nor can you take pictures inside the National War Memorial. There are also few museums inside the castle, two regimental ones and two on the prisons that were once in the castle. 

There are so many other castles, palaces and stately homes that you could visit. I think it would take a lifetime to see them all. When I was posted to England, I took a membership to English Heritage. It got me in free or with reduced admission to many such places and there was a reciprocal agreement with the National Trust. It was well worth the membership.

Advanced Standard Qualifying Score

Liam got an Advanced Standard Qualifying Score, a Q, this weekend.  I was a little bummed when I saw the course maps and saw that he had to get two weave entries on each course. In Advanced, they have to do 12 weaves. I thought, oh well, it's good practice. In his first run, he did get one of the weave entries but also came around the first jump to take the backside of it, something he doesn't usually do, but other than that the run was pretty good. The second run was nearly the reverse but the weaves were moved a bit.

I knew I couldn't lead out too much or he would just run around the tire. This was a pretty good course for Liam not too many jumps in a row and those that were there weren't in a straight line. I knew our problems would be the weave entries and keeping jumps up, especially 9 and 10 and 15 and 16. Liam broke his start line but did the tire and since I hadn't planned to lead out much I wasn't caught out of place. We were clean going to 9, I handled the jumps with a front cross between 9 and 10 which gave him an angled approach to 10. Then a front cross after 10, that meant he was doing off side weaves and so had a better chance of getting the entry. It also meant that I could push him into the tunnel at 12; the handlers that opted to do onside weaves ended up with their dog going into the wrong end of the tunnel. Liam got the second weave entry and was still clean going to the dog walk and the final jump but I know that it was still possible to fault. He didn't, he got the dog walk contact and left up the final bar.  

I gave Liam a jackpot without knowing if we were over time or not as he works hard at his agility.  He was under time and not just by a second or two but by over 9 seconds. Considering, he stops to take nearly every jump that was really a nice run.  

Unfortunately, the club's Q ribbons are on backorder so we had to take our official photo with a first place ribbon. Liam didn't care as he got more hot dogs and Charlie Bears for the picture taking.

A satisfied grin

Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo

After we had booked our trip to Scotland, I saw a post on Facebook from the RCMP Pipes and Drums, that they said were sending band members to be part of the Massed Pipes and Drums at the Edinburgh Tattoo. The post had a link to the Tattoo web site and ticketing.   It was quite expensive but as we would be in Edinburgh while the Tattoo was on, I decided to ask my sisters if they wanted to go. I don't really have a Bucket List but as this was a once in a lifetime opportunity, we decided to buy tickets.

The show is outdoors on the esplanade to Edinburgh Castle. The show has never been cancelled due to weather, only COVID cancelled the show.  There are a few weekends where there are matinee performances in the afternoon but we went to an evening show at 9:30pm. We all had raincoats but also bought rain ponchos to go over top. Luckily, it only sprinkled a bit on the night we went but the ponchos acted like wind breakers too and kept us warmer during the performance.

Edinburgh Castle from Princes Gardens

Edinburgh Castle Esplanade

The staff of the Tattoo are very proficient at getting the thousands of people seated. There are food and drink vendors on the esplanade before the performance.  At ten minutes before the show, they start counting down to the start of the show.

Countdown

Arrival of the Guest of Honour

The first performance was a fanfare played by the Royal Marines followed by the March On of the Massed Pipes and Drums. The Canadian RCMP members are quite visible in their red serge jackets.  

Massed Pipes and Drums

Video of the Massed Pipes and Drums

The Tattoo had many other performers and dancers.  The United States was represented by the Naval Services band, the Naval Ceremonial Drill Team, the band and pipes and drums from the Citadel, a military college in South Carolina. There was also a drum corps from Belgium as well as Highland Dancers and Teamwork India.  They kept the show moving quickly and sadly, it wasn't long before the hour and half show was over.

The finale is marked with the March Off of the Massed Pipes and Drums with the complete cast of the Tattoo. They go down the street outside the castle and many people line up to watch the bands and cast march down the street. Fireworks over the castle cap off the end of the show.

The show is spectacular. I hope you enjoyed these highlights. If you ever have the chance, you should go. Next year is the 75th anniversary of the Tattoo, so if you were thinking about a trip to Scotland maybe it would be the time to go.

Wordless Wednesday - Luca Roger - 2 Sep 2024

 

Home from the Highlands

Two days ago, I got home from a 15-day self-driving vacation in Scotland. I went with two of my sisters, and a brother-in-law. We started and ended the vacation in Edinburgh.

Edinburgh Castle from Princes Garden

We had two nights in Edinburgh before we picked up the rental car. We arrived in Edinburgh while the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo was on; we decided that we couldn't miss that opportunity. It's an hour and half show that only starts at 9:30 pm and we had a rental car to pick up the next morning but it was a once in a lifetime thing.

Massed Pipes and Drums

We picked up the rental car. It was a black Suburu Boxer SUV. It was a nice vehicle with GPS, back up and forward cameras.  The car was also a hybrid so it switched to an electric motor when we were going slow enough.

It was a little difficult to get out of Edinburgh. I took a wrong turn and ended up having to make an illegal right turn to get back on track. We were heading to see  the Falkirk Kelpies, Stirling Castle and  the Wallace Monument. Then it would be off to our first B&B in a little town called Bridge of Cally. 

Falkirk Kelpies

Stirling Castle Great Hall

Wallace Monument

The driving in Scotland was intense to say the least. People drive really fast on little twisty turning roads. I had driven in England and Scotland before but I don't remember the roads being so narrow and, for the most part, without a decent shoulder.  I certainly wasn't driving fast enough for the locals and got honked at quite a few times that first day.  The GPS in the car got us to our destination but it chose a rather strange route going off on the smaller roads rather than staying on one of the more main routes. We did get to our destination eventually but just as we arrived, I hit a traffic cone that was in a pot hole. We had a rubbed spot on the front corner of the car and quite a scratch on the back passenger door. 

Bridge of Cally Hotel

The next day's journey was to Scone Palace about 1/2 hour away and then on to Inverness for a two night stay. This time the GPS did take us to Scone on the road I thought it would the day before. The driving was getting somewhat easier although I still hated seeing large trucks coming around a curve at me. 

Scone Palace

Cavell Guest House

The following day was only a short drive to Culloden and to the Clava Cairns.  The only driving issue on this day was that to get to the Clava Cairns there was about a 500m road that was single lane with only one small pull out. You had to watch for oncoming traffic. 

Culloden

Clava Cairns

The following day was a longer drive along Loch Ness to Urquhart Castle, then past the town where the next B&B was located and onto the Glenfinnian Monument and Glenfinnian Viaduct, made famous by the Harry Potter films. After we saw the Glenfinnian attractions, we back tracked about half an hour to Spean Bridge where the Distant Hills Guest House was located.

Urquhart Castle

Glensfinnian Monument

Glenfinnian Viaduct

I think the Distant Hills Guest House was the nicest of the B&B's that we stayed at. I wished we had at least two nights there as we would have had time to enjoy the hot tub in the back garden. 

Pergola and hot tub

Guest Lounge

The next day was the drive to Glencoe and on down to Glasgow. This is a spectacular drive when the weather is nice but as luck would have it, we had our first really rainy day.  In Glasgow, we were staying two nights at the Holiday Inn.  There was no parking at the hotel but the hotel subsidizes the parking at the car park across the street. We left the car in the parking garage and used the Hop On Hop Off bus. 

Glencoe Visitor Centre

I drove that!

Three Sisters

Holiday Inn bar area

We left Glasgow early so as not to miss the check in time for the ferry to the  Isle of Arran.  Thankfully we had the use of Google maps in addition to the car's GPS. A bridge was closed and, of course, that's the way the GPS directions wanted us to go. Once out of Glasgow the drive was fairly easy and we made it to Ardrossan in plenty of time for our ferry. There was an Asda located close to the ferry terminal and we walked back to see if we could buy some T-Cut to buff out the scratches on the car. 

Ardrossan Ferry Terminal

On the way to the Isle of Arran

Isle of Arran - Scotland in Miniature

We arrived on the Isle of Arran too early to check in to our B&B so we first went to Brodick Castle, home of the Dukes of Hamilton. After visiting the castle, we then went to the Belvedere Guest House to find our host had popped out, he had left us notes with the keys to our rooms but when checking out the place, we set off the security alarm.

Brodick Castle

View of Goat Fell from our room

Belvedere Guest House

The following day was a drive around the island. The principal stop for me was at the Clachaig Farm where my grandmother, one of her brothers and one of her sisters were born.  The current owner invited us to walk around and take pictures and showed us the bothy and the original farm kitchen.  We also visited Lochranza Castle. Little did we know that we would see it again the very next day.

Clachaig Farm

Lochranza Castle

When we went out to dinner at the local pub that night, one of the men at the bar said the ferry had broken down and that the service between Brodick and Ardrossan had been cancelled. Sure enough about 40 minutes later I got an email about the service disruption. We had not been rebooked on the other ferry service from Brodick so the only option left was to book on the ferry that was first come, first serve. We bought a ticket for the Lochranza to Claonaig ferry.  The issue with that route was we would have a four to five hour drive to Edinburgh rather than about a two hour drive.  The next day was a gorgeous sunny day, we headed up to Lochranza, arriving at about 9:20 am and then proceeded to wait, we made it on to the 1:15 pm  ferry crossing. 

Lochranza Ferry

Good Bye to the Isle of Arran

It was beautiful drive and the scenery was wonderful but I didn't have much time to enjoy it as I was focused on driving.  We got back to Edinburgh around 6pm and returned the car without incident.  In a dark car park the Enterprise agent didn't notice the scratches, that really were barely noticeable, as they had been buffed with the T-Cut. I was really mentally exhausted from being so focused on driving that I couldn't back up in the parking garage to park the car into one of the free spaces. 

We now had three more night in Edinburgh before our flights home.  I'll do some other posts on the sites and places we saw on our travels. 

"My heart's in the Highlands

My heart is not here,

my heart's in the Highlands

a chasin the deer.

A chasin the wild deer and following the roe,

my heart's in the Highlands wherever I go."