Day 4: Inverness/Loch Ness/Edinburgh
We woke up very early and took a train to Inverness where we took the bus to our Loch Ness cruise. Our main goal was to find the monster. Although I believe in UFO's, I don't believe in Nessie. Stephanie, however, was determined to find her.
Stephanie looking for the Loch Ness monster
The Loch was beautiful. It reminded me a lot of Washington state. There wasn't very many other boats out so a lot the time it felt like we had it to ourselves.
Russell and Stephanie on Loch Ness
As you would expect, it was cold and very windy,...
Stephanie trying to stay warm
...but we were still sad to get off the boat when we arrived at our destination: Urquhart Castle.
Stephanie and Russell at Urquhart Castle
At Urquhart we felt a little rushed, as we were only given about 50 minutes to look around before the tour bus left to take us back to Inverness. Urquhart has been around since the 6th century and has seen many people storm its walls, but none as fierce as Stephanie (and definately none wearing a pink hat).
Stephanie after storming the castle
From there, we took a tour bus back to Inverness and listened to a very entertaining tour guide that sounded like Willy from the Simpson's. From Inverness we took a train to Edinburgh, found a hotel, ate dinner at a burger place and relaxed the rest of the night.
Picture taken by Stephanie from the Forth Railway Bridge near Edinburgh
Day Five: Edinburgh
The day began early with a monumental discovery. See the movie below.
Wow, and you think you know a person.
From there we went to visit Edingburgh Castle, which was the highlight of the trip.
Russell with Edinburgh castle in the background
The castle is over 900 years old and is where Mary Queen of Scots gave birth to James I who united Scotland and England under one rule when Queen Elizabeth died. It holds the Scottish Crown Jewels and the Stone of Destiny which is an ancient Scottish relic that King Edward I stole in the 1300's. It was placed in Westminster Abbey until 1950 when a group of college students from the University of Glasgow broke into Westminster Abbey, stole it and took it back to Scotland. England eventually got it back, but the backlash caused them to permanently "loan" it to Scotland, only taking it back whenever a new monarch was crowned. Very interesting story.
Russell on top of Edinburgh Castle
Stephanie touring the castle
Stephanie and Russell bombarding Edinburgh from the castle
View of Edinburgh from the castle
There were a lot of interesting things to see there. We spent three hours walking around the grounds and through the various buildings. In the dungeons they have on display an old door to the cells where the prisoners were housed that had a lot of graffiti scrawled into it. The most interesting one was from an American prisoner held there during the Revolutionary War. Long live the stars and stripes!
From the castle we went to the Scottish Museum and the Museum of Childhood.
Scottish Museum: Can you spot Stephanie?
We went back to our hotel, rested and ate dinner. That night we went on a ghost and ghouls tour of the Edinburgh underground which was, according to the BBC, the most haunted place in Scotland. We saw neither ghosts nor ghouls, but as you can see below, Stephanie was still scared.
Stephanie trying to be brave during the ghost tour
Day Six: Edinburgh and back to Winchester
Before leaving Edinburgh we manage to see the National Scottish Art Gallery and the Museum of Writers. We walked around the Royal Mile of Edinburgh one last time and headed home back to Winchester.
Stephanie on the Royal Mile
Stephanie in front of the Museum of Writers
1 comment:
love the pics. looks like skinny russell and stephanie the brave had a great time - ay?
Post a Comment