Scotland Trip - Rossyln Chapel and Jedburgh Abbey

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Sunday, July 2, 2006

We intended to begin the day at Holyrood Palace.  It took us 45 minutes to figure out all of the roads to the Palace were closed (the Queen is coming this week).  So after a frustrating hour, we headed to Roslin.  We arrived in Roslin about 11:15 and had to wait for the church service to end before we could see Rosslyn Chapel (it opens at noon on Sundays).  This 15th century church is well worth the trip - the ornamentation is stunning.  To think that this was only intended to be the TIP of a crucifix shaped cathedral!  The place was packed, as I'm sure it is everyday in the summer thanks to The Da Vinci Code.  The book might have brought the people here, but the building will send them away impressed.

The crypt in Rosslyn Chapel

Grave of a Templar Knight in Rosslyn Chapel

From Roslin we headed to Jedburgh to see the Abbey.  We encountered some really heavy thunderstorms which did cut the visit to the Abbey short.  Funny enough it might have made for some nicer photography.  I'd really like a chance to see this again on a nicer day so that I could have a more extensive view.

Jedburgh Abbey

From Jedburgh we headed across the border into England.  We stopped in the village of Walton outside of Carlisle.  We're staying at the Town Head B&B.  It's a nice village.  The Hadrian's Wall footpath runs right through the village. Today is our last day and we head to Windsor to get ready to leave.  It should be a long day of driving tomorrow (about 6 hours).

Scotland Trip - Edinburgh

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Saturday, July 1, 2006

We woke up and started to the Royal Mile.  Our plan was to book two tours: Mary King's Close and Mercat's Ghost and Ghouls.  Mary King's Close (and office) is near St. Giles, but we had to phone Mercat's.  We booked Mary King's Close for 9 PM.  We then marched up the street to the Castle.

The entrance to Edinburgh Castle

We got into the castle and were able to catch a guided tour at 11:30.  What a great site, with so much to see.  The Honours of Scotland (the crown, sword, sceptre and some jewels) as well as the Stone of Scone are located in the Castle.  The Stone is one of the things I really wanted to see.  The castle also includes the chamber where Mary Queen of Scots gave birth and saw her husband murdered. In the Great Hall - on the huge windows was the Campbell coat of arms, pretty neat to see.

The wing where Mary Queen of Scots gave birth

The Castle from below

The only way out of the castle except the main gate

We ate lunch at the castle and poked around until 2:30.  Then we headed to Mary King's Close.  The close was built over in the 1800s when they built the current City Chambers building.  Underneath remain the Medieval houses and buildings - some of which are haunted.  This was wonderful as it gives a really nice picture of the commoners' accommodations in Edinburgh at the time.

We then returned to our B&B to rest and regroup for supper.  After we ate we went for the Ghost and Ghouls tour.  This was very good.  Our guide was called Gerard and he was extremely good.  The tour involved some underground chambers called vaults. This tour was well worth the money!

Ghost Adventures took a visit, you can check it out here:


Ghost Adventures - Edinburgh Vaults by Barry_Cochrane_2

   We saw this artwork and the Castle all lit up on our way back to the B&B for the night...

Scotland Trip - Argyll's Lodging and Castle Campbell

Argyll's Lodging, Stirling

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Friday, June 30, 2006

It was pouring rain today, so we went to Stirling to Argyll's Lodging (which we skipped over the first time through town).  This 17th century townhouse was originally the home of the Earl of Stirling, then later the Earl of Argyll.  I'm so glad that we went back to see it as it was one of my favorites so far this trip.

Courtyard of Argyll's Loding

Castle Campbell

After we finished here, the weather looked like it was breaking so we headed to Dollar to see Castle Campbell.  The rain actually picked up and a tree had fallen across the road to the castle, so we ate our lunch while they cleared it.
Again, even though the rain was fairly heavy, I'm glad that we decided to go anyway.  The castle was attacked and abandoned in 1654, but is still in good shape.  The original tower is still fully intact!  The two Historic Scotland guides on site were the best we've had anywhere.  Both were interested in the site and were enthusiastic to discuss the site or anything else.  This may have been the best day of sites so far even though the rain was heavy.

Castle Campbell (Glume)

The view of Dollar from Castle Campbell

We then pressed on to Edinburgh.  We booked a B&B in the city centre.  There was a  very tense atmosphere for the drive.  We missed our road at Edinburgh, then missed the other turn which would have fixed the problem.  So we had to wind through the city -- very very tense times.
We arrived safely (if damp), and the house was beautiful.  It's called The Town House and is on Gilmore Place.  From there, we walked to a restaurant named, Papilio, an amazing Italian restaurant.  The wait staff was perfect and the food was amazing - especially the chocolate gateaux!

The Townhouse B&B, Edinburgh

Our bed in our large ensuite room