Scotland Trip - Windsor and Windsor Castle

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July 3, 2006

Today we drove to Windsor from Walton.  We had to split up again as nobody had room for four people.  It was 30° C when we arrived, which is pretty stinkin' hot with no A/C.  We got our rooms, Sarah and I stayed at the Langton House (Mom and Dad stayed down the road on the next corner).  The house is just out of the Town Centre.
After we got settled in, we walked into town hoping to purchase tickets to see the castle for the next morning.  We got there before the last tour should have started but the ticket office was closed.  So, we walked for a bit with the intention of walking around the town until it was time to eat.  Finally, the heat got the best of us.  Our walk became an evaluation of potential restaurants based on how well the A/C worked.  We found a nice place just outside the castle wall - near the Burger King and Pizza Hut (which incidentally have the two best A/C systems in town).  It was a very nice meal and then on the way home we stopped at Francesco's for desert.  A breeze was blowing as the night cooled and we even had coffees with our desserts!  Really a great end to the day.
 We returned to our houses just after 8 PM.  Sarah and my room was really hot!  The air outside the window wasn't that bad, but inside our room it was terrible.  We took cold showers and washed our bodies with cold towels to cool down.  Finally, Sarah had the wonderful idea of getting rid of the covers and sleeping under cold wet towels.  It worked, I fell asleep and stayed asleep!
When I was awakened by the alarm, it was still hot.  We ate breakfast - including tea that tasted like dirt (not sure what the deal was), packed our things and prepared for a tour of the castle. 
We arrived at Windsor Castle a few minutes before opening and were able to see large parts of the castle with hardly any crowds.  We saw as much as we could - then we ate lunch and drove to the airport.

Ye olde ladies outside Windsor Castle

Walls of Windsor Castle

The Keep

The view from the gate

The family's apartments

The changing of the guard

St. George's Chapel

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...