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 - Hadrian's Wall, Vindolanda, Hexham

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Friday, June 23, 2006 (evening)

Vindolana, Roman fort

We began the today by going to see the Roman forts at Hadrian's Wall.  First, we went to Vindolanda, which is an amazing site that is still being excavated.  There are still remains of pretty much the whole town.  There's even some pieces of floor with the water/heating systems in tact beneath them.

Building and sewage foundations at Vindolanda

Buildings remain at Vindolanda

 

The remains of a Roman heating system at Vindolanda

Sewage drain from house at Vindolanda

Building remains at Vindolanda

Tower as it would have appeared from the Roman side of Hadrian's Wall

Vindolanda was built about 122 (the same time as Hadrian's Wall) to house the garrison for the Wall.  The garrison is believed to have left the fort and moved to the nearby fort, Housesteads, which is actually located on the Wall.  Next to the fort of Vindolanda there is a reconstruction of one of the towers as it would have appeared at Hadrian's Wall.

On top of the wall next to the top of the tower

After we finished at Vindolana, we went down the road to the Housesteads site.  This is my first time back to tour England since 1997 and the view of the wall is great. From the northwest corner of the  fort (which in itself is great) you can see the wall wind over hills and hills across the horizon.  It really gives one a good sense of it's enormity.

Hadrian's Wall to the east of Housesteads

While here we saw someone of importance (maybe the D.O.G.??)  complete with a security detail being led about the place.  We were told it was a dry run but it sure looked real! After that we headed up the road to Hexham hoping to see the Abbey and Gaol.  We went in the Gaol which gave a nice presentation on border life in the Middle Ages.  It really packed in a lot of information.  By the time we left it was 4:30 and we were all really tired and ready to get going. We had a lot of ground to cover to get to our B&B outside of Stirling.

I am writing this from Scottish soil, my first visit.  I can't wait to see everything!  It already looks like we won't have enough enough time to do everything we would like.  Sarah has already mentioned coming back for a second visit.

We spent the night in Denny at Woodcockfaulds.  The large farmhouse is a wonderful place to stay.  It's located just off the motorway, but far enough into the country that it feels miles away from anywhere.  Our room was incredibly huge for a B&B and clean.  This place really went the extra mile to make the stay nice.  There were robes for the guests, lots of books and lots of DVDs to use as well as a nice large sitting room/dining room.  Breakfast the next morning was very good as well.  A nice place to use as a touring base if you are planning on visiting the Stirling area.

Front door of Woodcock Faulds

Woodcock Faulds Farm B&B, Denny, Scotland

Woodcock Faulds sign on road