Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Hey all,
We went to Edinburgh, Scotland this weekend. We left on Wednesday morning around 10:00. We went by train. It was about an 8 hour journey. We got in to the central train station around 8:00 in the evening so we got a cab to take us to our hotel, the Park View House Hotel. We had a nice room, it was small but it doesn't really matter when all you do is sleep there! After we had settled we went to find food. Our Hotel is about a 30 minute walk to the city center. The first food we found was KFC so that is what we had. After that we just went back to the hotel and watched t.v. and went to bed.
On Thursday we had signed up for a bus tour of Scotland called the Loch Ness Adventure. We had to meet at the bus by 8:00 in the morning so we took another cab as we didn't know how long it would take us to get there. The bus tour was a 400 mile, 12 hour journey, around Scotland. Along the way we stopped at Kilmahog to have coffee...I had hot chocolate. They had a shop there that we looked around in while waiting to go again. Next we went through Rob Roy country where we saw the Weeping Glen of Glencoe where in 1692 there was an infamous massacre. We went to Fort William next to stop for dinner. They had a really big tourist shop and resturant. We had dinner there. I had macaroni and cheese and craig had scampi...that was our Thanksgiving lunch. From there we went to Spean Bridge where we got out to take pictures and see Ben Nevis, Scotland's highest mountain. It was really pretty. There was also a commando memorial there. Our next stop was Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle. We walked around the 12th century castle and searched Loch Ness for Nessie...no sightings unfortunantly. The visitors center there was quite nice. They had a video that told all about the castle which was really interesting. After our search for Nessie we started to make our way back home through the Grampian Mountains. We saw Blair Castle from the coach. Blair Castle has its own private army! We stopped at Pitlochry to have supper. I had a cheesburger and Craig had lasagna. It was pretty cheap and they gave you lots of food. At the end of the day we were full and tired...just like Thanksgiving!!! And that was our Loch Ness Adventure through the Lowlands and Highlands of Scotland. Our driver/tour guide was really good and funny. The country is so beautiful. There are lots of mountains and tons of waterfalls. It was definantly a trip worth taking...even if we didn't see Nessie:)
We started our day on Friday with an interesting experience. We went into Tesco's to get some water and as we were picking up our water we started hearing all this screaming and yelling. As we made our way to the cash register the blue light in the store was flashing indicating they had called the police. The store employees were trying to get someone to leave, we don't know why, and eventually it led to the guy threatening them and trying to hurt them so they restrained him on the floor. They had two guys basically sitting on him. People continued to pay for there purchases and then squeeze out the door where they had the man restrained. So we did the same. It took the police about 10-15 minutes to get there because we saw them headed that way after we had walked a while. It was an exciting way to start the morning. We aren't sure what the guy did...if he was trying to steal something or if he was just drunk and stupid or what.
After that little adventrue we went to Edinburgh Castle which I thought was much like the Tower of London. They had the Stone of Destiny there, which is what Kings and Queens used to be corinated on. They also had the crown jewels. There were a couple of museums within the castle, like the War Museum, which was interesting. There was a chapel there as well as a war monument among many other things. It was interesting to go to and had great views of the city as the castle was up on a hill. Right before we were getting ready to leave they were going to shoot off the one o' clock cannon. A soldier came out and shot of the cannon. It was really loud. After the castle we got something to eat.
Next we went to Camera Obscura. It was really fun there. The first thing we did there was go to the rooftop where they do a presentation with the camera obscura, which is similar to a telescope in a way. It is hard to explain. We were in a darkened room and the camera obscura would show what was going on outside projected on a concave white board. It was neat because you see what was going on live outside and you could pan around the city. You could even "pick people up" off the board. Once we were done with that we went around the rest of the building. They had different hands on things like capturing your own shadow and the world's larget plasmashpere. They had different eye trick sort of things. It was a really fun place.
After that we went to the Scottish Whisky Center. We went on a tour. It started with a tasting of whisky...which I thought was disgusting! After that we learned about the making of Scotch whisky and how distilleries work. Then we went of a whisky barrel ride that told you all about the history of whisky. It was interesting.
We went to the 3D Loch Ness Experience next. It was a 3D show about the legends, myths, hoaxes, and it had interviews with people who had seen Nessie. It wasn't as good as we hoped but it was alright. After we left there we shopped around a little, ate at McDonald's and then went home. It was dark by 3:30 in the afternoon and most things closed by 5:00.
On Saturday we went to Calton Hill where there are a lot of different monuments. Edinburgh started a replica of the Parthenon of Greece but ran out of money so there is a partial replica. There were also great views of the city as it was up higher than the castle. You could see the body of water called the Firth of Forth as well as Arthur's Seat, a mountain. From there we got something to eat and then went to the Mary King's Close to schedule our tour there. While waiting for the tour we went to the Museum of Childhood. There were a lot of really old toys there. It wasn't very big.
Mary King's Close was really interesting and a bit scary. It is supposed to be one of the most haunted places in Scotland. It is a network of underground streets and homes. They were originally narrow streets with houses on either side and extending up to seven stories high. Why it became underground streets and homes is because the Burgh Council decided to build the Royal Exchange on top of it, now the City Chambers. The houses at the top of the closes were knocked down and the lower sections were used as a foundation. There are lots of closes in Edinburgh. Basically the city is built on top of them...a city on top of a city. It was really interesting and again our guide was really good. It was a little creepy down there and there is one room that they wouldn't let us in becasue they said that people have been hurt and knocked out because of something in the room...creepy huh?
After the close we went to see the monument of Greyfriars Bobby, a dog who apparently was loved by all and went on many adventures. Right next to that was the White Elephant Resturant which is where J.K. Rowling started writing Harry Potter. We went to the National Museum of Scotlan. It was fun. They had a lot of hands on things as well. Dolly, the cloned sheep, was there among other things. We had a look around and then had a snack there. From there we went back to the hotel as it was dark again and everything was closed.
On sunday we made our way home again. Edinburgh was a lot of fun. We wish we could have stayed longer. It was kind of like London only not so crowded.
Love,
Craig and Audrey
- comments