Hooray for Holyrood!

Mum, Dad and I spent a couple of hours without Rod and the kids at Holyrood. They went off to the far more exciting Edinburgh Dungeon and Museum of Childhood instead. There was a good exhibition called "Conversation Pieces" at the Queen's Gallery and then we went in to Holyrood proper.
After seeing the personal quarters for poor old Mary Queen of Scots I can well understand why she met her death so stoically. I reckon she was glad to escape from her bedroom which would have to have been the smallest, darkest, dingiest room in the whole palace. And the portraits on the wall of her room all seemed to be terribly grim faced, gloomy gentlemen - enough to give the poor woman nightmares! We also got to visit the room where poor old Rizzio got done in - and I'm sure the floorboards still show the bloodstains! Like a lot of places we have visited, interior photos are not allowed so you will have to make do with outside views!

More photos here.

A sterling castle at Stirling.

We enjoyed a couple of hours wandering around Stirling Castle after we visited Bannockburn. The castle commands wonderful views over the Forth Valley and beyond to the Trossachs. You certainly would have had  advance notice about unwelcome visitors and plenty of time to hide from either those peddling religion or encyclopedias!

There I was standing in a lovely garden space called the Bowling Green and thinking deep thoughts about life in days gone by when suddenly a voice calls down to me from the ramparts - " You do not frighten us, English pig-dogs! Go and boil your bottoms, sons of silly persons. I blow my nose at you, you so called Arthur King, you and all your silly English kaniggets!" *sigh* Monty Python and the Holy Grail has a lot to answer for!

Stirling Castle is in fact everything you would expect a castle to be - fabulous ramparts, lots of round towers and gatehouses with portcullises. Parts of it are undergoing huge refurbishment - about 12 million pounds worth - to recreate the interior of the palace as it would have been in the 16th century. It will be wonderful when it is finished.

There are more photos of Stirling Castle here.

Edinburgh Castle

Yesterday we bought jump on, jump off bus tickets on one of the several tours that go round the city of Edinburgh. After we had our bearings a little we decided that we would walk up the Royal Mile to Edinburgh Castle. The Royal Mile is very touristy but quite good fun, with plenty of interesting people to watch and some amusing street theatre. And of course there is the reward of the castle at the end. We had organized British Heritage passes before we left home, so while the masses had to queue at the gate, we just strolled right on in as if we owned the joint! We couldn't have asked for better weather as you can see from the photos. The view from the castle was amazing and it is easy to see why it was such a defensible location in times of trouble.

There is lots to see at Edinburgh Castle and some of the displays are excellent. I particularly enjoyed the section devoted to the Crown Jewels of Scotland as the story of how they were hidden away and then were rediscovered was quite fascinating. We also enjoyed a 20 minute presentation from a Scots "Cavalier" who told us the story of King Charles I and his relationship with Scotland. As far as Kings go, he was not much chop - and maybe that's why he ended up with the chop! Much to our surprise the Cavalier's name turned out to be..... Alastair.