London Town

Greetings from the last day in London. We had a great day with a little of everything.

We hopped the underground and headed for Kennsington Palace near Hyde Park. This is the front of the Palace and a statue of Queen Victoria. We walked the Palace rooms and the gardens then hopped the underground again toward Westminster station.

Flat Ella just loved to see Big Ben. She just wouldn't have been to London without taking a look

There was a boat trip on the Thames that was available so..... off we went. This is the Tower bridge as I have never seen it before. The hour ride took us down river from Westminster to the Tower Bridge and back. It gave us a unusual perspective on London.

We rode past the Tower of London which has been a Royal residence, a prison and, most recently , home of the Crown Jewels.

One last view of Big Ben and the houses of Parliament and then off to a little shopping and back to the B&B.

Well, as Bugs Bunny says "That's all folks"

Hope this hasn't been too boring for you all. We've has a great time but I'm out of money and out of energy so it's time to head home. If all goes well we'll be home tomorrow evening and this will be a marvelous memory. So long from the British Isles.

The Chelsea flower show

I survived!!!! 8 hours of the Chelsea flower show.

The flower show was amazing..... and for a guy that's not into flowers that's saying a lot. The main pavilion took about two and a half hours to visit with the displays like you see here everywhere.

The grounds consist of 11 acres on the grounds of the royal veterans hospital. For most of the year it's a soccer field but is transformed for the flower show each year. The crowds in the afternoon were almost unbearable but we saw a lot in the morning before it got too busy. It's well worth the effort to see it.

As usual Flat Ella came along. I'm glad she didn't need a ticket as it was $75 just to get in. She was most impressed with the colors and variety of flowers she saw. This was one of her favorites.

Tomorrow we just bum around London town and then it's home again. I'll do one more post tomorrow night to finish the trip. Till then......time for a pint!

The last day inScotland

The Great hall in Stirling Castle was huge and Ella found a spot she liked.

Flat Ella is sitting in the Queen's chair in the great hall pretending she is attending a huge banquet. She is imagining herself ruling over all the guests as they eat, drink and dance.

Flat Ella is getting homesick for school so she found this elementary school in Linlithgow. What a great spot to go to school

To finish the day Flat Ella took a boat ride on the Union Canal which runs from Glasgow to Edinburgh. She rode for 2 and a half hours along the peaceful canal and traveled over a long aqueduct that was 80 feet in the air.

She was so tired from the days events that she went home and took a nap.

I had to include this picture of the canal. The bridges shown here are from the 1800s when the canal was built. The entire canal was built with pick and shovel in 4 years!

Well that's all from Scotland. 14 days, 1200 miles on the "correct" side of the road, 14 Castles, 6 churches, 8 boat rides, one steam train ride and numerous pints of ale. I need some Rest....off to London town!

Hi all,

Well I'm sitting in the Edinburgh airport waiting on the flight to London so time to catch up on the trip.

On Friday we drove from Balater to Linlithgow via this little historical spot. Here the Scottish folks have recreated a house that would have been here around 500AD. the people here lived over the water and hunted and raised cattle for food.

We checked in at the B&B and then headed to Linlithgow castle for a look around. Again the connection to Mary Queen of Scots.... she was born here! Robert the Bruce set fire to the castle when he was here to keep the English from using it as a base of operations. What a waste!

I just had to include this.... the farm house B&B that was our home for two nights. We had the small section on the left all to ourselves. What a great spot.

Saturday morning it was off to Stirling Castle. This was the home of James V which he built in the mid 15oos for his Queen. They are restoring the Royal apartments so we didn't see much of the interior.

More from the last day

We left Dunnottar Castle and headed back west to Crathes Castle. It's a short drive and once there we were rewarded with another truly great Castle.

Crathes Castle was built in the 16th century the Bennitt family and has remained family line to the present. What an inheritance each generation receives! The Castle is furnished and we were able to walk the rooms full of antiques dating back to the 1500s. Spiral staircases are still used to get between floors. The stones are worn but are the original stones from the 1500s.

There were beautiful gardens near the Castle and flat Ella just loved the flowers. But....once again she is resting. She is going to be really tired when this trip is finished.

One last look at the gardens and the Castle and we were off to find our third Castle of the day.

We headed about 20 miles northwest and were rewarded with.....

Craigievar Castle which was built between 1610 and 1626 by William Forbes. Unfortunately the Castle was closed so we just looked at the outside and headed for Balater and the B&B we call home.

It's been a great day and tomorrow we go down the road again. I'll do more when we get internet connection again.

The last day in the Highlands

Today was a three castle day. It may take three pints to recover! It's the last day in the Highlands before we head toward Edinburgh with a stop in Linlithgow.

We headed East toward Stonehaven with our destination at Dunnottar Castle. The castle ruins sit on a point over looking the North Sea some 20 miles south of Aberdeen. The castle was built in the mid 1600s. It housed the Honours of Scotland during the siege of Cromwell in 1651. The Honours of Scotland included the Crown Jewels and the scepter.

It was a long walk down stairs and up stairs but once there the ruins were spectacular. Here you get a glimpse of the interior with ruins surrounding you on all sides.

Flat Ella was tired after the trek so she just climbed on one of the walls and sat down. She is actually getting in pretty good shape for a flat person.

The view from the Castle is spectacular. I can only imagine what it would have been like to wake every morning to these surroundings.

One last look at the North sea and the rugged coast and we were off in search of the next Castle.

Balaster in the highlands

Just another day on the Castle trail. And.....today was Balmoral day

Balmoral is the summer home of Queen Elizabeth and the Royal Family. They reside here from the 1st of August through September so it's a real residence. It was built by Queen Victoria and is still in use today. It's a magnificent castle it a gorgeous setting. It stands beside the Dee river and is backed by mountains on all sides.

Flat Ella tried to climb the fence but got stuck.... silly girl! She seems to be getting into more trouble lately. Maybe she is just getting used to Scotland. We have to watch her every minute!

This is the Gardner's cottage on the castle grounds. It's the home of the head Gardner who is responsible for all the gardens. There are extensive vegetable gardens that provide fresh vegetables for the Royal Family when they are here.

Across the road is the Kirk (church) where Prince Charles and Camilla were married.






















The scenery here is quite beautiful. Here the snow capped mountains are framed with cherry blossoms. The highlands of Scotland is truly a spectacular place.
















The Dee river runs from the mountains to the north sea and is filled with trout and salmon. The bridges over the river were built in the mid 1800s. It's a wide river and is running low now but in the spring it carries the melting snow to the ocean.




This afternoon we headed to the local pub where we discussed politics with the locals and got their impression of American Government. You can't do that from the seat of a tour bus!

Tomorrow it's off to Stonehaven on the North Sea. More from there tomorrow night.

Loch Ness

Hi all
We have internet connection again so thought I'd post some more pictures










We left the Isle of Skye on Saturday and headed toward Loch Ness. Not far from the Isle we stopped at the Eilean Donan Castle. We walked the castle which was a strategic fortification in the mid 13 century. It was the home of the McRae clan and is still used as a residence by the current generation.












We found our way to Loch Ness (home of the famous Loch Ness Monster, Nessie) and visited the Urquhart Castle ruins. Again this was a fortification built in the mid 17 century. This spot was visited by St Columba in the 5th century and was destroyed by the Jacobites to keep the enemy from using the fortification.















We drove around the Loch(about 50 miles) and Flat Ella wanted to take a hike so we went to Fryar Falls down a steep path. Ella loved the black water coming over the rocks. The black color is due to the peat suspended in the water.



















On Monday we drove past Inverness and visited Cawdor Castle.This castle was built in the 18th century and is still the home of the heirs of the owners. It seems that there is a castle around every corner. This one is still in use by Miss Otis and is the first castle we have encountered with a draw bridge at the entrance.























We visited historic Fort George and walked the grounds. Then we headed to Culoden Moor battlefield for a glimpse of more history. This house sits a mere 100 yards from the battlefield where Bonnie Prince Charlie was defeated by the British army in 1746. Over 1500 men perished here that day. It was the last battle of the Prince and ended his quest to regain the British throne for the Stuart family line. I can only imagine what it was like for the people living in this house during that bloody battle.












After walking the battlefield Flat Ella needed a rest (not me of course) So..... rest we did.


On Tuesday we headed for Balater and the summer home of Queen Elizabeth. More from there tomorrow.

The Isle of Skye day 2

We just got back from another fun filled day of wandering this beautiful island. The weather cooperated today so we did a little more walking.

The first stop was Dunvegan castle. It was, and still is, home to the chiefs of the MacLeod (pronounced mac-cloud) clan. The castle dates back to the 13th century with renovations and additions since then. As you can see they are doing a little "handyman" type work on the old homestead.









We walked the gardens and since it was a nice day Flat Ella decided to take the walk with us. She found these Tulips growing in a planter and just had to join them. When you are that small Tulips can be a pretty big thing.










We wandered off and found the ruins of St. Marys church. Several of the MacLeod clan chiefs are buried here. We were amazed at the graveyard and all the old grave markers.







Back in Portree we walked the town and spent some time watching the boats in the harbor.

Tomorrow it's off to Loch Ness. I hope to answer the question: How many pints does it take before Nessie rises from the Loch? I'm not sure when we have internet access again but when we do I'll post again.

The Isle of Skye in northwest Scotland

Hi again from Scotland. We're in the beautiful Isle of Skye in north west Scotland. I want to say "Hi" to Ella and the 1st grade class in Rochester, Minnesota. I wish you could be here with us to see the amazing sights and learn of the vast history of Scotland. We learned so much today so we'll start with.....

This is the Island life museum. The thatched roof huts are replicas of the houses the Crofters live in some 150 years ago. The Crofters were farmers that were given a small piece of land that was just enough to live from. They spent their days raising potatoes and farming the land. It was a tough life and can you imagine.... no TV, internet or even blogs!

We then drove to Armadale where the Mc Donald castle is located. Here we walked the grounds of the abandoned castle and visited the museum where we learned about the Mc Donald clan and it's place in Scottish history. The Castle was built in the mid 19th century and was destroyed when invaders burned it. The Mc Donalds did not rebuild and the grounds and garden have been donated to the state.

I just love the roads. Here we are on a one lane road and had to stop for a sheep that was using the road as well. Look how narrow the road is. when cars meet one pulls into a little side area and lets the other pass. The encounter always ends with a wave and a smile. Travel on these roads is 15 miles per hour at best and it's good not to be in a hurry. Sheep are one of the main industries on the Isle of Skye. They use the meat as well as the wool to make clothing.

This is a photo of Portree taken from our room window. What a quaint village! The people are great and the scenery fantastic. The best part is that we are learning about this area of Scotland up close and personal. So much history in such a small area!

That's all for tonight. Time to put the feet up and relax. The weather was bad today so Flat Ella stayed in the car all day.... such a wimp! It was about 40 degrees with a 30 mph wind and rain. I wanted to stay in the car as well but Sharleen wouldn't let me.

More tomorrow night from the Isle of skye.

Oban day 2

Tuesday dawned clear cool and windy so it's off to the Isle of Mull again. The same old ferry ride but......

This time instead of the bus we took the train. Can you believe the size of this one? We climbed inside the car in the fetal position. It really was fun and the engine is a real steam engine. The ride took about 15 minutes and.......

After a short walk we arrived at Torosay castle. It's a residence for the owner and his family and is relatively new as these things go. It was built in the mid 1800s making it only about 150 years old. We toured the castle rooms and talked with the owner. When I asked why he opened it to the public he responded that it was a financial decision. The estate tax was more than he could handle. By the way, it's for sale for about 100 million pounds. Anyone want to live in a Scottish castle?

Flat Ella really liked the grounds and the gardens. She walked all around and just was amazed at the sights. You can tell she's happy.... she's smiling! I understand that flat Pam (her words not mine) wants to come along on the next adventure. I think we may be on to something here.

What a beautiful house and when the owner says his home is his castle he really means it. He was really nice to talk with and was happy to answer our questions. I wonder what the heating bill is like in the winter?

After three hours it was back on the ferry to Oban. On the way back into port I spotted our B&B. That's it in the middle with the white dormer windows on top. Our room is the dormer on the left.

Today ( Wednesday) we headed for the Isle of Skye and a town called Portree. It's an easy drive and we were here in time to tour the town and just relax. We have two days here to look around before moving on. More tomorrow night I hope.