Welcome to Scotland!
The only bad thing about Scotland is that we couldn't spend more time there. This place overwhelmed me, it was so beautiful and full of charm . . . everything that I thought London would be. Don't get me wrong, I loved London, but I felt a much stronger connection with Edinburgh. Everything was interesting and exciting. The city wasn't as dirty as London. The trees were emerald green, a color I never imagined to find in a city as big as Edinburgh. Just amazing.
Edinburgh Castle. This castle dates back to the 9th century. This view in particular is so dramatic and the cool thing about this castle is the stone is dark, almost black, in some places, like it had been burned at one point in time.
This huge rock it is built on is an extinct volcano.
This is the Royal Mile, the stretch of road that extends from the Edinburgh Castle entrance.
At the entrance.
A view from the castle.
I'm in love! I'm in love and I don't care who knows!
Never mind. I couldn't get over his stony face.
Like I said, look how dark the stone it. It's so aged and I am curious what caused it to blacken. Anyone know?
Aslan? Is that you?
Inside the prisoners' bunks. Some American POWs were kept here during the Revolutionary War.
Help.
Once again I had to take a picture inside the red telephone booth. Didn't matter that we were in a completely different city, still smelled like pee.
A cathedral on the Royal Mile.
The Royal Mile.
Another cathedral from Princes (pronounced princess) Street.
Take a look at the road signs . . . they're practically at the bottom of the picture. See what I mean about the road signs being completely inaccessible? Who thought this was an efficient way to delineate which road is what?
Oh, man, I LOVE this view. The architecture was amazing everywhere.
Inside a woolen mill. It was kind of exciting to see how it's made.
Don't ask me why I'm dressed like Punky Brewster in Edinburgh. Clearly, I wasn't thinking when I grabbed my hoodie.
The signs in England and Scotland were funny and this is the only picture I got. I loved that they called diaper changing stations in women's bathrooms "Baby Nappy Changing Stations." Check out the symbols for men and women, much more descriptive than in the States.
This is in Gretna Green which is the marriage capital of the UK. Gretna Green's marrying age is 16-years-old. In England, the marrying age is 18 so everyone comes here to get married if they're underage and cannot get parental consent. If you're interested, in Pride and Prejudice when Lydia runs away with Wickham the initial rumor was that they were headed to Gretna Green to get married because she was underage. Anyway, that is the last I'll say about Pride and Prejudice but I just love it when you make a connection like that.
2 comments:
Glad you like our beautiful country. I'm lucky to have a view of the castle from my house, so enjoy looking at it every day. Anyway, there are two reasons for the stone being black:
1/ Some of it is volcanic: the 'hill' is actually the ancient plug of a long-dormant volcano. So, this stuff is naturally black.
2/ Staining: Edinburgh is also known as 'Auld Reekie' (old smelly) on account of the smell and fog that used to be caused by the thousands of coal fires belching smoke out across the city. As a result, many stone buildings are stained black.
Haste ye back!
it looks beautiful, what a fun place to visit!
Post a Comment