Aside from Edinburgh and Stirling Castle, we also saw Dunnotar, Doune, Drum, Dunrobin, Cragievar, Eilaen Donan, Crathes, Dunfermline Abbey and Holyrood Palace. To be honest, they did start to blur a bit after a while. Here are some highlights!
- Topiaries outside Crathes Castle. Nothing low maintenance here!
- Did you know that the average suit of medieval armor weighed 110 lbs.? Studies show that wearing a suit of armor takes more than twice the energy of normal walking. Wearing 17 pounds of steel plates per leg requires no small amount of effort. So there was a grimace behind that steely smile.
- Jessica is considering a ceiling remodel when she gets home.
- I’ve been meaning to read “The Indignant Spinsters”!
- Living the high life at Dunrobin Castle.
- Dunfermline Abbey, final resting place of King Robert the Bruce.
- A bonny day in Scotland at Eilean Donan castle, set on an island wher three different “lochs” or lakes meet. That connecting stone bridge is recent – it was only built 800 years ago…
- Bells for the servants, just like Downton Abbey!
- The Archangel so prominently displayed in the library at Drum Castle is rumored to be a SELF PORTRAIT of the laird (lord) of the castle in the early 1700s. Oh, my… and glory be!
- Refining my horseback riding technique at Doune Castle, where Monty Python and the Holy Grail was filmed in 1975.
- Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries! Now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!
- Dunnotar Castle, built on a bluff overlooking the sea – a perfect defensive location.
- Taking in the view at Dunnotar from the suite where Mary, Queen of Scots stayed.
- Holyrood Palace’s Great Hall showcases 95 paintings of royalty and nobility. The artist painted these at a clip of one per week over only two years! Several are damaged from a 1746 battle when troops charged in the palace, slashing paintings with their swords.
- Cragievar Castle, with its pink tinted facade, finely sculpted multiple turrets, ornate corbels and carved stonework — is said to have been an inspiration for Walt Disney’s Cinderella Castle.
- Great trip overall! Hats off to Jessica for doing the planning!
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