Edinburgh, Scotland

Saturday was our last day in Scotland and we flew out of Edinburgh (Ed-in-burr-uh). We woke up early and headed for the Edinburgh castle. Edinburgh was really busy so we had to park at the hospital Laura works at and take the bus. Laura is an operating room nurse but they call it theatre nursing- I thought that was cool... I guess because of all the lights in the OR. 

The bus dropped us off on a bridge and we had quite the hike up a cobblestone path, on a hill, up to the castle. It was very cold out and raining and very windy. That cobblestone road we walked on up to the castle is called The Royal Mile. 

Here's a picture of the castle up on the mountain to give you a good idea of the walk we had. We walked up to the castle from the left side. 

Our walk up the Royal Mile and some things we saw 

Kevin thought this building looked like it was Mordor from Lord of the Rings. 

It was a memorial and you could walked to the top of it but we didn't have time because of our flight. 

Finally made it to the castle! It was a very very slippery walk. 

Because it was a weekend and because of the Commonwealth Games the castle was packed and up in the castle the wind was terrible and the weather just wasn't good. We tried to see everything we could in the castle but there where lines for everything so you had to just stand there in the rain and cold so after we had seen basically all there was to see we headed back down the hill for lunch.  

We had been making jokes all week about taking pictures and looking like tourist and doing the tourist picture pose. So Kevin took a picture of this guy because it was exactly what we had been joking about all week long. 

The rain just misted and rained all at once and you can tell really good in the picture what we were experiencing.

Where prisoners of war were held. They were treated better than regular prisoners. They even earned weekly wages. 

We ate at a pub called Albanach. Albanach is a band and Kevin loves them, so he really wanted to eat there. 

After lunch Laura dropped us off at the airport and we waited for our plane to Lyon (Lee-own), France. While we waited at the airport our flight was slightly delayed and I was able to watch my cousin Ryan's memorial. It was so beautiful and I felt like I was there. 

My cousin Jenifer was at the memorial and she sent me this picture that was out. It is her, then Ryan, then me. They are about the same age in this picture and I am 6 years older than them. 

Chatelherault, Scotland

I have missed the last few days blogging because we have been busy packing and traveling. 

On Thursday we went to Chatelherault - pronounced Shat-ler-oh. It was a hunting lodge for the Dukes of Hamilton. Hamilton is a town near Strathaven, about 15 minutes away. 

Here are pictures of the hunting lodge. 

View from the back: 

Off of the hunting lodge there are multiple trails you can walk. The longest one is 2 hours 50 minutes. We decided to walk the 17 minute trail and then the 45 minute trail. We got lost and took a wrong turn while trying to find the 17 minute trail and ended up doing a 90 minute walk. 

The trail was beautiful! 

We found wild raspberries and I ate a handful of them. They are sweeter than the raspberries you can buy in the store- they weren't sour at all. 

As we walked back up to the lodge through the fields we could hear bagpipes playing up at the lodge. A wedding had just taken place. It was so beautiful to hear the distant sound of bagpipes as we walked such a scenic view. Here are pictures of different plants and views we saw as we walked back up to the lodge.

Scottish thistle- state flower

This plant was covered in pods. Laura said she didn't know what it was but not to touch it. She thinks it must be poisonous because her mother always told her not to touch them. 

There were dandelions growing in the field that were bigger than my hand. They were so beautiful. I made a wish :) 

We had soup and tea in the cafe at the lodge. That orange drink is called Iron Bru. It is a Scottish drink and they sell more of that than we do Coca Cola in the states. Everyone always had it. Only 2 people know the secret ingredient and they aren't allowed to be in the same room together - interesting!

After Chatelherault we went to see the mausoleum in Hamilton. There was a tree called the monkey puzzle tree. The "leaves" were very sharp. It was an interesting tree. 

Frasier Furs - Christmas trees - grow wild everywhere in Scotland. And they grow to be so huge. They smell so wonderful.  

Everything that grows in Scotland is beautiful. 

For dinner we ate at the Strathaven hotel. I had a carb-filled dinner of Mac and Cheese and chips (fries)...this sounds like carb overload to us but that is on every menu everywhere in Scotland. It was delicious. Kevin had Steak and Mushroom pie and he loved it as well. For dessert we had sticky toffee pudding with ice cream -yum! Everyone in Scotland puts vinegar on their chips and then ketchup or brown sauce or whatever it is they wish to have that day. Now I don't think I will ever be able to have fries without vinegar! It makes them so good- try it!! When you see prices on the menu that is with the tax included. It's nice because you know exactly what your bill will be before they bring it out. 

After dinner we went to the Buck's- one of the few local pubs in Strathaven. Since it was a Friday night it was busier. Laura wanted us to see a weekend night at the pub. Kevin played pool with Allan (Laura's brother) and his friends...they are all really good at pool. And, it is different than in the US because the balls are smaller and lighter. The pockets are smaller and the table in general is smaller. I think I said in a previous post that the balls are not solids and stripes they are red and yellow...the color of one of Scotland's flags. They have 2 flags. The blue and white X flag and the red and yellow lion flag. 

Right outside of Buck's I spotted a sign that said Bryson one day when we were driving home and we had to get a picture by it because that is Kevin's nephew - Bryson! :)