After exploring Edinburgh's Royal Mile and the Royal Yacht Britannia it was time to go further afield. We opted to take a Rabbie's tour that took in the Kelpies, Loch Lomond and Stirling Castle. Joanne got to choose this tour and I am so happy she picked this one as I have wanted to see the Kelpies since I first heard about them. We got there quite early but were able to sit inside the Rabbies cafe to keep warm. Yes, it was a cold rainy day. Of all the luck but hey, it's Scotland and that country is sure not known for its great weather.
I like Rabbies as they use small buses which enables them to get down smaller roads plus I hate those big tourist buses. I now despise them even more - you will understand why when I tell you about my time in Denmark! Our first stop was at the Kelpies - in the rain. What can I say...they were still so beautiful!!! The Kelpies statues were opened to the public in October 2013 and have a visitor centre (good for those of us with demanding bladders) complete with shop, toilets and cafe. The Kelpies statues were designed by sculptor Andy Scott and are a monument to Scotland's horse-powering heritage. The name Kelpies derives from the mythical water horses from Scottish folklore and the artist started with this idea and then it developed into a tribute to the strength of the heavy horses of Scottish history. They were beautiful!
As you can see from the above picture they are HUGE - they stand 30 metres/98 feet.
From there we drove to the "bonny bonny banks of Loch Lomond".
I don't envy those people in the canoes...nope, not one single bit!
While the others walked 40 minutes back to the bus we opted to have the driver drop us off "half way" - yeah right! It wasn't even a 10 minute walk back to the van. Ah well.
We saw this fellow on our walk and I can never resist posing with a sculpture. This is Tom Weir, MBE who was known as "Scotland's Mountain Man" and was a tireless campaigner for the Scottish environment as well as a climber, writer and broadcaster.
We then drove to our lunch spot which was in a wool shop that also sold souvenirs - of course! We both had the delicious lentil soup which warmed us up. Being a wool place they had sheep so after perusing the shop and buying a thing or two I dashed out to see the sheep - well you wouldn't expect anything less of me would you?
The one above looks like a real character. That was my Scottish sheep fix and before long it was time to get back into the bus for our trip over to Stirling Castle.
On the way over we had a view of the Wallace monument that is near to Stirling Castle. Who hasn't heard of William Wallace AKA "Braveheart" (the depiction of him in the movie was "bollocks" according to our driver/guide). Sir William Wallace was a champion of Scotland's independence from England (which is still going on!) and he led his troops to victory at the Battle of Stirling Bridge which was nearby.
These aren't the greatest of photos but it was a very misty day! Let's face it though, Scotland is beautiful in any weather.
Entrance to Stirling Castle wasn't included in our tour cost but of course we chose to go inside.
We decided to go on the complimentary tour that started just after we got there and it was interesting. Stirling is one of the biggest and most important castles in Scotland. One section of the castle as it stands now dates from the 14th century but its origins are from the 12th century. One of its many claims to fame is that Mary Queen of Scots was crowned here and her son James VI was baptized here. It is a very forbidding looking castle sitting high atop the hill but sadly due to the weather I wasn't able to get a decent photo.
Here is our guide introducing himself...little snowflakes were falling and we were so cold!
After walking around the outside of the castle (brrrrrr...) we were let loose inside the castle at our own leisure. I never thought I'd consider a castle warm but oh boy, it felt good!
In 2011 a decade-long refurbishment of the interior was completed to reflect how it is imagined it would have been looked back in the 1540s when Mary, Queen of Scots lived there.
Above is part of the restored ceiling of the King's Presence Chamber
There were quite a few beautiful fireplaces. Above is a replica one of the magnificent Hunt of the Unicorn tapestries which were woven at a cost of two million pounds. The originals were bought by John D. Rockefeller Jr in 1922 for one million dollars and now reside in The Cloisters in New York City. (of course)
This was the Queen's bedchamber I believe.
Employees were dressed appropriately to fit the time frame and answered any questions we had (I didn't have any - my teeth were still chattering!) - this was the King's Outer Chamber.
A throne with one of the beautiful tapestries behind it.
We then went to the appropriately named Unicorn cafe and had a cup of tea if I recall. (does a tea break/meal count if I didn't take a picture of it?) Then it was time to get on the bus and head back to Edinburgh.
Once back at Rabbies cafe we headed over to Waverly Station to book our seats. Our Britrail pass gave us access to a selected train of our choosing but not booked seats - we were able to book our seats for free and I highly recommend it. Britain is a busy place!!!
From there we headed over to a nearby pub where I finally had my haggis, neeps (turnip or rutabaga) and tatties (potatoes) and Joanne tried them as well for the first time. I actually don't mind the taste of haggis if I don't think about it - I figure once every time I visit Scotland is enough though.
We then headed back to our flat to pack up our cases as it was time to head on to our next destination the following morning...which turned out to be our favourite of the trip. You will just have to wait until next week to find out what it was!
I like Rabbies as they use small buses which enables them to get down smaller roads plus I hate those big tourist buses. I now despise them even more - you will understand why when I tell you about my time in Denmark! Our first stop was at the Kelpies - in the rain. What can I say...they were still so beautiful!!! The Kelpies statues were opened to the public in October 2013 and have a visitor centre (good for those of us with demanding bladders) complete with shop, toilets and cafe. The Kelpies statues were designed by sculptor Andy Scott and are a monument to Scotland's horse-powering heritage. The name Kelpies derives from the mythical water horses from Scottish folklore and the artist started with this idea and then it developed into a tribute to the strength of the heavy horses of Scottish history. They were beautiful!
As you can see from the above picture they are HUGE - they stand 30 metres/98 feet.
From there we drove to the "bonny bonny banks of Loch Lomond".
I don't envy those people in the canoes...nope, not one single bit!
While the others walked 40 minutes back to the bus we opted to have the driver drop us off "half way" - yeah right! It wasn't even a 10 minute walk back to the van. Ah well.
We saw this fellow on our walk and I can never resist posing with a sculpture. This is Tom Weir, MBE who was known as "Scotland's Mountain Man" and was a tireless campaigner for the Scottish environment as well as a climber, writer and broadcaster.
We then drove to our lunch spot which was in a wool shop that also sold souvenirs - of course! We both had the delicious lentil soup which warmed us up. Being a wool place they had sheep so after perusing the shop and buying a thing or two I dashed out to see the sheep - well you wouldn't expect anything less of me would you?
The one above looks like a real character. That was my Scottish sheep fix and before long it was time to get back into the bus for our trip over to Stirling Castle.
On the way over we had a view of the Wallace monument that is near to Stirling Castle. Who hasn't heard of William Wallace AKA "Braveheart" (the depiction of him in the movie was "bollocks" according to our driver/guide). Sir William Wallace was a champion of Scotland's independence from England (which is still going on!) and he led his troops to victory at the Battle of Stirling Bridge which was nearby.
These aren't the greatest of photos but it was a very misty day! Let's face it though, Scotland is beautiful in any weather.
Entrance to Stirling Castle wasn't included in our tour cost but of course we chose to go inside.
We decided to go on the complimentary tour that started just after we got there and it was interesting. Stirling is one of the biggest and most important castles in Scotland. One section of the castle as it stands now dates from the 14th century but its origins are from the 12th century. One of its many claims to fame is that Mary Queen of Scots was crowned here and her son James VI was baptized here. It is a very forbidding looking castle sitting high atop the hill but sadly due to the weather I wasn't able to get a decent photo.
Here is our guide introducing himself...little snowflakes were falling and we were so cold!
After walking around the outside of the castle (brrrrrr...) we were let loose inside the castle at our own leisure. I never thought I'd consider a castle warm but oh boy, it felt good!
In 2011 a decade-long refurbishment of the interior was completed to reflect how it is imagined it would have been looked back in the 1540s when Mary, Queen of Scots lived there.
Above is part of the restored ceiling of the King's Presence Chamber
There were quite a few beautiful fireplaces. Above is a replica one of the magnificent Hunt of the Unicorn tapestries which were woven at a cost of two million pounds. The originals were bought by John D. Rockefeller Jr in 1922 for one million dollars and now reside in The Cloisters in New York City. (of course)
This was the Queen's bedchamber I believe.
Employees were dressed appropriately to fit the time frame and answered any questions we had (I didn't have any - my teeth were still chattering!) - this was the King's Outer Chamber.
A throne with one of the beautiful tapestries behind it.
We then went to the appropriately named Unicorn cafe and had a cup of tea if I recall. (does a tea break/meal count if I didn't take a picture of it?) Then it was time to get on the bus and head back to Edinburgh.
Once back at Rabbies cafe we headed over to Waverly Station to book our seats. Our Britrail pass gave us access to a selected train of our choosing but not booked seats - we were able to book our seats for free and I highly recommend it. Britain is a busy place!!!
From there we headed over to a nearby pub where I finally had my haggis, neeps (turnip or rutabaga) and tatties (potatoes) and Joanne tried them as well for the first time. I actually don't mind the taste of haggis if I don't think about it - I figure once every time I visit Scotland is enough though.
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