Perhaps one of the best ways to experience Scotland is to get out of the city. Which is what I did when I was in Edinburgh and Glasgow... it was definitely a much better way to experience the country and get of the feel of the history of the place. So I went on this day trip to Edinburgh and Glasgow.... It was a really small tour group for the day, just me and 3 other indians (who resided germany) so i enjoyed it alot.... one of the first stops we were at was to see the longest bridge in Europe ( i think), which is incidentally near the village were Gordon Brown ( the current British PM) was born. A funny thing that happened was that I asked the guide who was the architect of the bridge, and he replied, " a guy named baker". So I immediately responded, " oh an englishman!" and I literally counted 5 seconds, before he responded, " his MOTHER was scottish..."... oh... i laughed out so hard at that.....
Plaster skull of King Robert the Bruce
Gift from the Dalai Lama when he visited the church...
Next on we continued to this small town to see the resting place of Robert the Bruce. I'm sorry that I can't rem the name of the town as I write this post. Plus the fact that my internet is so slow, so I really can't quickly wikipedia it... but I will update as soon as I remember.... One thing i really appreciate about this country is that everyone is just sooooo friendly!!!! The guides are so patient and so willing to share and even challenge you to ask them questions!!!
Tomb of Robert Bruce
The royalty chair... the chair where the queen sits whenever she visits the church
Plaster skull of King Robert the Bruce
Gift from the Dalai Lama when he visited the church...
When we arrived at Stirling castle, it was pouring heaps... the winds were blowing... I could barely hold on to my umbrella... basically a very wet cold... and I had to wear my gloves... GLOVES....
I sat in the great hall for a while just looking at the tapestries, and that was when i noticed that the unicorn was a very popular mythical animal in these european folk tales...the scottish people have many amazing fairy tales, and I always feel very excited when the guides speak about the stories they've heard from their grandparents... stories which have different variations since they're all passed down from word of mouth... but still very exciting to listen to... i think that it's just the atmosphere of the country... the misty hills and the wet weather.... it feels almost compelling to sit at home in front of a warm fire, with a mug of tea and listen to our elders talk of stories from centuries ago...
The only day in my holiday when it truly poured. It was quite a funny sight of me, holding my camera with my gloves, the other hand holding my umbrella and struggling to take a picture of the statue of Robert the Bruce. Then suddenly my guide comes over and says, "let me..." and before I know it, he's like telling me where to stand and snapping pictures of me... haha.... so sweet...
The chapel is actually owned by the St Clair family... and the title of an earl as well: the earl of Roslynn.... sounds pretty surreal when you hear it... an earl still surviving and taking care of property that has been in the family for centuries...
Funny how the filming of the last scene in the Da Vinci code movie never took place in the chapel at all (it was just a built set), but the shop has been nicely capitalizing on the movie and now sells books on the holy grail...
Stirling castle... a very important site of scottish history. Movie fans would have remembered the film Braveheart where the important battle against the English took place at this site... i confessed up till then, I had never seen the film, but as I write this post, I can officially say that I have seen it, heard the famous speech, and am very happy that I saw the movie and got to see the actual place.... After I came out from the castle, the guide asked me what I thought about the castle, and I did point out that there was less to see as compared to Edinburgh castle, which is really true. However, I do feel perhaps, that the locals see Stirling castle as more significant in the history of Scotland as compared to Edinburgh castle. Perhaps just because, that is where the fight for Scottish independence started and was first won...
I sat in the great hall for a while just looking at the tapestries, and that was when i noticed that the unicorn was a very popular mythical animal in these european folk tales...the scottish people have many amazing fairy tales, and I always feel very excited when the guides speak about the stories they've heard from their grandparents... stories which have different variations since they're all passed down from word of mouth... but still very exciting to listen to... i think that it's just the atmosphere of the country... the misty hills and the wet weather.... it feels almost compelling to sit at home in front of a warm fire, with a mug of tea and listen to our elders talk of stories from centuries ago...
The only day in my holiday when it truly poured. It was quite a funny sight of me, holding my camera with my gloves, the other hand holding my umbrella and struggling to take a picture of the statue of Robert the Bruce. Then suddenly my guide comes over and says, "let me..." and before I know it, he's like telling me where to stand and snapping pictures of me... haha.... so sweet...
The chapel is actually owned by the St Clair family... and the title of an earl as well: the earl of Roslynn.... sounds pretty surreal when you hear it... an earl still surviving and taking care of property that has been in the family for centuries...
No pictures are allowed inside, which is a pity because the inside is really spectacular. The chapel is famous for all its unique carvings all over the walls of the chapel and many of these carvings have special meanings attached to them. There are many blibical themes in the carvings, but it's really hard to put a theme to the entire thing. It's like as if when they were building the church, the mason just came in every day and thought on the spot what he was going to carve. But the pictures of the exterior might just give one an idea on the intricacy of the architecture. When I went there, the chapel was going extensive renovations and will be that way for the next couple of years.
Funny how the filming of the last scene in the Da Vinci code movie never took place in the chapel at all (it was just a built set), but the shop has been nicely capitalizing on the movie and now sells books on the holy grail...
