clog blog: Scotland: Edinburgh

After 3 rather relaxed days at Fort Augustus, it was time to move on to our final destination for the holiday: Airth Castle at Falkirk. Falkirk is situated near Stirling inbetween Glasgow and Edinburgh and is a good base for exploring the area. On our itinerary for the last 3 days of our holiday was to visit Edinburgh, the Falkirk Wheel, Stirling Castle, and St. Andrews.

It was another long day in the car driving from Fort Augustus to Falkirk. En route we passed through Fort William, a less rainy Glencoe, and the Trossach’s Woollen Mill in Kilmahog where we met Hamish the Highland Cow!

Hamish McKye Denovan was born in 1993 making him one of the oldest living Highland bulls at 20 years of age. When he was three years old, he joined the Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum as part of an exhibition. He was saved from slaughter during the mad cow disease crisis by Friends of the Smith. He spent some years as the Smith’s External Relations Officer but has since retired to the fields of the Trossach’s Woollen Mill in Kilmahog. In 2010, Hamish married Heather and in March 2011 they had a beautiful little girl named Honey.

Hamish has to be the most well-known and most visited Highland cow in Scotland. Many tourist busses stop here daily for admirers of this coo. Hamish is incredibly friendly and gentle despite his size, and loves having his picture taken. We bought a pack of Hamish approved food from the mill shop and enjoyed feeding him his vegetables. His tongue is huge but he takes each piece so gently. It was really fun. He was quite greedy and even pushed Heather out of the way for more snacks and photos!

Bron feeding Hamish veggies

After meeting Hamish and Heather, we made our way to Airth Castle. We were quite disappointed that the hotel is actually next to the castle and not in it, our romantic idea of staying in a real Scottish castle evaporating. We expected more from the hotel in general but we were hardly there so we didn’t let it bother us.

The next day was ear-marked as our day for exploring Edinburgh! We headed out early and got a surprisingly good parking close to the castle considering the festival was in full swing. First on the agenda: Edinburgh Castle.

Located on the west end of Edinburgh’s Old Town and built on an extinct volcano, Castle Rock, Edinburgh Castle has a naturally defended position and commanding views over the Firth of Forth and Edinburgh City. The buildings represent the changing role of the castle from fortress, to royal palace, military garrison and state prison and were built between the 12^th and 20^th centuries. The oldest building in the castle, and in Edinburgh, is the tiny St Margeret’s Chapel dating from the 12^th century.

We arrived at the castle in time to join a free guided tour. Our guide was very funny and we learnt a lot more about the castle and its history than we would have just on our own. After the tour we leisurely explored the castle at our own pace. It really is a marvellous castle with amazing views over Edinburgh city. We loved the impressive Great Hall with its original hammerbeam roof, the Portcullis Gate and Argyle Tower, the Scottish National War Memorial, and St Margeret’s Chapel. We also saw the Honours of Scotland (the crown jewels) and the Stone of Destiny in the Royal Palace, heard the one o’clock gun being fired from the Mill’s Mount Battery and enjoyed soaking up the views of the city from the embattlements.

Entering the castle just after the Portcullis Gate

Crown Square with the Royal Palace on the right and the Scottish National War Memorial on the left

The impressive Great Hall with hammerbeam roof

Inside the Great Hall

Features in the Great Hall

Boibs at the Edinburgh Castle

A fortress on Castle Rock

From the castle, we walked down the Royal Mile enjoying the antics of the Fringe Festival street performers. Approximately a mile long, the Royal Mile is made up of four streets linking the castle and Holyrood Palace at opposite ends of the town. The Old Town grew up and around this connecting street; there are many side alleys and closes leading off it which looks like a fish bone on a map with the Royal Mile as the backbone.

Walking down from the castle onto the Royal Mile

The Royal Mile

We wandered over one of the bridges down to the New Town. We found the Sir Walter Scott Monument and continued up Prince’s Street to Calton Hill, home of the Scottish Government. The Scottish Parliament Building is on the southern slope while many monuments, such as the National Monument and Nelson’s Monument, are on the top of the hill. Beautiful views over the Old Town with Edinburgh Castle can be enjoyed from the hill. Holyrood Palace lies at the foot of Calton Hill and we had a lovely stroll through the adjacent park. After a fun but long day of walking and exploring it was time to head back to Airth Castle.

Sir Walter Scott Monument

View of Edinburgh Castle from Calton Hill

The next morning we went off to see what the Falkirk Wheel was all about. Connecting the Forth and Clyde Canal with the Union Canal, the Falkirk Wheel is a rotating boat lift replacing a series of 11 locks in the same area. We joined a boat tour to experience the lift for ourselves with commentary filling us in on the history and purpose of the boat lift: to regenerate the canals of central Scotland and reconnect Glasgow and Edinburgh. They have done well to make this project more than just about the boat lift. There are lovely woodland walks to be had in the area, bicycles are available for hire and there are various children’s activities. We were there on a Saturday and there was a falconry exhibition on with owls, eagles and falcons. It reminded us of our visit to the Bird of Prey Centre near Glasgow at the beginning of our holiday.

The Falkirk Wheel

View of the side of the canal and wheel

Little Scops Owl

Owl

After the Falkirk Wheel, we headed off to Stirling Castle. Built on Castle Hill, a rocky crag of quartz-dolerite, Stirling Castle has a strong naturally defensive position owing to the steep cliffs on three sides of the castle. The Castle was the home of the Scottish royal family during the 15^th and 16^th centuries and all the current buildings date from this time. Once again we were in time for a free guided tour which was very worthwhile for piecing together the complicated history of the Scottish royals so closely linked with the buildings of this castle. Often called the Royal Nursery, many royal babies were born here and raised in the Prince’s Tower. I had to chuckle though when our guide described the heavily overcast sky as ‘clear’; he must have been referring to the lack of mist. We enjoyed the Forework at the entrance to the castle, the Chapel Royal, the Palace with the Stirling Heads, the small garden retreat next to the Prince’s Tower, the Great Hall also with a hammerbeam roof and the astounding views looking out from all the batteries.

The restored golden Great Hall at Stirling Castle

Hammerbeam roof in the Great Hall

All the beams slot in and support each other, no nails were used.

They describe it as the upside down hull of a boat.

Detail at Stirling Castle

Statues adorning the Royal Palace

Statue of Robert the Bruce

Boibs at Stirling Castle

After Stirling Castle there was time to squeeze in the nearby National Wallace Monument before the end of the day. This site was chosen for the monument as it overlooks where William Wallace led the Scots in defeating the English at the famous Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297. Completed in 1869, the monument has three levels. The first level is The Wallace Story and gives the history behind the man with such strong feelings about Scotland’s independence. On display is his mighty broadsword, 1.63 m long and weighing almost 3 kg; he must have been a strong man to wield a sword like that! On the second level is the Hall of Heroes commemorating Scottish heroes and on the third level is the sometimes controversial story of the building of the monument. We climbed the 246 stairs to the top of the monument and were greeted with breath taking 360º views of the country side.

The National Wallace Monument

Views to be had from the monument

Sunday, and our last full day of holiday in Scotland, dawned bright and clear. This was our day for exploring St Andrews, the home of golf and the third oldest university in the English-speaking world, and a day full of walking it was! It was clear in Falkirk but seriously misty in St Andrews earning the town its nick name: ‘the auld grey toun’. We started with a walk on the East Pier followed by a walk around the ruins of the cathedral. Built in 1158, it was the largest church built in Scotland. We walked by the ruins of the castle and on into the city centre. There was time for a tea and scone break before heading down to the golf course. The Old Course is open to the public on Sundays and by the time we got there the mist had cleared into a beautiful sunny afternoon. We walked over the famous little Swilcan Bridge and enjoyed a long leisurely walk over about 6 holes of the Old Course, avoiding all the greens of course. We stopped for lunch at the Old Course Clubhouse and had uninterrupted views of the course over a lovely lunch. We ran out of time for a round on the Himalayas Putting Green and a walk on West Sands beach (opening scene in the movie Chariots of Fire), but they are on the list for next time!