Adventures in Scotland - April 11-14

After arriving in Glasgow via Boston-Detroit-Amsterdam flight we picked up our hire-car, a Vauxhall Astra. We'll see if it does as well as the Peugeot we had last May. Our friend, Regina, arrived via Boston/Amsterdam. We left Boston about the same time so we flew longer but she waited longer.

After the ordeal we drove through the countryside north from Glasgow then east to Dunblane where we spent a couple of days with our friends Geordie McIntyre and Alison McMorland.

On Friday we toured Dunblane Abbey. This is a Norman era building "repurposed" during the Reformation and is currently Church of Scotland.

Regina took this photo. None of the other photos we took had an orb and we didn't see any in the church.

Stirling Castle

We took the train down to Stirling and toured the castle.

The great hall, the most important room in Scotland in its heyday, is just as we saw it six or eight years ago. At that time they were just getting ready to restore the royal apartments to the splendor of when they were new, in the reign of James III (1460-88). 

The most outstanding feature of the King's Chamber is the ceiling of heads.

The heads are about 30" in diameter, carved in high relief from Polish oak.  The colors are based on microscopic paint fragments found on the originals. The great weight of the ceiling caused it to collapse and the heads were in storage for a few centuries.

















The Queen's Inner Chamber, Outer Chamber and Hall were also restored.

The tapestries are replicas of some found in France and currently in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum in New York. The weavers are using traditional techniques of weaving and dying. They are working on the last panel, which may take two or three years to complete.

We had lunch at the Nickie Tams Pub, took the train home as far as Bridge of Allan then walked back to Dunblane via the Darn Road.....

 

which goes past Ben Gunn's Cave. Robert Louis Stevenson used to play in this cave as a boy. The road itself may date to Roman times.

This tree isn't that old, but it IS an impressive specimen.

 

As usual, the road home to Geordie & Ali's house leads past the Tappit Hen!

After a pint of Orkney Ale it was back to the house for a good supper and another good night's sleep.

The Road Less Traveled

We went up to the Alewife Festival today. They have done a lot of work on the fish ladder over the last year and some additional property owners have given permission for the path to run through their back yards. It is now possible to walk beside 70-80% of the ladder.

Julia got some great pictures of the fish. The light was just right. It is always amazing to watch these fish swim up the current.

As we were leaving we had to go through this junction. This is a tee junction: the detour signs point to the only two ways to go. Notice the "One Way" sign in the background. What does it all mean?