There and Back Again: June 28th-July 1st: Scotland Part I

My sunburns from Santorini needed a break and fortunately I'd already booked my flight to then land of plaid, freedom fighters, golf and most importantly Scotch Whisky!!! On to the Highlands of Scotland.

I landed into Edinburgh via an EasyJet flight from Athens. My fight was three hours delayed and I needed to meet my dad at the airport in the morning. I decided to simply sleep at the airport. Not the best move but it's easier to cut corners when you're young. After meeting my dad at 11am, the adventure began.

We headed to the National Museum of Scotland first. There we saw ancient Bronze Age history of the Picts, Scots and eventual arrival of the Romans. It was also fascinating to see one of the original Lewis Chessmen (parts of an ancient Viking Chess set found on Lewis Island).

From there we hiked up toward Edinburgh Castle and the Royal Mile. Along the way, we stumbled across the elephant house, where JK Rowling composed the first Harry Potter novel on a napkin.

Photo: Dad in front of Elephant House

On the Royal Mile, we were treated to bag pipe music playing "Scotland the Brave". We headed up to the castle that has a commanding view over the old town and bought our "Explorer's Pass" and audio guide. Taking an audio guide tour was fascinating because of the additional details. My favorite stories were the ones concerning the Scottish Wars of Independence. In one altercation, the Scots snuck into the castle along the craig via a route discovered by a young Scottish Prince. He previously had used the path to sneak out of the castle to visit a women of interest in the town. The second story involved the Scots posing as merchants coming to supply the English garrison with wine. The Scots dumped their wares under the gate so it couldn't close and then reinforcements rushed the castle and overwhelmed the English.

Photo: Great Hall of Edinburgh Castle

Photo: Edinburgh Castle from the park below.

Photo: View of "New Town" from the castle walls.

Heading out of Edinburgh, the next stop was the Stirling area. This region is home to Stirling Castle, the William Wallace Monument and the Battle of Bannockburn, where the Scots won independence from the English. First we headed to Bannockburn. Unfortunately, the welcome center was closed due to renovations in preparation for the 700th anniversary. Then we moved on to the Wallace monument towering over Stirling. We bought our tickets and climbed the 246 steps to the top, stopping g at the various rooms and mini presentations along the way.

Photo: Top of the Wallace Monument

After touring the Wallece Monumnet, Dad and I proceeded to Stirling Castle. Stirling Castle was not want I anticipated. I had envisioned the old fort from the wars of Scottish Independence. Little did I realize that Stirling was the seat of the Scotch Monarchy in 1500. As a result, it was more in line with a Renaissance style castle displaying fine sculpture and stained glass. It was wonderful to tour and uncover the history of the Scotch monarchy. My favorite part was that James VI of Scotland, actually ascended to the English throne upon the death of Elizabeth I. After all the English had done to subdue the Scots, it was actually a Scot that sat on the English throne.

The following day, we headed out of Stirling in route to Loch Lomond and the Trossachs (a region of the Scottish Highlands). On our way, we took a quick pitstop at Doune Castle where Monty Python and the Holy Grail was filmed.

Photo: Doune Castle

The Trossachs are the country of Rob Roy McGregor, the cattle rustling Scot turned British Spy. He is buried in the region and his highaway cave is just of Loch Lomond. Needless to say, we found them both.