Yesterday my friend, fellow PhD student, Cathy and I took a bus trip to Stirling Castle. (about 1/2 way between Edinburgh and Glasgow) The Castle was the home of the Stewart Kings of Scotland and England for about 500 years. In fact a castle in one form or another on the site goes as far back as William Wallace (see the movie Braveheart).
This is Cathy in front of the Castle. We weren't actually able to go into the royal living quarters of the Castle (under renovations until 2011 so I have to go back in the Spring) but we saw the restored Great Hall - where a 'witch' made a love potion for me and had me throw a long apple peal over my shoulder to see if we could discern the initials of my mystery man. Cathy said it looked like a H and a G. I saw a snake!? Stay tuned to see if the witch was right and, exactly, what 'right' means.
This is the view from the main gate of the Castle. The tall monument on the first hill in the middle of the picture is the William Wallace memorial. I guess I AM going to have to re-watch Braveheart. Or maybe just read a book about it.... hmm... don't really have time for either at the moment. Besides, I really took the picture because it was just such a beautiful view! The weather was so cooperative with just a slight breeze. We couldn't have asked for a nicer day.
Inside the Castle chapel were 5 gorgeous tapestries. They all looked familiar but something was off. It was the colors. They were bright, no wear, no fading. Turns out - and this is the AMAZING part - The National Trust is recreating the tapestries using the original weaving techniques and colors. Where ancient gold thread (gold around iron thread) had corroded and discolored they are using gold thread that won't fade. The completed tapestries are on display (originals are now owned and displayed in the Met in New York). Two more are being finished. It will take another three years. The weavers are working on the Castle grounds. You can go and see how it is all being done. I SOOOOO wanted a summer job there but they only take guild member weavers - somethings never change at the Castle!
A view from the Castle down to the gardens below. All I could think of was how much Wendy Milne would LOVE routing around in the dirt for the King and Queen! Imagine what it must look like when the flowers are in full bloom! Anyone want a summer job tending to the weeds?
The weather here in Scotland is deceiving - it's cold and windy and wet but temperate all at the same time. Here it is almost November and there were still flowers blooming. I couldn't resist the last vestiges of summer in the flower garden surrounding the Castle's bowling green - yes the kings had their own bowling alley.
There was a wonderful museum dedicated to the Scottish Argyle-Highland regiment that has been around, I think, since the 1600's. It was very impressive. This statue stands just outside the Castle gate because the 93rd regiment is under the direction of the Queen - kind of like our Commander-in-Chief. Some of the paintings, pictures, etc of the regiment from the 17 & 1800 in tartan uniforms were wonderful.
A walk through town produced this street sign. Some poor soul's last name was Spittal and he did something good so the town named a street after him. I did not see any spittoons however. I think I'm going to start collecting photos of these odd named streets. My favorite so far is here in St. Andrews - it's called Butts Wynd (a wynd is an alley of sorts).
My final photo as we were leaving the Castle. The sun was fighting with on coming cloudy weather for supremacy of the sunset. Wish we could have stayed a bit longer to see the fireworks!
This is Cathy in front of the Castle. We weren't actually able to go into the royal living quarters of the Castle (under renovations until 2011 so I have to go back in the Spring) but we saw the restored Great Hall - where a 'witch' made a love potion for me and had me throw a long apple peal over my shoulder to see if we could discern the initials of my mystery man. Cathy said it looked like a H and a G. I saw a snake!? Stay tuned to see if the witch was right and, exactly, what 'right' means.
This is the view from the main gate of the Castle. The tall monument on the first hill in the middle of the picture is the William Wallace memorial. I guess I AM going to have to re-watch Braveheart. Or maybe just read a book about it.... hmm... don't really have time for either at the moment. Besides, I really took the picture because it was just such a beautiful view! The weather was so cooperative with just a slight breeze. We couldn't have asked for a nicer day.
Inside the Castle chapel were 5 gorgeous tapestries. They all looked familiar but something was off. It was the colors. They were bright, no wear, no fading. Turns out - and this is the AMAZING part - The National Trust is recreating the tapestries using the original weaving techniques and colors. Where ancient gold thread (gold around iron thread) had corroded and discolored they are using gold thread that won't fade. The completed tapestries are on display (originals are now owned and displayed in the Met in New York). Two more are being finished. It will take another three years. The weavers are working on the Castle grounds. You can go and see how it is all being done. I SOOOOO wanted a summer job there but they only take guild member weavers - somethings never change at the Castle!
A view from the Castle down to the gardens below. All I could think of was how much Wendy Milne would LOVE routing around in the dirt for the King and Queen! Imagine what it must look like when the flowers are in full bloom! Anyone want a summer job tending to the weeds?
The weather here in Scotland is deceiving - it's cold and windy and wet but temperate all at the same time. Here it is almost November and there were still flowers blooming. I couldn't resist the last vestiges of summer in the flower garden surrounding the Castle's bowling green - yes the kings had their own bowling alley.
There was a wonderful museum dedicated to the Scottish Argyle-Highland regiment that has been around, I think, since the 1600's. It was very impressive. This statue stands just outside the Castle gate because the 93rd regiment is under the direction of the Queen - kind of like our Commander-in-Chief. Some of the paintings, pictures, etc of the regiment from the 17 & 1800 in tartan uniforms were wonderful.
A walk through town produced this street sign. Some poor soul's last name was Spittal and he did something good so the town named a street after him. I did not see any spittoons however. I think I'm going to start collecting photos of these odd named streets. My favorite so far is here in St. Andrews - it's called Butts Wynd (a wynd is an alley of sorts).
My final photo as we were leaving the Castle. The sun was fighting with on coming cloudy weather for supremacy of the sunset. Wish we could have stayed a bit longer to see the fireworks!
Yay! Stirling! In your picture of the gardens below the castle, my house is just on the other side of that golf course in Kings Park. I have the answer to the Spittal St mystery - Spittal Streets tend to be named after hospitals. Actually, I think it was a misnomer in Stirling but they called it Spittal Street because of the blood that ran down the gutters, which, worrying enough, reminded people of scenes around hospitals. I believe it was actually an abbatoir near the top of the street... ew. Can't wait to hear about it when I'm back on Wednesday (and thanks for sending on The Document :)
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