Eggbert's Travels

Monday 7^th to Sunday 13^th September 2015

This is the first weekly round-up for our new year, so it may need some refining.

Our week began at Alnwick Castle (pronounced Annick), a large impressive place in a lovely old town. We decided not to do the flying broomstick lessons, despite “Harry Potter” there offering lessons (some of the first two movies were filmed at the castle; also Downton Abbey's 2014 Christmas episode was filmed in the state rooms). Our drive back took us via Alnmouth where we had a cuppa on the beach.

The next day we continued northwards, crossing the border just north of Berwick-on-Tweed, into Scotland. I wanted to see Rosslyn Chapel, at Roslin, made famous in the book & movie “The Da Vinci Code”. So we stopped for a look, a rather expensive look, at £9 each. The outside was quite ugly, but the inside was incredibly ornate. We arrived at our latest BnB & were less than impressed.

We woke on Wednesday, & decided not to stay at this BnB; both of us had a bad night & couldn't stay here. Maybe if you are a backpacker it would be OK, but the mess, dirt & general state of the place was NOT to our liking. We got out, & went over the Forth Bridge heading for The Scottish Deer Centre, where we had planned to go for the morning, & found a hotel that was rather more than we'd wanted to pay but HEAPS better. We got to see wolves, lynx & Scottish Wild Cats, as well as deer at this deer park.

After a much better night at The Bay Hotel, we crossed the Forth Bridge again, stopping for photos in South Queensferry, then continued on to the Royal Yacht Britannia, Calton Hill & Edinburgh Castle. The weather was beautiful; it was a great day for sightseeing.

Another thing on my “to do” list was the Falkirk Wheel. This is the only one of it's kind in the world, a sort of “canal boat ferris wheel”! We also had a look at the Antonine Roman Wall, then had a tour of the Royal Burgh of Culross, afternoon tea at North Queensferry to see the Forth Bridge (from the other side) again, before zonking out at the hotel for rest of the day.

We left the hotel at Burntisland in the rain & wind heading to the Highlands. I had planned a couple of stops along the way, the first one at Pitlochry for a look at the Highland Games, but it was pouring with rain. So we continued on to Blair Atholl; it was still raining & there was a big equestrian event on, so very busy. We arrived into Inverness earlier than planned, but the BnB at Munlochy was happy to welcome us around 3pm. This place is 110% on the Edinburgh one thankfully.

Our final day for this week & I got to go to a place I have always wanted to see...Loch Ness! Sadly Nessie wasn't showing herself/himself for us, neither from the road nor the boat that we took onto the Loch. The weather was generally kind to us, with a brief shower then a rainbow or two for the day.

Alnwick Castle

Alnwick Town

Alnmouth Village

Bridges on the Tweed

Unusual seats in Berwick

Roman ramparts around Berwick on Tweed

Our re-entry to Scotland!

Rosslyn Chapel with an 1800 addition to the end, which was never completed as the owner died & the
money ran out!

Side view of the chapel

"No Photos Allowed" inside the chapel, but Geoff "didn't realise"....
This was the only one before he got told off!



Lynx at "The Scottish Deer Centre". They used to
roam through the UK, along with the European bears below



Also Wolves were once common, & there are more or
more calls for them to be re-introduced

A Moose

The otters came & played in front of us, they were so cute



Geoff's favourite I think

The Forth Rail Bridge & the 1960's road bridge above, with another road bridge under construction
in the distance

Arthurs Seat from Calton Hill

Around Calton Hill



 

On the "Royal Deck" of the
Royal yacht Britannia

Queen's Bedroom on board


State Dining room & drawing room on the yacht



The crew working hard!

 

Edinburgh Castle - It's warm enough for ice cream...photos below are around the castle

 

HE SAID:

Apart from our awful Airbnb in Edinburgh Scotland has been good. There has not been much rain that affected us, and there are many places that I've heard of to go and visit. Food-wise I have tried some local fare, though not all of it can be recommended. The haggis flavoured crisps were OK, tasting mostly of cracked pepper; the haggis and the black pudding I won't have again.

Varena did well not to blanch when we toured through the yacht Britannia. Apparently the crew, during quiet times, would play wombat tennis with a small stuffed toy wombat, which would be thrown into a rotating ceiling fan and belted all over the room. It was not all work onboard, apparently.

At Edinburgh Castle we even got warm enough for an ice cream! We had done bit of walking around, the sun was out, and we warmed up. So ice cream it was. It may the last one for a while.

We decided that my attempts at a scots accent are rather lame. I think there is a mix of un-scots and probably unidentifiable accents thrown in; all badly done. It doesn't matter. My attempts amuse me. And the pronunciation of some of the places! They can be rather baffling. Avoch is pronounced "ock" and Culross or "coo-ross".

And the cricket. 3-2 to Australia. At least we showed we could win something.