Neat to behold but I don’t think I would want to stand here if there were an earthquake.

17th century armor from India consisting of 5,840 plates and weighs 118kg (260 lbs). It was originally 159 kg but there are missing plates from when it was originally constructed.

It’s always interesting to read a different country’s perspective of your home.

Armor from the Philippines. I don’t think it has changed much since then. JK JK.

Helmet from the 1500s that was originally part of the court armour of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I.

That menacing face concludes the last of our sight-seeing tour through the United Kingdom. We couldn’t have asked for a more amazing road trip!

The castle itself was originally built by David I in 1130, however there has been a stronghold sitting atop Castle Rock for over 2,000 years.

Castle Rock is an extinct volcano that towers 437 feet high, offering extensive views across the city from Edinburgh Castle.

Don’t mess with us.

Military prison sleeping quarters.

After exploring Edinburgh Castle, we strolled through the Royal Mile. We had a few hours to burn before our Edinburgh Vault ghost tour. Oooooooooooh.

The Palace of Holyrood House, the official residence of the queen when she is in Scotland.

Holyrood Abbey

The father of modern economics (between you & I, he was as excitable as a fan-girl when we came upon this –shhhhhh).

We saw everyone touching this statue’s toe as they walked by so we thought, why not? Let’s touch it & get everyone’s germs! When in Rome/Edinburgh… Turns out this is a statue of David Hume, a philosopher who was deeply anti-superstition, yet hundreds of years later… his toe is being touched for good luck.

When the sun was down, we headed underground on an extremely creepy tour of the Edinburgh Vaults, reputedly one of the most haunted places in the world. It was an excellent tour even for a scaredy cat like myself.

And just when you think we might have had our fill of castles, we stayed the night at Melville Castle.

St. Andrews Castle has been rebuilt and destroyed many times during the Wars of Scottish Independence when it changed hands between the Scots and the English. The castle that stands today was rebuilt in the 1400s by Bishop Walter Trail.

Bottle Dungeon – it gets its name from its shape: it has a narrow entrance neck at the top and a broader chamber below.

One of the most significant sieges at St. Andrews occurred in 1546 after Cardinal David Beaton, then the Archbishop, was murdered by Protestants who opposed Beaton’s actions against a well-connected Protestant preacher (George Wishart). Beaton had imprisoned Wishart before having him burned at the stake. The result of these actions led to Beaton being stabbed in his chambers and his body hung in public view from his window. His body was then stored in a chest of salt in the Bottle Dungeon pictured previously.

The Protestants then held the castle for about a year against the Catholics. During the Catholic siege, a tunnel was built to secretly enter the castle however word of the tunnel reached the Protestants and a counter-mine was dug. Actually, 3 counter-mines were dug before they managed to reach their attackers.

The countermines are open today to the public for exploration.

Yikes! There’s still a Catholic lurking in the tunnels!

Dunnottar Castle was fortified during the medieval times but most of the buildings found today were built around the 15-16th century. It is best known as the hiding place of the Scottish Crown Jewels when Oliver Cromwell invaded in the 17th century. The ‘Honours of Scotland’ (crown, sceptre and sword) now reside in Edinburgh Castle.

The castle chapel is on the far right. According to a 15th century poet, William Wallace set fire to this chapel with a garrison of English soldiers taking refuge inside.

Ocean views from within the castle.

The kitchen.

Inside the stables. Neeeiiigh.

Striking and intimidating. Oh, and the castle looks formidable too.

Urquhart Castle was founded in the 13th century but it was built on earlier medieval fortifications. It played a role in the Wars of Scottish Independence, was the site of many sieges, and was occupied until the 17th century when it was partially destroyed to prevent Jacobite use.

During the Revolution of 1688 when King James the VII was deposed, Ludovic Grant of Freuchie (who had ownership of Urquhart Castle), sided with William of Orange and garrisoned the castle with 200 of his soldiers. They were besieged by 500 Jacobites but were able to hold them off until the defeat of the main Jacobite force. When the soldiers left, they blew up the gatehouse to prevent further occupation. The above photo is broken masonry from the destruction of the gatehouse.

View of the Grant Tower, built in the 16th century. This is where the lords and their families lived and entertained guests.

After exploring Urquhart, we proceeded to the Clansman Hotel –it is situated on Loch Ness and offers amazing panoramic views of the mysterious lake.

Loch Ness! Can you spot Nessie? No?

That’s because he was posing for pictures.

I took this picture around 11 PM from our room. Being so far north, it didn’t get dark until about midnight. The sun rose around 4 AM. We may or may not have kept our eyes open the whole time for another glimpse of Nessie.

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In 1719, during a series of Jacobite uprisings, Eileen Donan was occupied by a Spanish invasion force supporting the Jacobites. The Royal Navy, after being fired on by the Spanish force, demolished the castle with 27 barrels of gunpowder.

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Stirling Castle dates from the 12th century and has seen several Scottish kings and queens, including Mary, Queen of Scots, crowned here. It has also seen it’s share of sieges, at least 8, and occupations.

Off in the distance, you can see the cannon is pointed right at the William Wallace Monument.

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We went through Stirling Castle fairly quickly. We had expected it to be an all day thing so with the extra time, we decided to search for the William Wallace Monument.

To get to the Monument from the entrance is a bit of an uphill hike through a beautiful forest.

View enlarged – The tower sits atop Abbey Craig, from which Wallace was said to have watched the gathering of the army of King Edward I of England, just before the Battle of Stirling Bridge.

The tower was completed in 1869 and rises up 220 feet.

Visitors can climb the winding, narrow stairs to the very top, and take breaks on the various floors containing artifacts believed to have belonged to William Wallace.

This sword stands 5’4″ & weights nearly 7 pounds.

View enlarged – Can you spot Stirling Castle?

One of the first buildings to be reached, the Old Blacksmith’s Shop became the place where couples would marry by paying the blacksmith a few guineas to officiate.

Gretna Green hosts about 5,000 weddings per year.

One of the marriage anvils. The blacksmiths of Gretna Green became known as Anvil Priests.

The Blacksmith shop has a small museum inside documenting the years of runaway marriages.

We weren’t able to tour ALL of the Blacksmith Shop as there was a shotgun style wedding going on. On a Monday. At 9 in the morning.

In the Great Hall. Can you guess why this was his favorite room?

Guy’s Porridge Pot, used to cook stew for the castle’s garrison soldiers.

The Red Drawing Room

Hmmm…. maybe we’ll wear the other white bloomers….

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Pikew! Pikew!

Is this how you work this thing??

The village from a castle tower.

Richard Neville, commonly known as Warwick the Kingmaker, is preparing his army for battle.

Castle chapel built in the 1600s.

View enlarged. The Royal Crescent

A visit to the Jane Austen Museum:

Doodling with a pot of ink & quill is much more difficult than typing on my laptop. I barely write with a regular ball-point pen as it is!

Tea time at the Regency Tea Room. It was delicious!

Hello Mr. Darcy.

After tea time we headed to the Roman Baths / Pump Room. It was incredibly crowded inside. It receives over 1 million visitors a year… When we were there, it seemed like all 1 million were visiting that day! It’s so crowded you’re literally rubbing butts with every other person.

Deep beneath the King’s Bath lies the Sacred Spring, a natural hot spring spouting 250,000 gallons of water every day, and has been doing so for thousands of years.

The bathing complex was built around 70-75 AD but fell upon disrepair until about the late 18th century when they were rediscovered and excavated (around the time when bathing became “fashionable”).

Fragments from the Temple of Sulis Minerva. The Romans could not believe that the hot springs were a natural, geological phenomenon & believed the hot spring was the work of the gods.

Run off from the Sacred Spring. The water is high in minerals & therefore stains the rock it runs down.

I might pass on bathing in that. The water still pumps through the still-functioning lead pipes constructed by the Romans.

After the crowds of Bath, we headed towards our next destination. Along the way we made a random stop at one of the cute Cotswolds Villages, Stow-on-the-Wold, for a little bit of antiquing.