September 2020 – A Traveling Fool

September 27, 2020

Scottish Castles Experience Day 1: Falkland Palace, House of Dun & Dunnotter Castle

As you may remember, I have never met a castle I didn’t like. So I figured a Rabbie’s tour with four days of Scottish Castles would be a good one. I wasn’t wrong.

Shortly before this 2017 trip, I had purchased a new, four-wheeled, hard-sided, smaller suitcase to make life easier with all of the times I would need to lift and carry the darned thing on this trip. The longest I would ever be seen by the same people was five days. So five days of tops were what I brought along. I would wear each of them up to three times. So I wouldn’t need a larger case. I had it all figured out. But, for some reason, the wheels were not all that cooperative on anything but a smooth surface (like the floor inside of the store where I bought it). Even some carpets caused an issue, much less cobblestones, uneven sidewalks and gravel. Obviously I should have test driven it before leaving home.

Because I had fought with it all the way from Waverly Train Station in Edinburgh to the hotel (just two blocks), I was not in the mood to be fighting with it for the four blocks from the hotel to the bus terminal. So I took a taxi instead. At the bus terminal all of the floors were even and tiled. Smooth sailing.

This time we had eight people – one from Malta, four from Canada, two from Germany, and me. Our Tour Director/Driver was named George and he wore a kilt. Many of the male tour directors and drivers on day trips or longer tours like this one up in Scotland wore kilts. Like all of the Rabbie’s personnel before him, George was knowledgeable, helpful, very nice to deal with, patient, and had a good sense of humor.

He would need both the patience and the good sense of humor in abundance. One of our number (not me) continually asked questions at about a five year old level. “Why did they paint the walls blue?” Each time she received an answer, she would respond with, “Oh,” and quickly ask another equally ridiculous question.

She didn’t listen to anything anyone else said, so she frequently asked things that had already been answered. Such as “Where are the people who own this castle?” when it had been said repeatedly that all of the places we were visiting were run by the National Trust of Scotland.

This carried on both while we were on the tour coach and at the site of whatever location we were touring. She drove all of the guides at the places we visited bonkers. She pretty much ignored the rest of us who were on the tour. So none of us were peppered with constant questions. Whew!

Our first castle on the tour, Falkland Palace, was built by Mary Queen of Scots’ grandfather, King James IV of Scotland. This James’ son (and Mary’s father) died at the Renaissance style palace, leaving Mary as Queen at the ripe old age of six days.

During the English Civil War, while some of Cromwell’s troops were staying there, a fire destroyed part of the palace. For a couple hundred years, the palace fell into ruin until it was bought and restored in the late 19^th century. I really liked the interior of the place, but we weren’t allowed to take photos inside. I found it to be rather cozy. It seemed like a nice place to live.

Falkland Palace had the oldest tennis court in the world still in use. Mary Queen of Scots used to play there. It managed to survive even when the palace itself was in ruins.

I really loved Falkland Palace. Even though parts were in ruins, the parts that weren’t in ruins were lovely and cozy. It seemed like a place in which it would be great to live.

We had lunch in St Andrews, in a part of town where I had never been before – along the main street in the town center. Every other time I had been there, I had confined myself to the castle and/or the Old Course. Two ladies from Quebec City (Michelle and Searan) and I had lunch at a pub on the main street. We had a tasty lunch and some of the local ale.

Built in the 1730s, the House of Dun lies in the county of Angus. More of a large country house than a castle, the Georgian house is known for its extravagant plasterwork in the salon. One of its former residents had been very handy with a needle as there was a very large amount of really well executed needlework throughout. They still had a Game Larder just outside of the kitchens. We were able to take photos inside this time.

Our last stop of the day was Dunnotter Castle. Located on a rocky outcrop with steep cliffs jutting out into the North Sea, Dunnotter was a spectacular ruin of a mainly 15^th and 16^th century castle. It was fairly recently (2015) used during parts of the filming of Macbeth, starring Michael Fassbender as the title character and Marion Cotillard as Lady Macbeth.

After Charles II was crowned King of Scotland at Scone Palace during the English Civil War, the Honors of Scotland (the Scottish Crown Jewels) were hidden at Dunnotter Castle to keep them out of the hands of Oliver Cromwell and his troops. Katherine Drummond had carried them into the castle concealed in sacks of wool.

When Cromwell besieged the castle, the Honors were smuggled out hidden among sacks of goods over the course of three visits to the castle by Christian Fletcher, a minister’s wife. They were then buried under the floor of the church until Charles II returned. In the meantime, another woman, Anne Lindsay, removed the King’s papers from the castle sewn inside of her clothes. Some pretty brave women.

On this tour, instead of booking hotels, B&Bs or hostels, we were all together in country house hotels which were included in the price of the tour. Our first two nights were to be in Thainstone House Hotel, which was near Aberdeen and built in the 18^th century. The house was set in 44 acres of woodlands. So once you were there, you were there (unless you had a car). It had a restaurant that had the reputation of the best steaks in Aberdeen. Breakfast was mighty tasty with a buffet plus a cooked breakfast to order. Our last morning there I was in the restaurant early and our driver/tour director, George, joined me.

Next time – Day 2 of the Scottish Castles Experience with Castle Fraser, the villages of Ballater and Crathie as well as Crathes Castle.

September 20, 2020

Best of Scotland in a Day

Arrived at King’s Cross Train Station to catch my train to Edinburgh. This time the First Class ticket was more than double the Standard (as opposed to the only $20 US difference that it was for my train trip the prior year). So I had a Standard Round Trip ticket. This meant that, instead of checking my large bag and having a small table to myself in the car, I needed to find someplace to stow my large bag fairly close to where I was sitting and share a four seat table with strangers. Back when Mom and I used to fly into Gatwick Airport in London, we took the train to Victoria Station with a Standard Round Trip ticket. But that was a 40 minute ride. London to Edinburgh was four hours.

The seats were assigned in advance and I managed to have a table to myself all the way to York (halfway). But then I gained a couple who sat across from me, did not speak English, and smooched and snuggled the entire two hours from York to Edinburgh. Good thing I had a good book.

Since the Balmoral was charging its usual high prices this time, I tried the Apex Waterloo Place. This Georgian hotel wasn’t far from the Balmoral (or the train station or the grocery store) and was right across the street from where most of the day trips picked up and dropped off. A convenient location. They also had fridges in the rooms, so I picked up a few things from the grocers.

Once I was settled in the room (which was at the back of the hotel, one floor down from the entrance floor – still about three floors up from the street on that side of the hotel), I walked around in the area before it was time for the Champagne Tea reservation I had booked online when I was still in Minneapolis.

Calton Hill was an interesting place, full of monuments and giving great views of the city. The steps up the hill were right next to the hotel. The monuments included The National Monument of Scotland, which was dedicated to the Scottish soldiers and sailors who died during the Napoleonic Wars. It looked like an unfinished Greek temple. Then there was the monument to Admiral Nelson, which looked like a giant inverted telescope. There was a Robert Burns Monument, a Political Martyrs Monument and a City Observatory.

The round, Grecian-looking monument shown in the photo I have included with this post is the Dugald Stewart Monument and is a memorial to the Scottish philosopher who was a professor at the University of Edinburgh. To the left of that monument in the photo, can be seen the Gothic-looking spire of the Waverly Monument (dedicated to Sir Walter Scott), the clock tower of the Balmoral Hotel, and Edinburgh Castle up on top of the hill near the center of the photo.

The next morning I crossed the street and picked up the small group day tour Best of Scotland in a Day. These were all places I had not been to before.

At the tour pickup place, I ran into two of the women who had been on the Heart of England & Wales tour with me. They had also taken the train up to Edinburgh after the other tour ended and were doing a different day trip than I was. It was one I had been on the previous year that I had really enjoyed. It was fun to actually run into someone I knew.

We started at Dunkeld with a visit to Dunkeld Cathedral. Begun in 1260, the Cathedral stood near the River Tay in a very scenic location. The original monastery on the site dated to the 6^th century AD. In 1689, the Battle of Dunkeld took place in the area around the cathedral between the Jacobite Highlanders who supported King James II & VII and those who supported William of Orange. William and his wife, Mary (daughter of James), had recently taken over the monarchy from James, when he was kicked off the throne, in what had been called “The Glorious Revolution”. William’s supporters prevailed.

Inside the cathedral were the banners that had been carried by the Jacobites. Also inside was the sarcophagus of Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan, nicknamed the “Wolf of Badenoch”. That nickname intrigued me, so I learned some more about him after taking his photo.

He was the 3^rd surviving son of King Robert II of Scotland and lived from 1343 to 1405. He had a petulant relationship with his uncle King David II of Scotland before his father became king. He was also said to have had a defiant relationship with the church. He was best known for his destruction of Elgin and the cathedral there.

He was also Justiciar of Scotia for a while, but apparently not a good one. He ended up losing a fair amount of the territories he held going into the job. The nickname, Wolf of Badenoch, was given to him due to his notorious cruelty and aggressively greedy streak. Apparently not the type of person with whom you would want to try to be friends. His father’s reputation as king suffered due to the actions of his son (and the fact that he seemed to back his son rather than attempt to curb him). The Wolf of Badenoch’s effigy is one of the very few from the Middle Ages that has survived in Scotland.

The towns of Dunkeld and Birnam have been incorporated together. The area is quite forested although the only tree that dates back to the time of the setting of Shakespeare’s Scottish play that mentioned Birnam Wood (Macbeth shall never vanquish’d be until Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill shall come against him) is a single, massive oak tree. The wooded area is still called Birnam Wood however.

Not too far away was Blair Castle, the seat of the head of Clan Murray, the Duke of Atholl. This was the Scottish Castle that Queen Victoria and Prince Albert visited back in 1844 when the Queen began a lifelong love of Scotland. They even used the real Blair Castle when they did an episode on the visit in the “Victoria” miniseries. Shortly after her visit, the Queen gave the Duke the permission to create his own private army, the Atholl Highlanders. They remain the only legal private army in Europe.

I had a running joke with my mom that I wanted to introduce her to the 11^th Duke (who was single) so he would fall in love with her and we could all live in the castle. Unfortunately, he died before I could put that plan into motion.

Upon entering the castle, I took a couple photos of the entrance hall before being told that no photography was allowed except in the ballroom. Some of the shields and muskets in the entrance hall saw service at the Battle of Culloden in 1746.

I put my camera away until we got to the ballroom. Those of you who may have seen Scotland episode of the “Victoria” miniseries definitely saw the ballroom. It was quite prominently featured as were the castle grounds.

The grounds and gardens of the castle were quite extensive. After lunch at the restaurant within the castle, I set off on a circular hike through the grounds and gardens. My first stop was at the ruins of St Bride’s Kirk. This contained the last resting place of John Graham of Claverhouse, who was nicknamed “Bonnie Dundee”.

“Bonnie Dundee” sounded like a much friendlier nickname than “Wolf of Badenoch”. It turned out that he earned his nickname at the time of his death. He was a leader of the 1689 Jacobite rising and died a hero at the Battle of Killiecrankie, which the Jacobites won just days before losing at the Battle of Dunkeld.

Bonnie Dundee was the commander of the Jacobites, who were in possession of Blair Castle at the time. If they had lost the battle, the castle would have been forfeit to the Crown of England. As it was, it was a pretty rousing victory. His breastplate and helmet were on display inside the castle.

After my hike through the gardens, I returned to the castle with a small amount of time left before we were to depart. So I took a seat on a shaded bench, listened to the sounds of the stream bubbling past and the bagpiper playing next to the castle.

Since Killiecrankie was not far from Blair Castle, that was our next visit for the day. Killiecrankie Gorge was quite a scenic place with the battlefield just beyond.

At Queen’s View, we got some really nice photos of what is considered to be one of the best views in Scotland. When Queen Victoria visited in 1866, she thought that it was named for her. It wasn’t. It was named for Isabella, the first wife of King Robert the Bruce, more than 500 years earlier. The lake is Loch Tummel.

Our last visit of the day involved a roughly 20 minute walk deep into the Caledonian Forest. At the end of the walk was a building. We entered and found a viewing platform for a magnificent waterfall called the Black Spout. It was quite dramatic.

Next time – the first day of the Scottish Castles Experience tour with eight castles in four days.

September 13, 2020

York & Cambridge

Back in 1991, Mom and I had ended up being in the UK during the Gulf War. That trip had included an afternoon stop in York with a visit to York Minster. All of the church bells in York were ringing because the war had ended that day. There were military personnel and vehicles all over York then too.

In 2017, we arrived in York the previous afternoon and, the following day, I had a full day in York to spend as I wished. Since I wasn’t feeling quite 100%, I decided to set out early and return early enough to get some extra rest to try to stave off actually becoming ill.

The B&B in York was a little fancier than the one in Shrewsbury and more like a hotel. The room where we had breakfast was set up like a restaurant with separate tables and menus. It was run by two very nice ladies who had both dogs and cats, but kept the animals in their quarters and didn’t allow them to wander around where the guests would be.

While waiting for my order, one of the dogs managed to escape the kitchen and made a beeline straight for me. As a dog lover who was missing my own little fur ball, I was more than happy to pet the darling Cavalier King Charles Spaniel who was snuggling against me. One of his mamas noticed he was missing and came out to get him. He knew he was in for a scolding, but I guess he figured it was worth it. He obediently slinked back into the kitchen.

I was trying to time my arrival at York Minster for roughly opening time, which was 9am. Minster is a designation for a cathedral that dates to Anglo-Saxon times. The Bishop of York was in existence as far back as 314. The first recorded building on the site was a wooden structure in 627. That incarnation burned down and was replaced in the 10^th century. This version was rebuilt by King Edward I in the 1200s. Edward also built the Chapter House.

I headed down Bishopsgate to get to one of the gates in the wall. The B&B was on the opposite end of town from the Minster, but I had decided to start with the farthest point where I wanted to go and work my way back. On my way to the gate, I passed a grocers and a bakery. I planned to stop at both on my way back.

My memory of York Minster had been of a dark and crowded gigantic Gothic building where we had been hurried along and strained to hear our guide over the rest of the noise. When I entered the Minster, I was told of a tour that was coming up shortly that I could join. I thanked the woman who told me and purposely started my own tour in a different part of the building. I wanted to be able to see everything and take photographs of what I wanted. I had purchased a book on the cathedral back in 1991 and read it before I left home, so I was already aware of the history.

Much of the stained glass dated back as far as the 12^th century. The Rose Window (which I did remember from before) was quite beautiful.

The Screen of Kings dates to the 15^th century and portrays all of the kings of England from William the Conqueror to Henry VI. The quire is located behind the screen.

A younger brother of Edward, the Black Prince (son of Edward III and father of Richard II) was buried in the Minster. His name was William of Hatfield and he died as a child.

After a couple of hours exploring every inch of York Minster, I set off down a different street to see another part of York. The city was originally founded by the Romans in 71 AD as Eboracum. When the Vikings took over, it was called Jorvik. The river that flows through the city is the River Ouse.

I made my way through as many medieval streets as possible to get to The Shambles. This is a street where the majority of the buildings date back to between 1350 and 1475. They were originally butcher shops. The unique feature was that each story of the buildings overhung the floor below, so the buildings almost met over the street at the topmost floors.

The street was mentioned in the Doomesday Book of 1086, so it existed at least that far back. Most of the buildings were still shops – fudge, candles, chocolates, gifts and many other items are sold.

One that wasn’t a shop and was open to the public was a shrine to Saint Margaret Clitherow. She was pressed to death in 1586 for refusing to enter a plea regarding whether or not she was sheltering priests. Catholicism and harboring priests were against the law at that time. The front of the building slants in an interesting manner. Some of the timbers used were from a ship and still followed the curve of the ship.

Down near the end of The Shambles, I passed through an arch into an area that had several tables set up under tents and a number of stalls and wagons with various foods. I stopped at a place with kind of an interesting mix of Middle Eastern and French food. The fella who ran it was French and his assistant was Polish. I ordered a crepe with hummus, avocado, onions, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes and several grilled vegetables, plus a sauce. The drink was fresh-squeezed lemonade with mint (which had been very common as a drink in both Turkey and Jordan when I had been there).

After I sat down at a table to tackle my lunch (which was served in a paper funnel that I could peal down as I ate), a couple asked if they could join me. I said “certainly”. They were both in their early thirties. She was originally from Florida and he was from York. They had met in York and lived there together.

He was a mechanic and she was a barista. One of the first things I said as they sat down was how much I liked her purple hair. That broke the ice and they were very friendly and talkative. I enjoyed their company.

Full and happy, I headed for the Medieval Guildhall, which had been built in 1357. The undercroft was originally a hospital and almshouse for the poor. It also had a chapel still in use. The upstairs had several rooms, the largest being the Great Hall. The building was pretty much original.

From the Guildhall, I went to Fairfax House, which was a Georgian Townhouse only a quarter of its original size, but still mighty impressive. They didn’t allow photos inside. It was built in the 1740s for a Viscount named Fairfax. He died without any heirs, so the house passed through various hands until it became rundown and parts of it had been demolished. It was acquired by the city in 1970 and, with the additional acquisition of loads of Georgian furniture from one of the leading merchant families of York, the house was restored and the furniture displayed.

I had planned to also visit the Jorvik Viking Center, but was nearing the end of my energy. It was then about 3pm. So I headed home, stopping off at the bakery and grocers as planned. I had an early dinner and went to bed early.

The next morning we left for Stamford on our way to Cambridge. It took a long time to get to Stamford because of a car crash that narrowed southbound traffic to one lane.

An old Anglo-Saxon town, Stamford’s current buildings dated mainly to the 16^th, 17^th and 18^th centuries. It had lots of churches. One of my favorite buildings was the London Inn, which used to be a coaching inn.

By the time we arrived in Cambridge, we were still behind schedule. Several of the places that offered lunch were no longer offering it. So it took some time to find a place, which I did, a bit off the beaten trail. The food was Middle Eastern and the people who ran it didn’t speak much English. But they were friendly and the food was good.

My main goals for the day had been to tour King’s College and Queen’s College and perhaps take a ride in a punt on the River Cam, but I didn’t have the time to do it all. The punt had a very long line to get on one and would have taken up all of my time, so I chose to visit King’s College. I paid for one ticket to get into the college and another to view the chapel. Then I started my tour.

Founded in 1441 by King Henry VI, shortly after he founded Eton College at Windsor, his plans for King’s College were disrupted by the War of the Roses. Henry VII (Henry Tudor) took an interest in the college and worked on it and the chapel (which had also been started by Henry VI). His son, Henry the VIII completed the chapel, adding the quire screen during the time he was married to Anne Boleyn.

The King’s College Chapel is considered to be one of the finest examples of Perpendicular Gothic Architecture in existence. It contains the world’s largest fan vaulted ceiling. I spent a good amount of time wandering around the chapel, its side rooms and the grounds of King’s College before heading back through Queen’s College.

Queens’ College had been founded in 1448 by Henry VI’s wife, Margaret of Anjou and re-founded in 1465 by Elizabeth Woodville, who was Edward IV’s queen. Some of its graduates have included Emma Thompson, Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry. Being a fan of all three, I was particularly interested in this college. It straddles both sides of the Cam River with a really picturesque wooden walking bridge connecting the two. Most of the buildings are Medieval on the one side of the river and a mixture of Medieval and modern on the other side.

When we got back to London, we were deposited at the Victoria Bus Station. I took a taxi from there to my hotel for the night. I walked to a nearby sandwich shop to pick up dinner, by which time it was nearly 9pm. I had a train to catch in the morning.

Next time – the Best of Scotland in a Day Tour

September 6, 2020

Conwy Castle & Chatsworth House

When we arrived in Conwy, Jamie gave us a grand tour of the town and then dropped us off at the castle for three hours on our own to spend at the castle, around the town, or any combination thereof. Bet you know what I chose. You know me too well. I went straight to the castle.

Built between 1283 and 1289 by King Edward I of England, Conwy was one of castles meant to subjugate the Welsh. It was a temporary haven for Richard II in 1399 and was used during the English Civil War as a stronghold for Royalist forces, finally surrendering to the Parliamentarians in 1646. The Parliamentary forces damaged the building so it couldn’t be used against them again. It was completely ruined in 1665 and has been a site for artists and tourists ever since.

Mom and I had visited Caernarfon Castle back in 2005. Her maternal grandmother’s family was from Caernarfon. We had explored every inch of that castle and a fair amount of the town as well. Conwy wasn’t that far from Caernarfon. They were both built for the same purpose.

At Conwy, as had been the case at Caernarfon, it was possible to explore pretty much all of the castle that remained. I could go down into the cellars and climb up on the walls. I happily spent two hours there, exploring, climbing, and taking tons of photos.

The Conwy Suspension Bridge was built in 1822-26 by Thomas Telford in a style to blend in with the castle. It is a beautiful bridge. Now it is pedestrian only with a covered rail bridge to the right in the photo and a road bridge to the left.

While up on part of one of the walls, I had noticed that there was a Knight’s Shop across the street from the castle. Dogging traffic, I went across the road and checked to see what they had. I found a dagger that I really liked. It was a replica of one that had been owned by Edward, the Black Prince (Richard II’s father, for whom one of my knight ancestors served).

After purchasing the dagger, I walked around town for a while, sticking to the really old parts. Then I stopped in at a tea, sweets and gift shop, bought some mint chocolate chip ice cream and sat down with it at a table outside. Christine from Australia, who was also exploring everything she could, soon joined me with some tea and a pastry.

We spent a second night in Shrewsbury and I had dinner at the same pub across the road. I think I had the same exact food and cocktail too. The next morning, I checked out of the B&B after breakfast. I really liked the lovely couple who ran the B&B. I had also enjoyed my fellow guests.

One couple was older and was visiting town because of their son being installed as the new pastor for one of the churches. Another couple was in their twenties and backpacking their way through this part of England for their holiday. There was also a couple of women who were spending some time in Shrewsbury to see some friends of theirs. Then there was a woman from Poland who was a student at a university in London and wanted to see more of the country while on a break from school.

Our morning stop was in the Village of Leek, which is the highest village in the Staffordshire Peak District. Where we stopped, there were several houses scattered over the hillside and a small cluster of buildings, including a Bed & Breakfast called The Knight’s Table.

Our next stop was the town of Buxton. It was a spa town in Derbyshire fed by geothermal springs with a large, very beautiful, public park with several lakes and streams. There was also an Opera House which, since the town is 1,000 feet above sea level, has the honor of being the highest Opera House in Britain. After exploring the park, a couple of women from Australia and I explored some of the town.

Our big excursion that day was to Chatsworth House. I was really looking forward to that. Ever since seeing a photo of Chatsworth House when a little girl, I have wanted to visit there. That desire intensified when the house was used as Mister Darcy’s house in the mini-series of “Pride & Prejudice” in which Colin Firth starred as Darcy. For many years, I had been looking for a tour that included Chatsworth.

The house dated back to Bess of Hardwick who tore down the old house and built a new one from 1553 to 1560. Bess of Hardwick was a very interesting Elizabethan character. She married four times, each time to someone with greater wealth and power who then died and left her everything. Her second husband was Sir William Cavendish who sold his estates in southern England and bought the Chatsworth property in Bess’ home area of Derbyshire. They were married for ten years and had eight children (two of whom died in infancy) before the much older husband died.

Bess’ fourth child and second son, also named William, became the 1^st Earl of Devonshire. A few generations later, the 4^th Earl became the 1^st Duke of Devonshire. The Dukes of Devonshire, still named Cavendish, still own Chatsworth.

Bess’ fourth husband was one of Mary Queen of Scots jailers at one point, and kept Mary at Chatsworth. Mary and Bess got to be pretty good friends while Mary was there. They even took trips over to Buxton for the waters.

The 1^st Duke of Devonshire rebuilt much of the house in the late 17^th and early 18^th centuries. In the 19^th century, the 6^th Duke went on a redecorating spree.

Though he didn’t do much to change the house at all, the 5^th Duke married Georgiana Spencer, the great-great-great-great aunt of Princess Diana. Their story was portrayed in the film The Duchess.

I took 76 photos of Chatsworth House that I kept, both inside and outside. After touring the house, I had some lunch and then explored the gardens. Still having some time left, I took a buggy ride around the grounds. I had waited a long time to get there and wanted to make sure I didn’t miss a thing.

From Chatsworth House, we drove to York to spend two nights. I was in another B&B that was just outside of the old walled city.

Next time – York & Cambridge