Castles and Palaces

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Today we really did get some rain. It must have rained heavily overnight (and we did hear warnings about flooding in England expected for today) so our backyard garden has turned into a small lake! Some of the roads on our drive were flooded over and one of the smaller highways was even closed and the water being pumped off! We managed to avoid that highway luckily. The rain/drizzle kept up for the whole morning and slowed in the afternoon to a mist. We headed out anyways to Linlithgow Palace where there was a special jousting exhibit on today. It was close by, under 30 minutes drive. We spent the first hour wandering the castle and checking out the various towers and views. They had put on several exhibits with interpreters dressed in period costumes. One was on Gaelic writing, similar to calligraphy using feather quills and bamboo stalks. We all had a go and then the lady in charge made each of us a bookmark with our name written in Celtic printing! Another demonstration was in what used to be the palace kitchen and they showed what food would have been eaten in the 1400's. Didn't look too tasty for the most part.....dates, dry bread, nuts, soft cheeses...

The rain kept up while we were there and eventually they announced that the jousting show would not be possible out on the grass due to conditions so they decided to put all the weapons and armour on display instead. Too bad but what can you do. The show is also on tomorrow (better weather is expected) but we already have plans for tomorrow....oh well.

So, we moved on to Blackness Castle which is a newer castle from the 15th century. It is built out on the point of the estuary so looks out on water in 3 directions! Pretty cool! The castle towers get pretty high up there. I was ok though.....just didn't get too close to the edges. Next we found our way to Craigmillar Castle and found a small wedding taking place! We wandered around the castle for a while and then came across the ceremony in the castle's main hall just as it was ending. The bride and groom were just heading outside for a few pictures and as the grass was a little soggy, the bride simply put on her pair of silver wellies! Only in Scotland! Quite a sight!

Then we made our way on back roads back to Balerno for another quiet evening. Nigel is starting to get the lay of the land here and is now able to turn off the GPS quite far from our home! Me, I still get lost a few houses away....

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