A Palace and a Loch

I took one look at the weather outside and decided that it was a good day to take a trip out to Linlithgow, about a 20 minute train ride from Edinburgh. It was sunny and relatively warm in the sun (as opposed to the shade, where it was a bit chilly). As Linlithgow ended up being fairly small, I only spend about half a day there, mostly at the palace and the surrounding loch and peel (park).

Linlithgow Palace

After wandering along High Street between the train station and the palace, taking a few pictures along the way, I decided to enter the palace. Many of the Stuart (Stewart) kings lived here, and the palace was the birthplace of James V and Mary, Queen of Scots. However, now all that really remains are ruins, making it a bit hard to imagine there being any comfort in the palace. I wandered around there for about an hour and a half, looking at the different rooms, some of which still had a roof while others did not. I was also able to climb up one of the towers and look out at the palace, park

Linlithgow Palace

and the rest of Linlithgow, making for some interesting pictures. Also, there was part of the palace where I could go slightly underground to a second kitchen/storage room, which was sort of dark and kind of creepy. Part of the palace also houses some artifacts from the surrounding area, including china, broken pipes, and a few weapons. After I had walked up and down most of the stairs and explored the castle sufficiently, I decided to head outside to see what else I could find.

Linlithgow Loch and Peel

I soon returned to High Street, which seemed to be a main street (and High Street in Edinburgh is part of the Royal Mile, so I figured it might be an important street in Linlithgow as well), but didn't find anything terribly interesting to do. Therefore, I returned to the palace area and decided to take a stroll around the loch, as it was supposed to offer gorgeous views. I was not disappointed. Although the parts of the park closest to the palace and High Street were fairly crowded, the majority of the path was quiet and offered amazing views of the palace and loch. I therefore took a

Linlithgow Loch

lot of pictures as I walked around the loch. At the very end of my walk, although slightly more crowded as it resembled a proper park more than the rest of the area, there were a lot of different types of birds, including a few swans and geese. Additionally, just before that, there was a pasture full of sheep. I have seen so many sheep since arriving in Scotland.

As I reached the end of the path and reemerged at the palace, I decided that it was time for me to catch a train and return to Edinburgh, thus bring my trip to Linlithgow to an end.

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