Dubsmashing and Falkirk

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We realized it was Wednesday. For us Americans, what promptly comes to mind is the commercial with the camel named Mike. So of course our greeting to was 'Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, do you know what day it is? HUMP DAY, WHOOP!'

Poor Mike was confused. I found the commercial on YouTube and he got a laugh out of it. He already thinks we are the craziest bunch of people he has met and this helped confirm that.

I will give props to Sprint because in the UK we have unlimited text and data. They also seem to have a decent network here so I have been very pleased. Yeah technology! Not t mention there is free Wifi everywhere.

As we have come and gone from the hotel the staff has asked us question about our day. One person asked me if I had gotten used to the Scottish accents yet. I told them no because our tour guide is a Canadian. Mike was raised in Canada by two Scottish parents. His parents both grew up in Scotland. They actually grew up not to far from one another but they met in Canada. They lived in Canada for 40 year and when they retired they moved back to Scotland. Eight years ago Mike moved back here and began his tour business. You can tell his parents raised him as a proud Scot who is passionate about the history. His parents both passed away from cancer last year within 4 months of each other. The story of his parents resonated with Kelsey and Megan and I think added a whole new layer of kinship with us all.

Today is a day that I have been looking forward to since I began researching Scotland. We will be visiting the Falkirk Wheel, having lunch at the Callendar House and visiting the Kelpies. I will say this day exceeded my expectations thanks to Mr. Mike from www.goscotlandtours.com.

The drive to Falkirk took about an hour but again it seemed like 10 minutes. Mike's tales of folklore and history stories that ended in murrderr kept us captivated the entire ride. The scenery was breathtaking even from the motorway (that's the word for interstate/highway).

Falkirk has gone through a type of rebirth. They were a town that was deeply involved in with coal mining and the iron trade. The town was on a bit of a downward turn but due to a Millennium project in 1999 the town has come back alive and has found it's glory again. All of the guides today were very proud of their town and I was proud for them.



Falkirk Wheel

Falkirk is between Glasgow and Edinburgh. They are a land locked town and they needed a away to connect to the Forth and Clyde Canal and the Union Canal to deliver the iron or coal. In order to do this they began dredging man made canals. These canals had 11 locks within them.

A lock is kind of like a stairway for boats (that's how Mike explained it to the kids). The boat comes in and the doors lock the boat in. Water fills up or let's out depending on the direction and takes the boat to the next water level. These series of locks could take a full day to navigate through.

Once the locks were complete they only used this canal for about 30 years because the train system came along and then roadways were established and utilized. Why take a day to do something when you can do something in a matter of hours.

Many of the locks were left unused and unkept. Some were even used as trash bins. When the Millenium project came along in 1999 they began to revitalize the locks.

The Falkirk Wheel was then created to connect the Forth and Clyde Canal and the Union Canal. This is the only type of boat lift like this in the world. The lift connects the two canals in 15 minutes as opposed to a full days worth of travel.

I have read about this wheel, watched videos and have looked at the website.

When we pulled up to the wheel I was in awe! The thing is massive! It was amazing. The pictures do not do this place justice.

We boarded the boat. When the announcements came on the captain pointed out that there were not any life jackets on the boat. He said, 'if the boat takes on water then lift your feet. ' The water is very shallow in the lock and in the canal that we were touring.

The ride up was so smooth that the only reason you knew that you were moving was to look outside and watch the buildings get smaller and smaller. Eventually you were able to see the entire city of Falkirk. About halfway through the lift you were able to see the Kelpies that were over 4 miles away. When we got to the top we started toward a tunnel.

Ok, this wasn't just a random little tunnel. The boat took you through the remains of the Roman Antonine Wall. This wall was built in the 100's by the Romans to keep the 'painted people' out of the land. Actually the Romans built this wall clear across all of Scotland to keep these 'painted people' out. The Romans eventually gave up on these annoy people and left. I'm guessing the 'painted people' said, 'peace out, catch ya on the flip side Romans.'

We slowly moved through the tunnel. Once we got out of the tunnel they turned the boat around and we moved slowly back into the tunnel and arrived in the basin of the wheel.
Again going down you could not feel the boat moving. You just saw the ground getting closer. It was a very smooth ride.

We walked around the gift shop and then we watched the wheel take another boat up to the top. I could have sat there all day and watched the wheel go up and down.

They have a child's water play area, a playground and other activities. You can also purchase a Segway tour.

With great sadness we left the Falkirk Wheel. I hope maybe we can go back to visit again.



Callendar House
Mike's assistant Louise planned a surprised birthday party for Kirby. She ordered a cake and had our table reserved. I was very excited for this special birthday surprise.



The Callendar House is only about 10 minute drive from the wheel. Mike told us the history of the house before we got there. I was the only one that had seen pictures of the house so I kind of knew what to expect. Well, I thought I knew what to expect. Again, the size of the property and the house was over the top. The house is HUGE!

When you pull onto the property you see what looks like rolling hills. The hills are actually earthen remains of the Antonine Wall.
There were a couple of battles that have been fought on the property. The house has changed hands a few times. It was owned by the Forbes family. Not the Forbes Magazine people but some other Forbes. The house is now owned the City of Falkirk.

We walked into the house and Mike took us to the Drawing Room where we were going to eat lunch.The room was spacious and quaint. There were other people that were having tea and others eating lunch. It was a very nice and calm atmosphere.

We all ordered tea. The tea was called a Scottish Blend. Each of us got our own little tea kettle that had our tea seeping inside it. Holy cuteness!! I think Kirby is now a hot tea drinker. However he did put 7 cubes of sugar in eat glass. Oh boy, we are going to have to work on that.

We all ordered lunch. Most of us order the Cappitt Tatties. It is a baked potato with minced meat, peas, carrots and brown gravy (not brown sauce - we will talk about that later). Ever since we started taking about Scotland this is the meal that I have been dreaming about. All of my expectations were met and conquered! The meal was fantastic!

After lunch was over the staff brought out Kirby's cake while singing Happy Birthday. Kirby was so surprised. It was great. The cake was delicious. It was a yellow sponge cake with strawberry filling. It had a beautiful smooth white frosting with yellow accents. It looked so pretty.

We finished our cake and we walked around the house for a couple of minutes. You could spend all day reading the history and looking at the exhibits.

We bid our farewell to the Callendar House and headed on down the road.



The Kelpies
I read about The Kelpies in a Scottish magazine. I was ready to see these metal horses!

Helix Park is where The Kelpies reside.

The guide said that if you look at an ariel picture the trails make the DNA symbol - The Helix.

A Kelpie is a mythical creature in Scottish folklore. It a supernatural shape shifter that typically takes on the shape of a horse. The Kelpies skin is very sticky and if anyone was to mount the Kelpie it is said that the horse would rear up, plunge into the water and then eeaat your soul, ay (pronounced eye - it's a Scottish word, its how Mike ends his folklore tales of murrderr).
The original design of The Kelpies was around this mythical character. The creator of the structures is an artist named Andy Scott. The Kelpies ended up taking on a different meaning. They are actually a tribute to the Clydesdales that dredged the canals in the area and moved all the iron around.

The are two horse heads. Their names are 'head up' and 'head down' . I like 'head up' the best.

The tour guide was really good. She was enthusiastic and passionate about the park. She kept us entertained throughout the tour.

We walked down a pathway along one of the canals and then she took us into the 'head down' horse.

Scott used two Clydesdales named Duke and Baron. When the horses were brought out to the structures Dukes horse shoe feel off. His shoe wasn't supposed be replaced for a couple more months. His shoe falling off was seen as a symbol of good luck. They placed the horseshoe in the 'head down' horse that was inspired by Duke. Visitors now make a wish and rub the horseshoe for good luck.

Sadly out tour of the Kelpies came to an end and we had to head back to Edinburgh.



On our way back Mike took us by the Furth of Forth bridge. Prior to getting there he challenged us to the following tongue twister.

Before going over the Furth of Forth to Fife go to the Fairy Fair at South Queens Ferry and see the Buryman at the Burrough

The Furth of Forth Bridge is a massive bridge. The bridge used 100 rivets, 120k tons of steel and 90 people lost their lives building the bridge. Cars are no longer allowed to cross. They have built another bridge for this use and they are in the process of building another bridge. So they are actually on the fourth Furth of Forth bridge. Mike cracked himself up with all the Furth of Forth jokes. We laughed as well.

After the bridge he drove us past one of the schools that inspired JK Rawlings when she wrote Harry Potter.

So our tour with Mike has ended. We were all kind of sad. It's like we were saying goodbye to a family member.
His tours these past two days were phenomenal! I could not imagine what our days would have been like without him. He opened our eyes to the wonders of Scotland and we will be forever grateful.

Thursday we will be on our own self guided tour of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh. Thanks to Mike we now know of some spots to check out.

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