We had a wonderful time with nana and papa here in Scotland and in Ireland! The kids were off for spring break, and we took full advantage of it. We saw and did a lot in just a few days. While we were here in Scotland we took Bob and Sharon on a drive through Aberdeen with a visit to the beech, up to Loch Ness searching for the monster (no monster sighted this time, but the kids want to go back and give it another shot!), then a drive down to Sterling to see the castle and Wallace monument, over to Edinburgh for a tour of the city and a visit to both the castle (we even saw the one o'clock gun go off), and a visit through Hollyrood palace (where the queen stays when in Edinburgh). Whew! All that in 5 days!
It was great, because we hadn't been to a lot of these places ourselves yet. At Loch Ness we took a boat ride on the loch to get to the castle ruins, had a look around the castle and watched a short film on the history. Very cool, kids loved it, the hard part is keeping Oliver from climbing on all the rock walls!
We had never been to Sterling before, so it was good to see that castle and read a bit more history. Our time is limited with the kids to how much we can actually read! They like looking at the castles and hearing about how people lived in the olden days, but they are too young to appreciate the more detailed history! We also went and walked up the William Wallace monument, which is a tall tower. Again there was more history to read, as well as the spiral stairs the medevil castles seem to love! We made it to the top though, and what a view! It was also very windy, so we didn't stay at the top for too long!
In Edinburgh we had been to the castle before, but thought it was neat enough to bring nana and papa! We had to see the Crown Jewels after all! We bought tickets for the hop on hop off bus tours they have there, and they worked great! Oliver loved riding the bus, they are double dockers, with the top half open to the outside. He loved it up top the best. We walked down the royal mile and met nana and papa at the palace. We hadn't been to the palace yet, so. It was something new for everyone. They had a few Easter activities going on for the kids, including an egg hunt with clues and a prize at the end, face painting and eggs decorating! The kids loved it. The palace was really interesting to go through and see the different rooms, read how they were used, and still used today. It is full of beautiful old furniture and things, so much history!
That night nana and papa watched the kids and Greg and I went up to the royal mile to take a tour of Mary Kings Close. We couldn't do it with the kids as they are too young. It was really neat to go down and learn how people lived in the city in the 16/1700! What close quarters, I am very glad to be alive when I am and not back then! We were very lucky that we got to do it. Then we walked up to see the castle at night, beautiful. To round it off we found a pub and had a pint and listened to live music, so all in a very nice night!
It was great, because we hadn't been to a lot of these places ourselves yet. At Loch Ness we took a boat ride on the loch to get to the castle ruins, had a look around the castle and watched a short film on the history. Very cool, kids loved it, the hard part is keeping Oliver from climbing on all the rock walls!
We had never been to Sterling before, so it was good to see that castle and read a bit more history. Our time is limited with the kids to how much we can actually read! They like looking at the castles and hearing about how people lived in the olden days, but they are too young to appreciate the more detailed history! We also went and walked up the William Wallace monument, which is a tall tower. Again there was more history to read, as well as the spiral stairs the medevil castles seem to love! We made it to the top though, and what a view! It was also very windy, so we didn't stay at the top for too long!
In Edinburgh we had been to the castle before, but thought it was neat enough to bring nana and papa! We had to see the Crown Jewels after all! We bought tickets for the hop on hop off bus tours they have there, and they worked great! Oliver loved riding the bus, they are double dockers, with the top half open to the outside. He loved it up top the best. We walked down the royal mile and met nana and papa at the palace. We hadn't been to the palace yet, so. It was something new for everyone. They had a few Easter activities going on for the kids, including an egg hunt with clues and a prize at the end, face painting and eggs decorating! The kids loved it. The palace was really interesting to go through and see the different rooms, read how they were used, and still used today. It is full of beautiful old furniture and things, so much history!
That night nana and papa watched the kids and Greg and I went up to the royal mile to take a tour of Mary Kings Close. We couldn't do it with the kids as they are too young. It was really neat to go down and learn how people lived in the city in the 16/1700! What close quarters, I am very glad to be alive when I am and not back then! We were very lucky that we got to do it. Then we walked up to see the castle at night, beautiful. To round it off we found a pub and had a pint and listened to live music, so all in a very nice night!
