Saturday in Edinburgh

Our first stop Saturday morning was going to be Edinburgh Castle, which opened to clueless tourists at 9. Wanting to beat the crowds, we decided to leave early, and got there at 10, albeit a little later than we first planned...we were delayed by breakfast, overall a good thing to be delayed at. Here's some of what we saw (not pictured are the Scottish Crown Jewels, called the Honours, and the Scottish War Memorial).

Okay, okay, this isn't the castle. This is Edinburgh from the castle, with the Firth of Forth and the land of Fife beyond it.

The emblem above the second of several massive gateways.

Watch out! Ben's shooting...at least it's just a picture, not an Englishman.

In the great hall - all the weapons are antique, and date back to the era of James V.

So, is this thing sharp?

Meet "Mons Meg," a Middle Age weapon capable of hurling a 300 pound stone approximately 2 miles...it was a gift front the court of France to King James V, to use against their common enemy. It was used instead to fight James' rebellious nobles.

You remember in my last post I had a picture of Edinburgh Castle from the Sir Walter Scott Memorial. I simply reversed the from and of portions.

This is the HMS Sir George. It was never an actual ship, just a model. But way back in the day, two French POWs had nothing but time on their hands...and apparently some materials. That was in the late 18th century.

My ever studious brother...(this is at the John Knox house...as is the next one, a warning at the start if the house)

On our way home, we got to hear a guy plays the Saws, an amazing instrument requiring only a bow (violin, cello, or custom-made) and a saw or two. Stick the handle betwixt your legs, and bend the blade to one side. If you rub the bow across the NON-sharp edge, you'll get a very unique sound, but be careful! If you move the bow horizontally, you will get a different note, and if you bend the blade more (or less), you will also reach a different note. Again, I'm having difficulty uploading videos on my iPod. I shall say, though, that he played the Saws quite well.

A weird thought is this, that Ben and I will leave for home in just over 3.5 days. It's been a great time, and it seems over too quickly.

Just North of the Border...Really

I was not originally going to post on this first day, as it wasn't the plan to see anything after arriving in Edinburgh at 2ish. However, I've decided that I do have enough pictures for a smaller post. So here it goes:

We walked out of the station and were greeted by this guy...

Yup, we were in Scotland.

Though we didn't know it, this is the Sir Walter Scott Memorial. More on that later.

Edinburgh Castle - imagine trying to attack this side.

This shot was taken from the Sir Walter Scott Memorial. In total, the memorial is 287 steps up to the top, coming out at about 61.1 meters. There are three landings, which give a 360 view of the city. Quite a climb, as there was hardly room sometimes for one person at a time!

This is the view from one of the landings (I think number one), with me leaning out as far as I possibly can...whilst remaining a safe 3 feet from the edge. :) It didn't help that there was a breeze.

Here's what we climbed. The left tower held the first flight of steps. After that, you "transferred" to the right side, and continued upward. On the last flight, as you near the very top, the walls of the staircase actually start angling inward. That was initially scary, as you weren't quite sure if what was happening. Needless to say, we both made it down alive. 

Tomorrow...er, Saturday, we hope to go alone the Royal Mile, stopping off at first by the Castle. Stay tuned!

Just South of the Border...Sorta

Newcastle-Upon-Tyne is located in the northeast of England, being, as the name suggests, on the river Tyne. It is also near the site of the Roman Empire's largest structure - Hadrian's Wall. Spanning from the east to the west of the island, it travelled around 73 miles, with towers and fortresses being placed periodically along the wall. Ben and I had the privilege to see two sites connected with the wall and with Roman Britain. The first was Segedunum (pronounced seh-guh-doo-num). Sadly, not much at all is left of the fort, which was the easternmost fort of Hadrian's wall, strategically located to guard the Tyne as well. A great history developed around and on (and I mean on in the very literal sense of the word) the fort's location, including a  coal mine, by which Newcastle gained national attention, and a shipyards known as "Swan's Hunter," which was very prosperous. As such, excavations have not been very successful. 

Here, you can see the outlines of the buildings, though the markers were placed by English Heritage, the group that operates many of England's historic sites.

Day Two, which was Thursday, Ben and I went to the frontier fort near Corbridge. This location had actual ruins dating back to 140 AD, when the stone part of the fort was built. This site was cool because we were able to not only view the 1800+ year old ruins, but we could climb over them, walk on them, etc... Needless to say, Ben and I had a blast.

This is the main road. On the near left you have two granaries. Further down (in the green region), you have the headquarters and commanding officer's house. On the right are primarily barracks.

The two structures you see are the granaries, and yes, you see Ben on the left. The most amazing thing about this was actually to be there, and to realise that over 1800 years ago, this was built and lived in by Romans in Britain. Sadly, pictures can't quite convey that. 

Remainder of the headquarters building...

Ben is standing at the remains of what was a standard military house with a special function. A cellar was dug into it, and that was where, presumably, the pay of the soldiers was kept...

Stairs leading to the "cellar..."

And from the cellar...

This little room was, more than likely, a temple...

This view is from the corner of one of the granaries, looking toward the main road. 

Most of the pictures wouldn't quite make sense without having either been there or having a general overview of the fort, and even then it wouldn't quite make sense.

Again, the thing that got Ben and I the most was that these very stones were placed by some Roman soldier on fatigues over 1800 years ago...and they're still standing!

Something Ben and I also decided to do "next time" is to either bike or hike Hadrian's Wall, all 73 miles of it. Anyone interested?

Oxford and Warwick

Had Ben and I known the qualities of these two towns, we would've happily spent a week twist the two, at least. Both have a very home-town feeling, and both are quite old. Oxford was going to be more of our relaxing time. We arrived Saturday afternoon, and left Sunday afternoon. Here are a couple pictures of Oxford, primarily of Magdelene College.

And of Warwick. When Ben and I arrived at the Warwick train station, we looked at each other and said "The Professor knew we were coming," referencing the small train station depicted in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. I did not get a picture of it, but shall when we leave. For the following pictures, they are mostly of Warwick Castle. 

These people set up tents on the grounds outside the castle, which had displays and interactive tents for the public.

Caught the thief! Dominion players, have no fear...at least until he gets out again...

An archer's loophole...

Uh, Ben, attackers are on the other side...

The bird of prey show was pretty amazing. The next pictures, I took with no zoom...these guys were literally flying inches above the crowd!

The largest functional trebuchet in England.

One of the last things we watched at Warwick Castle was some fights for the Master of Chivalry. Four knights, drawn from Yorkist and Lancaster backgrounds (with the Earl of Warwick championing the Lancaster side...this time), fighting each other. Sadly, I can't seem to get the videos on here, so I might have to post them when I'm at a computer...

Until next time!