Steps: 9679
Every day I'm trying to ask what's the best and the worst of the day. Today determining the "best" will be difficult. So I'll hold on that.
The "worst" would be doing my hair this morning. Apparently the converter I have has two settings, Low and High. And apparently the "high" means "OMG so much electricity running through it" that one probably shouldn't have plugged in her flat iron on that level. I fried, burnt to a crisp, a small portion of my hair this morning. It stunk to high heaven AND it burnt out my flat iron. Thankfully, in Edinburgh I just bought a new one...
This morning we were up early to head to Doune Castle (Pronounced Dune). Apparently this place has a small amount of audio thingys and our tour guide wanted to be sure we got some.
Doune Castle was built in the 1400s. We got to wander throughout the castle with our little audio guides telling us the history and the purpose of the rooms. Fascinating stuff. Every time I stand in something like this I think that it was built in a time when they didn't have technology like we have now, and some how it's still standing.
The claim to fame of this castle is Monty Python Holy Grail - mostly. You know the scene, when the French guy is up on the castle walk hurtling insults down to the Monty Python gang...yah, that scene. The great hall was used for the Knights of the Round table, where they danced and sang in the movie.
The other claim to fame, which is ALL OVER Scotland is Outlander. Doune Castle was in the first episode. At every stop that we had a historic audio track to listen to, we also had an Outlander track to listen to. Our tour guide, Ian, said the Outlander series has put Scotland on the map again.
After Doune Castle, a special treat for me. We had time to go by the Kelpies! They are the large horse heads. I cannot explain why I so wanted to see these, but I did. And because we had a shift in our plans we got to swing by and see them. According to wikipedia, "The Kelpies name reflected the mythological transforming beasts possessing the strength and endurance of 10 horses; a quality that is analogous with the transformational change and endurance of Scotland's inland waterways." They were pretty darn impressive.
After the Kelpies we went to Culross (don't pronounce the "l" - Cu Ross). It's this tiny little village that was just so cool to see. Very medieval and very quaint. There's a "palace" there unlike any palace you're likely thinking of. It's small, but ornate. It was pretty interesting to hear about the history around that area and how it, at one point, died out completely because of trade issues.
There are a couple places in Culross where Outlander was filmed too. Our tour guide was quick to point out several of these. He was all, "Say what you will about the series, but it's brought tourism back to Scotland." He's got a point. There have been so many places we've already seen promoting the Outlander thing.
On to Edinburgh. Can't wait to see what this city has to show us. I've done so much research and have a list of things I want to see. I also recognize I won't see like 80% of them...being on a tour and all, you don't control a good part of your day. Ah well....We shall see.
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