National Rail Museum in York, England

On our way back from Scotland, we broke up the drive by stopping in York, England at the National Railway Museum. It's free to visit, and was large enough to allow Charlotte to run around and get some energy out! It was interesting to see the wide variety of trains present, from different eras. I enjoyed seeing some of the Pullman cars. Many of the trains had stairs allowing a full view into the seating areas as well. 

We grabbed a quick lunch in the cafe, before buying tickets on the over-ground tram that takes you into downtown York. You have the option to disembark the tram to visit York Cathedral, which looked amazing; however, given our desire to get back home before it got too late, we ended up just enjoying the ride. Charlotte was a big fan!

Boarding the tram!

Paul & Mom

Dad, Charlotte, and me

We're going for a RIDE?!

Looking down the streets of York from the tram

We laughed at the screenshot from Paul's phone that showed a long line of traffic seemingly queuing up behind the tram!

The front of York Cathedral from tram-level :)

Scotland: Edinburgh

On the Sunday of our trip to Scotland, we got going fairly early and drove the hour-plus east to Edinburgh. Before leaving, we got a few books in and saw a friendly snail on the driveway :)

After finding a place to park, we walked partway across the city to Edinburgh Castle! The castle is located high up on the hill in the city, and is therefore a bit of a hike (especially with a stroller). But the views are more than worth it. There was quite a long line for admission to the castle, even early on a Sunday morning. We had planned to use our English Heritage cards to get discounted admission, and lucked out to have a line monitor notice our cards just after we entered the queue. She said "oh, you can go to the tourist information desk to get your tickets." Score! 

We got into the castle just as a free tour was starting up. We followed the guide through the castle to learn about the history. I've (somewhat) come to terms with the knowledge that I'm only going to hear/read about 10% of whatever information is presented at any museum/historical site we visit... Charlotte-chasing is a full-time job. I say this not looking for sympathy, but rather to explain why I won't be including too many historical details in my blog. If I do, know that I probably "remembered" it with a little help from Wikipedia :) I do my best to take in the atmosphere and remember the beauty of each place. 

Despite my almost-constant attention to Charlotte, she still gets into some scrapes (as all active kids do). As the tour guide discussed the history outside the main church at the castle, Charlotte was climbing all over the steps of the church. Up, down, and everywhere -- she is becoming a little billy goat. Once we got onto the almost-flat surface of the slate courtyard, however, she saw Granddad again and got excited. She started running and BOOM -- face-planted on the slate stones. My mom quickly went into the cafe located adjacent to the courtyard and requested some ice. We spent the next fifteen minutes or so trying to ice her forehead in short bursts (she was only mildly tolerant of our efforts). She had a red "bulls eye" in the middle of her forehead which looked terrible (to me, full of guilt) for the next couple of hours. But amazingly, it really didn't bruise at ALL. 

Looking up at the castle from our walk up the hill.

Just inside the castle walls, heading for the entrance.

Fooling around in a telephone booth near the entrance!

Beautiful panorama from the top!

Within one of the rooms at the Castle, famous for its ceiling.

Views of and from the top of the castle

My little billy goat

A few minutes before the epic face-plant

About 45 minutes after the face/slate competition... note the circle shaped goose egg on her forehead.

Despite goose egg, ready to explore the rest of town!

After we left the castle, with lunch in our tummies from one of the castle's cafes, we tackled the famous Royal Mile. This is the name of the street that leads from the castle to Holyrood Palace, which is where the British monarch stays when she is in Scotland. There is some history of Mary, Queen of Scots there as well... go ahead and research that one on your own if you'd like. Ha!

We followed Rick Steves' tourbook's self-guided tour of the Royal Mile, which is excellent (as always). Love Rick. There are several churches along the route, and you can really get a sense of how the street must have looked a few hundred years ago. The trick is, if you follow the Royal Mile from the Castle to Holyrood, you are heading downhill the whole time. Then... you have to go back up. Unless your husband is awesome with maps, then he can route you around town back to the parking lot with minimal uphill. Paul for the win!

By the time we reached the base of the hill, Charlotte had passed out in the stroller. We sat for a bit, checking out the unusual architecture of the new Scottish Parliament building, and trying to decide if there was anything else we were dying to see in Edinburgh. We would have enjoyed climbing Arthur's Seat, which is a high hill that starts from the base of the Royal Mile. However, having climbed it back in 2003, I knew it wouldn't be appropriate to take a stroller, or Charlotte without her stroller either. So we ended up calling it a day and heading back to Bishopton. 

Scotland: Loch Lomond & surrounding area

Super apologies for the looong absence of posts. We took a 5 week trip back to the States, and then were busy with family visiting and a trip to Croatia! All to be blogged about... hopefully in sequence. 

Back to July! When I left off blogging, we had just arrived outside of Glasgow, Scotland with my parents. The next morning, we got up and headed into Loch Lomond National Park to see the sights. Paul had gotten recommendations from a colleague to try out the Glengoyne Distillery to learn more about the famous whisky-making process of Scotland. [And yes, in Scotland, it's spelled without the "e" -- "whisky" is Scottish, "whiskey" is Irish, from my understanding.]

We took a guided tour of the distilling process. We learned the intricacies of what requirements exist for a whisky to be called "Scotch" as well as "single malt." There was also memorably a room filled with whisky barrels, with a demonstration wall of how the whisky changes over time while it's in the barrel. It very gradually evaporates and takes on a darker color from being in the barrel. So by the time you have "30 year Scotch," it's darker and quite a bit higher in alcohol content than Scotch that's only been in the barrel for a few years. 

We did get to sample the whisky -- I had to add an awful lot of water to make it palatable for me! It was a neat experience.

Looking at the front of the distillery from across the road.

Beautiful flowing water in back of the distillery; no longer used to actually make the whisky, though.

One of the pretty displays of the amber-colored Scotch in glass bottles.

This type of roof topper is unique to whisky distilleries.

The room with the whisky barrels and demonstration of the aging process.

Me, Charlotte, Paul, and Mom at Glengoyne Distillery

View of the countryside through the signage.

After finishing the tour, we took a very scenic drive through parts of Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park. We drove north along Loch Lomond itself, then saw view of Loch Long and ended up in the town of Inverary, on the northernmost parts of the Firth of Clyde (a bay connected to the Irish Sea). The views of the "bens" (not tall enough to be called "mountains," apparently) were incredible. It was fairly overcast most the day, which felt quite Scottish at least.

We parked the car and wandered briefly around Inverary. We heard bagpipes and saw a crowd gathering, so we joined to lookers-on as a wedding began in the town's church. We saw the kilted groomsmen and the rather cold-looking bridesmaids, then the bride and her father pulled up in an old-fashioned car. It was entertaining for a few minutes, and we actually saw them again later when they were taking scenic pictures at Inverary Castle. We had then lunched in a small cafe in the town and took in the scenery of the small harbor.

Piping for the wedding in town that day

The Scottish bride

Cold bridesmaids and kilted gentleman

Small harbor at Inverary

Racing with Granddad!

The best.

We hopped in the car again and drove the short distance onto the grounds of Inverary Castle. We had read that the castle wasn't much to see on the inside, so opted to walk the grounds instead. There were goats and sheep grazing, and lots of pretty views of the Firth. The Castle's grounds were used for outside shots for "Duneagle Castle" on Downton Abbey.

Inverary Castle

You jump down here, Dada.

Yay!

On our way back to Bishopton late afternoon, we stopped at a couple of scenic spots to get some more pictures. A beautiful and scenic day!

Mom and Dad at Loch Lomond, Scotland.