Greenock/Glasgow Scotland - August 28, 2010

Tattoo Day!!  I've been looking foward to this day for about a year.  We've heard such wonderful things about the Edinburgh Tattoo and can't wait to see it.  But before we get there we have a whole day of sightseeing and traveling.

Our driver David picks us up promptly at 8:30.  There are 6 of us today heading off from the port of Greenock to Edinburgh.  West side of Scotland over to the East.  First stop we make is to Loch Lomond (Loch = Lake).  I'm sure you've all heard the song about Loch Lomond.  It's a beautiful sight setting on a quaint town.  There is a church here dating back to the 12th Century including a Viking grave.  The town surrounding is beautiful and the air is crisp.  That's been on of the nicest things is the fresh air.  No wonder the Irish and Scots always look so fresh. 

I also was finally able to get a picture of the hydrangea's that I've seen throughout the trip. 

We left Loch Lomond on our way to Stirling Castle.  To get there we go past the waterway known as the Lake Katrine (Lady of the Lake).  It reminds me of Colorado in this area.  Very mountainous with pine trees.  We also pass the castle that the Monty Python was filmed at.  Today there was a wedding going on there so I only got a shot from the outside.

We stopped for a bit of lunch and then headed onto Stirling Castle.  Stirling Castle sits mid Scotland so it was a critical castle in the early wars.  It's where William Wallace fought as well as Queen Mary of Scots reigned from.  There are so many queens and kings and family's I'm not sure how everyone over here keeps them straight!  This castle is being restored to it's glory and by next year there will be tours and period costumes to give everyone a look back into history. 

There were 7 tapestries that hung in the great hall that are now being remade by hand.  The pictures of the tapestries reside in New York's Met Museum and the lady weavers go take pictures and are recreating them from them.  One tapestry takes well over a year. 

We now have to head onto Edinburgh.  The drive is beautiful and scenic.  We're not worried about spending time here as we are back for a whole day near the end of our trip.  Edinburgh, in addition to the Tattoo has numerous festivals going on so there are thousands of people in the street.  A little overwhelming, but we get through it.  We have dinner with our group and then head up to the Tattoo.  By the way, everything is straight up...up steps, uphill climbs....just up. 

We are lucky today also at the Tattoo as the cadets from the Citadel in South Carolina are part of the performance.  It displays all types of the military bands here as well as others such as the Citidel.  It was beautiful and the tributes to all the current men and women serving is moving. 
It's 10:00 pm by now and we are going to head back to the ship.  It's been a long day with lots of information.  We have a Day at Sea tomorrow so hopefully I can get all the pictures uploaded at some point.