Tuesday, May 19, 2009

At Home In Scotland

I'm glad that I have the photographs, because somehow the entire adventure seems like a dream. Was it real?

Sir Walter Scott memorial in downtown Edinburgh


Stained glass window looking over the tomb of King Robert the Bruce


Dunfermline Abby was the birthplace of my 15th (and favorite!) Great-Grandfather, King James I of Scotland.


The tomb of my 18th Great-Grandfather, King Robert the Bruce, at Dunfermline Abby


Stonehaven is taking proposals for speed limits on their highway... so, what do you think? I think 100 is fine!


Viaggiatore meets a Scottish lion, guarding the grounds at Edinburgh Castle


Statue of King Robert the Bruce at Edinburgh Castle


Edinburgh Castle


Bagpipes


Edinburgh


Stirling Castle and a memorial to King Robert the Bruce


Stirling defense


The Jetson mobile parked at Stirling Castle (yes it only has 1 door and 3 tires)


Path to Stirling Castle


Springtime in Scotland


Park anywhere you like, any way you like.
Really.


A beautiful Scottish sunset on the road back to Edinburgh


Flodden Field in England, where the Battle of Flodden took place, and where one of my Great-Grandfathers, Duncan Campbell, died in battle on 9 Sep, 1513, along with 10,000 others.


A river bridge between Melrose Abbey and Flodden Field


Melrose Abbey where the heart of King Robert the Bruce, my 18th Great-Grandfather, is buried.


I wanted a rainbow in Scotland and I got one! Welcome to Peebles!

"A noble heart may have no peace if freedom fail" inscripted on the memorial over the resting place of the heart of King Robert the Bruce, my 18th Great-Grandfather


Melrose Abby, where the heart of King Robert the Bruce rests


Bridge to Scone Palace


Scone Palace, crowning site of Scottish Kings


There is a garden star shaped maze at Scone Palace; this fountain is at its center


An albino peacock in the gardens at Scone Palace


The Stone of Destiny in front of the chapel at Scone Palace, where four of my Great-Grandfathers were crowned Kings of Scotland


The ocean in Stonehaven on a stormy rainy morning


Mr. Black in New York


The Empire State Building


My friend Jackie asked me to bring her back a Scottish gent...


Triple Deckers...



9 comments:

heartinsanfrancisco said...

Ohhhh, more!! Great photos, and I've never been to Scotland although I spent an entire afternoon at Foyles London bookstore long ago, sitting on the carpeted floor among the stacks while a young Scotsman told me ghost stories of his homeland.

I didn't know that you were royalty. I hope there is a castle inheritance in your future, but that nobody will try to bury your heart at an Abbey.

Wanderlust Scarlett said...

My very dear Hearts,

*laugh* I'd have loved to hang out in that bookstore! Nice!
Shakespeare's in Paris is right up your alley. Don't know if I'd get you out of there for a week!

I'm not royalty, but the grandfathers were. Primogeniture took care of that for me... ;o)
But it's incredible to walk through the lands and homes that they lived in, to see the countryside that they loved, fought for and died in. Making that connection is incomparable.
Kneeling at their graves, bridging that time gap, is absolutely incredible.

You'd love it there. You'd have loved the whole trip.

;o)

Scarlett & Viaggiatore

rel said...

Scarlett,
Whenever a trip is so short and full it feels like a dream when we awaken at home.
I knew you were royality!
rel

Suburbia said...

Fantastic photos again Scarlett AND you slipped in another of that gorgeous man!

You have very fine ancestry :-)

Wanderlust Scarlett said...

Rel,

It was almost perfect, really.
We didn't want to come home at all, and Mr. Black said on the flight home that he wished we were flying to the states to visit our family and friends for a few weeks and then flying back to Scotland.
I wished the same thing.
Sigh.

We'll get back soon. We must.


Suburbia!

So glad that you like the photos.
They don't do any of their subjects justice at all. Capturing the beautiful essence of Scotland and Paris was tricky, and I almost got it, but I think it's really tough to truly get the whole experience of the moment into a single photo.

The air, the temperature, the scents, the energy, the emotion, the light and shadows, the sounds, the depth... all of that, *really being there* into a single photo... I wasn't able to do it on this trip. I will keep trying.


Thanks!


Scarlett & Viaggiatore

Clowncar said...

So King Robert the Bruce is your Great-Grandfather.

Damn that pesky primogeniture.

Wanderlust Scarlett said...

Clowncar,

Yes. 18th. King Robert Bruce II is my 17th, King Robert Bruce III is my 16th and King James I is my 15th. His daughter Joan, Countess of Morton is my 14th Great-Grandmother and that's where that damn pesky primogeniture comes into play... she's a girl, so no throne for me. ;o)

Knowing the history of the family is enough, it's so incredible to make that connection.


Scarlett & Viaggiatore

molly said...

Well, we can still curtsy and call you Princess!

Wanderlust Scarlett said...

*GIGGLE*

Molly girl, you crack me up!

HUGS!

Scarlett & Viaggiatore