Birth of A Queen

It happened on 8 December, 1542.  In this palace Mary, Queen of Scots was born!

This is Linlithgow Palace.

Sadly, today this amazing palace is in ruins after being burned out in 1746, but it is easy to imagine what it once was like!  It is massive still, even with one whole wing having been demolished!  

 

As you walk through the ruins, you can imagine what life must have been like.  You are given access to the King and Queens private quarters, where you can still see remnants of what it was like - you can see the beautiful fireplaces, the seated windows, and the tiled floor patterns.

This is the birthplace of quite a few Royals, including James V, and Mary Queen of Scots.   We are lucky enough to even be able to go into the room in which she was born!

The room in which Mary, Queen of Scots was born in 1542.
Nine months later she was crowned Queen of Scotland.

This is thought to be the oldest fountain in Great Britain.  It has been said that one special events (like Bonnie Prince Charlie arriving) it was made to flow with wine even!  It has been restored, and now, on special days throughout the year, water still flows through this almost 500 year old fountain!

Thank you for reading about all our wanderings!  As always, please leave a comment, share your experiences, ask a question!

Edinburgh Castle

 Edinburgh Castle

Ok, so, we are still here in our fabulous(ish) castle/hotel.  We spent a crazy day yesterday all around Edinburgh. SO MUCH DONE.  In all honesty - this trip is going to be blog fodder for a long time coming, if I am to actually limit my photos.  That said - I am going to be posting one piece of each day for your perusal.  For instance, yesterday, we saw 3 castles, a national museum, various other touristy things.

That said, the highlight of it all was Edinburgh Castle.  We walked all the way up the hill from the park, and all the way up to the top!   As you can see, the view is simply stunning!  Being so far north, of course the sun sets much earlier than we are even used to in Southern Germany.  So, by 4pm local, the sun is setting!  The weather is changeable, and that is no joke, throughout our day, we went from blue skies, to a blizzard, to rain, to overcast, and then to a glorious sunset over the city of Edinburgh!  We lucked out!

At the top of the castle, next to the The Honours, and the Royal Apartments is the National War Monument.  This is dedicated to all the veterans, and has the names of all those who died in WWI.  My Great Grandfather's brother's name is there.  It is a beautiful, somber place, and afforded some great reflection time.

After a few quiet moments, we moved onto the Scottish Honours, and were able to see the crown jewels of Scotland, rumored to be formed from the original circlet of gold worn by Robert the Bruce, and through the generations to Mary Queen of Scots and beyond.  You are allowed to take pictures in there, however there is so much reflective surface that it was fairly worthless to try - so, i will leave you with pictures of the building that not only houses the honors, but the Royal apartments as well, which were sometimes home to Mary Queen of Scots, and the birthplace of James VI and I of England.

Well, enough of a history lesson for now.  Endinburgh Castle was everything it promised to be, and more.  We were lucky to see it! 

So, adieu for now - I hope you all are having as wonderful a time reading this as I am taking pictures for it, and writing about it!

Thank you for reading about all our wanderings!  As always, please leave a comment, ask a question, or share your experiences, I would love to hear from you! 

Venezia, Parte Duo

Basilica di San Marco

After we rode the Water Bus out to Piazza San Marco, we decided to look around for a while on foot.  The first thing we saw up close and personal was the Bridge of Sighs.  As you can imagine, this is one crowded spot!  After being polite and letting many take their pictures, I finally was able to push my tripod and myself up to the edge of the bridge.

Gondolier Under the Bridge of Sighs

I set up my tripod (yes, I am kind of a geek with it lately), and this is what I found.  Though we went in the middle of December, on a FREEZING cold day the crowds were, as always present.  After the bridge of Sighs, we kept walking towards Piazza San Marco.

Basilica di San Marco

When you walk towards the square, immediately your eyes are drawn to the impressive Basilica di San Marco.  Not only is the Cathedral HUGE, but the mosaics, and the marble pillars are astounding.  The colors of marble are almost unreal - I just kept thinking "THIS is what people are always trying to recreate when they paint faux marble," and the faux stuff is nothing compared to the real thing.  These marbles are rare, and to say they are expensive, would be an understatement.  

Entrance to the Basilica di San Marco

The mosaics along the Basilica draw you in, you could spend hours just looking at those alone.  So - in an effort to see the "big picture" I focused on the sheer magnitude of this beautiful Basilica - the home of the Venezian Archdiocese.
That said - the main entrance to the Basilica has a bit of everything - the Byzantine architecture, the awe-inspiring mosaics, and the multiple hues of marble.  This is where you wait in line to enter the Basilica - they ask you not to take pictures, though most tourists ignore the big signs.  I did not.  I figure of all places to disregard the rules, this was NOT the place to push my boundaries.

Inside the Basilica is HUGE.  The domes are gorgeous - however the recent flooding in Venice took its toll, and you can see the high water marks on the pillars throughout the church.  Overall, I was kind of sad in there - here was this major church, arguably one of the most famous and beautiful Catholic Churches, and it was flat out dirty.  It looked to me like it had not been dusted in years.  Like most of Venice, I imagine it was absolutely stunning at one time, and has just fallen into a state of benign neglect.

Torre dell'Orologio

Adjacent to the Basilica di San Marco, is a beautiful Glockenspiel of sorts - it is a clock that not only tells time, but the phases of the moon, and has moving characters - some on the hour, some only on religious holidays.  You can take tours up to the top here, but we did not - the kids were losing their steam fast, and getting hungry, so we sojourned to lunch.  We ate at the Rosso Pomodoro - which is an Italian chain - somewhat similar to Olive Garden - but infinitely better!

After walking around for a bit and eating lunch, we decided that it was time to explore more of Venice, again by foot. . .

Once you leave the main square, things get a bit . . . more tightknit.  The streets are narrow - the shops awnings nearly reach across and touch each other.    Also here, the back channels are smaller.  They are more personal, they are narrow, and they are much more what I consider the "real" Venice.  They are not facades to impress, they are every day life.  They are good times, they are bad times, and they are what history is made of.  It was through wandering through these smaller paths that we came across a Gondolier, packing up to go home for the evening, and willing to make a good deal.


  Normally, from anywhere near Piazza di San Marco you will pay 100 euro and up for just a 20 minute ride - this is NOT the place to catch a Gondola.  Go down the small streets, find someone dropping off another person - more likely than not, they have to go back to wherever their base is anyways, and are more willing to haggle down their prices.  Note that the Gondolas are paid by time, not by distance. . .

That said - price considered - I am so happy that we found our Gondolier, and that we went on the unexpected Gondola ride from just behind Piazza di San Marco all the way out past the Rialto Market.  Our guide was great, he pointed out the famous buildings, he showed us where movies were filmed, "The Tourist" and "007" in particular.  He showed us the birthplace of Marco Polo, and showed us a side of Venice that you just can't see with the Water Bus.  















The other side of Venice is definitely different.  It is dirtier, it is less maintained, it is where you can easily see the havoc that millenia of tidal waters have played on this wonderful city.  You can see what must have been, and what could be again, if one had infinite resources.  But like so much else, the Sea is greedy.  The Sea will claim what she can, and lay waste to the remains.  I feel so lucky that I was able to take my children to venice, to see both sides of the coin, and to appreciate her for what she is.

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