Glen & Kris

Scotland 2012, Part 2

We stayed at Ardvasar Hotel, a nice bed and breakfast at the southern end of the Isle of Skye - very nice rooms and good food. In the morning, we reversed course and drove to the northern end of Skye. We saw beautiful countryside along the way. The clouds never caught up to us and we had sun most of the day. This is Dunvegan Castle, home of the MacLeod clan on the Isle of Skye. On the second night of our roadtrip into the Highlands, we stayed at Culloden House near Inverness. This residence is named after Culloden Moor. Culloden is where the Jacobites, led by Bonnie Prince Charlie, were defeated by the Duke of Cumberland in 1746. Our room in the Culloden House was well appointed with two queen beds, a fireplace, a sitting room, a lavish bath and a great view across the estate. This is Linlithgow Palace. It was built on the site of a royal manor from the 1100's, which itself was replaced by an English fort in the 1300's. King James V was born here in 1512 and Mary Queen of Scots was born here in 1542. The courtyard includes an elaborate fountain designed to show the king's wealth. Water was carried through lead pipes from a lake about a mile away. Here's a closeup of some of the carving on the fountain. The palace is roughly square with a tower at each corner. Its final configuration was more for show than defense. All four spiral staircases have been restored. The main entrance to the central courtyard is on the left. Another picture of the fountain. It was repaired after a wall collapsed on it in 1607. Some portions of the fountain have been reconstructed over the last century. Here's a walkway between the corner towers...no hand rails and it's 5 stories down to the courtyard! This view is from the very top of one of the towers. Here's a stained glass panel in St. Michaels Cathedral adjacent to Linlithgow Palace. Mary Queen of Scots was baptized here. We're back in Glasgow at the Hunterian Museum. It's part of the University of Glasgow. The Hunterian Museum started with the collections of William Hunter (1718 - 1783), best known for his work in describing human anatomy. Some of Hunter's ground-breaking drawings of human anatomy are still used in medical texts today. Here's a view of the barrel-vaulted ceiling inside the main building of the Hunterian Museum. The columns, floors and trusses are all iron. This is a caretaker's house near the Univeristy of Glasgow. Here's my lovely wife in Pollok Country Park in Glasgow. <span class='myGreyFont'>[End of series. <a href='../index.html'>Return</a> to the Photos page.]</span>