The road less travelled...

Oops, I was being all domestic in my little apartment, cooking and washing clothes, and completely forgot to fill you in on my activities!

I arrived early in Stirling, having dropped by the hole in the ground that is the Bannockburn Heritage Centre. On my previous visit I had arrived at Stirling at the end of the day, so hadn't had much chance to look around.

I'm so, so glad I gave myself so much time as I absolutely loved it! I did a tour at 10am, which was only me and two other girls. The guide was entertaining, the views spectacular (particularly the mist) and the entire experience very good indeed. After that I spent three hours going through all of the different buildings, as well as having an excellent lunch at the cafe. Wonderful morning!

In the afternoon I went to Linlithgow, which was fascinating, although I would enjoy these places more if I didn't have such a fear of heights since there are places of being able to see several floors down in between the boards I'm walking over or while looking down through the gratings over windows and doors. I was rather unimpressed that the ticket/souvenir shop closed at 1pm until 2.30pm, and since I'd finished looking around by 1.45pm, I decided not to wait around. (I also watched quite a lot of people able to walk in without paying, which seems incredibly stupid.)

This meant I was in Edinburgh and at my apartment by 2.30pm. I shopped, did some laundry and cooked. I'm also arranging my things in preparation for working out what I need to post home versus carry with him. Sad to think that there's only eight days left. :-(

Today's tally:

Three museums
Two castles
One shop

Owwwww! My poor tootsies!

And now for the details (in chronological order):

I went to the shop first, shockingly a bookshop (!). It was Edingburgh Books, in fact, which deals in second-hand books. And yes, I made purchases:
Chudleigh Hold by EBD
Elephants Can Remember by Agatha Christie

My next stop was Edinburgh Castle, which I did enjoy, but not as much as I thought I would. I'm not sure why or what I was expecting, but maybe I got so much out of Stirling that this was something of a let-down.

After this I headed down the Royal Mile, stopping at the Museum of Childhood. Thanks so much to the person who recommended the Museum of Childhood, as it was absolutely wonderful. A beautiful collection of toys and books all on display - and free!

Today's disappointment: The Children's Bookshelf is closed today and tomorrow due to illness. *sigh* Still, it's one way to save money.

After this I headed for Holyrood, and it was really worth the wait! (I tried to go and visit it when I was in Scotland in summer 2010, but the Queen had the indecency to be in residence, so I was unable to go inside.) I spent hours wandering around, listening to the audio guide and looking at all of the bits and pieces. Heaven!

Museum number two was the Museum of Edinburgh, which I also thoroughly enjoyed. Very interesting and a chance to see lots of different facets of the city.

The third and final museum was the Museum of Scotland, which was more general than the Museum of Edinburgh. The highlight of this for me was the collection of Lewis chessmen, which I had heard about and wanted to see. I nearly bought some of them from the little shop, but decided against it because they were too heavy. I am, however, already regretting this decision. *sigh*

And that was my long, long day of walking. My feet hurt... *pathetic sob*

Oh, btw, tomorrow I plan to visit Melrose Abbey and also the Royal Yacht Britannia. I will be driving. Thankfully.