Culzean Castle

The first day in Ary we went to Culzean castle. It was supposed to rain so we figured an indoor venue would be a good idea. Turns out it was a lovely day. But it was still good.

I love this lamp

As with most older castles, the previous tenants loved their weapons. This one apparently has the largest collections in Scotland. 

And an odd Crocodile umbrella stand. As you do.

And of course no castle is complete without at least one grand castle.

Mom being Royal

We kept seeing these weird ornament around the rooms, often on either side of the chimney place. I was hoping they were the handle to open secret rooms. Turns out to more 'rich people' than that. One of the them was a bell to ring down to the servants quarters. The other side was put there to be symmetric and look good (I am still not sure why they didn't make them both bells - I imagine many a poor servant got an earful for not appearing then the 'Master' pulled the wrong one.)

This lot even had a bath/shower combo in one of the rooms. Though we couldn't quite figure out how the shower bit worked - there were dials for it but we couldn't see where the water actually came out. 

The best babies cradle.

Pretty good view.

It was here Mom and Dad continued with their fun Scottish experience - man in kilt with bagpipes. We could hear him playing throughout most of the castle.

And Dad and I found some ruins so play about being artistic.

Thankfully after the first night we had no more disturbances from the police. On the Sunday we headed to Troon for a walk but despite the reviews I read, there was nothing much to see. We did had a very nice Spanish Tapas Sunday lunch which was very different to what Mom and Dad would normally eat thought not very Scottish. We had a walk and a quiet day as on the Monday we were travelling up to the Highlands and it looked like quite a drive. 

Kelpies

The second part of the first day was even better!

The Kelpies are giant horse head statutes near Falkirk, in a massive park. It would have been great to spend more time int he park but we really came to see the Kelpies. Dad was a little unsure on this part of the trip (how impressive can a couple of horse head statues be?) but even he admitted it was amazing. We had a quick lunch there before going over to the Kelpies.

Near the visitors centre and restaurant, there are some smaller scale versions. These were used to tour the world before the larger versions were built to fundraise the money needed for it. Also to figure out how to actually make them! Each of the metal panels is individually shaped and had to be very careful placed. 

I have a wonderful sweet photo of my parents from their trip to see me in America. I have been trying to get another for some time. They always seem to look slightly nuts. :) I haven't managed to them to be even slightly serious for a photo yet. Which I guess is therefore an accurate picture of them.

Photos at the little kelpies.

The main statues are a fair bit bigger at 30m tall. A Kelpie is a mythical water horse, thought not a very nice one. They would wait for someone to touch them out of the water and then they could not remove their hand and would be dragged under water to drown. But the are a Scottish myth and also represent the Clydesdale horses used in the area for moving anything.

And the tour inside is pretty cool (and more than worth the entrance fee). The talk was fascinating. Like how they deliver all the pieces and laid them out nicely on some spare ground. Which was a bog. So they all sank. They ended up being moved to an Asda carpark. :)

Looking up inside the Kelpie

picture of the original horse models.

After this we had a long drive around Glasgow to get over to Saltcoats, in Ayrshire. It wasn't quite where we thought it was but it was fine.

Mom and Dad got a full scottish experience when the police came to the caravan we were staying in a couple of times the first night. The second time the police were accompanied with a drunk and bleeding gentleman who thought he was staying in our caravan.  The police were attempting to get him home but had no clue where that was. All (police and drunk) were very polite and apologetic about it all. 

Welcome to Scotland!

Falkirk wheel

 Once again I am have been lazy updating this. Mid September I went on a 10 road trip around bits of Scotland with Mom and Dad. They came up a few days before we left and had fun around Edinburgh (mainly along the coast) while I worked. 

On the way to Ayrshire, we stopped off at the Falkirk wheel and then went over to the Kelpies. 

I didn't take many photos of the wheel which is a rotating boat lift wheel which moves narrow boats up 24m and 11m, joining the Forth and Clyde Canal (from Glasgow) to the Union canal (from Edinburgh). 

We took the trip up and back on the boat but it was pretty packed and as you can see true Scottish weather.