Kayaking

I was able to spend most of one day kayaking north of Edinburgh.  We headed north up the coast to Inchcolm Island where we had lunch then slowly made our way back.  It was a really fun trip that was challenging at times as I paddled as fast as I could for a bit then relaxing as I floated peacefully.

 

 We left our kayaks on the beach as we ate lunch and wondered around the island a little bit.

 Grassy knoll where we enjoyed lunch.

The story goes that around the 12th century a king was traveling south down the coast.  A large storm showed  up and drove him to the island for shelter where a hermit monk was living.  The monk provided the king with food and shelter and took care of him during the storm and after the king left, he decided to thank the monk by building a monastery for him. 

If you are ever in Edinburgh, I highly recommend http://www.duneideannseakayaking.com/

Scotland

Scotland was great, beautiful country, good people, and great beer.

 This is the dining room for the royalty in Stirling Castle

 From the Stirling Castle, looking over the city of Stirling you can see the William Wallace Monument.

I'm standing on the frontal defense wall of the castle with the kings quarters in the background.  They are currently working on the buildings interior to replicate what it would have looked like.

 This is the front gate of the Edinburgh Castle at night

Once through the front gate, there is another gate to get past.

 View of Edinburgh below the castle.

 Looking over a standard cannon in the castle.

This was the big daddy cannon near the top of the castle.  This thing shot slugs of metal the size of a basketball.

This is the innermost part of the complex.

 

 After a train ride north, I walked through Stonehaven to Dunnottar Castle.  They had a nice harbor.

 

This is Dunnottar Castle, just outside of Stonehaven.  The English attacked this castle for eight months trying to destroy the Scottish crown jewels but the Scottish survived.

Good luck trying to sneak around.

If you tried attacking the front door, you met this wall full of windows and archers.

 There was some nice grass lawns in the castle, though i doubt they looked this good back in the day.

 Heading out.