Nearly Didn't Make it to Scotland

Before I mention the first castle, I wanted to say that I almost didn't make it to Scotland, and was totally unprepared with what to do...what a near disaster!



This was the first castle we visited and it was very cold here! I loved this castle--only one room that was finished off and decorated, otherwise it was in ruins and trying to envision what it looked like when people lived here was more fun.



It was high above cliffs, surrounded by water on 3 sides and had a long way down stairs, then a long path up again until you came to the one entrance, easy to see anyone approaching by land or by sea.

Here was one of the rooms that would have been occupied by someone of status.

This shows some of the walls and one of the more finished buildings.

I love the water, and loved seeing the waves crashing on the rocks below the castle's cliffs. It's a long way down!

Here is one of the storage rooms. Note all the rocks were covered in green moss. It was cold and misty, cloud-covered, a cold breeze while we were here.



Note the thickness of the walls. Long drop off here to the rocks below!




This was the well where they would get their water. I was having fun getting a reflection of the castle in the water. I imagined a medieval people gathering to get water at the well for meals.

In the earlier days, arrow slits were part of the defense system. Later, they created round holes for guns.

Again, rocky, watery grave if prisoners tried to escape, and very difficult to access from down below. The castles were built with primarily defense in mind.


This was the chapel.

We were very fortunate that the place was virtually empty and so were able to get a lot of pictures without having a ton of people in them. :)



After we saw this castle, I felt the trip was worth all the while.

Every vacation should have a disaster or two to make them really memorable, right? Of course! So I made my flight just fine to Houston, to Newark, was getting ready to board for Edinbourgh, and my passport had expired the month before.

I have to say that the folks at Continental Airlines were wonderful. They helped me to get to Philadelphia on Amtrak the next morning and the security at the Customs House were wonderful, and the clerks there too, to ensure that I could get on my way. It was a sweat job getting a train, a taxi, a photo from Kinkos over half a mile from the Custom House, and all the while I'm lugging a bag (the other went to Edinburgh and was happily waiting for me there), very briefly noting historical monuments and buildings along the way in my frantic rush, a very thorough screening, and then hours later with new passport in hand, a rushed taxi ride back, which was the scariest part as the meter went out on the driver's taxi and he kept trying to get his phone that had fallen on the floor while slamming on his brakes when someone stopped in front of him in the traffic filled streets. Then the train ride back to Newark, back through security and on the plane that I should have taken the night before.

Which meant that I didn't have a night to sleep. As soon as I arrived in Edinburgh, I met my friends and we were on our way across Scotland!

The way I look at it was that I had never been on a train, never to Philadelphia, and so it was a unique experience. And it showed that an impossible situation was made possible. I will also say that I'm not the only one who has faced this crisis!!!Although I wished I had seen that my passport was nearly expired. But I've only used it once in 10 years, so I never even thought about that aspect!!!


Maybe it'll go in a book someday!!!

Have any wild adventures in traveling?

Terry
"Giving new meaning to the term alpha male."
www.terryspear.com