Linlithgow Palace

Daddy had a few days off last week and we went to Linlithgow Palace. Linlithgow is quite close to us, in fact, it's where Mummy works, but we'd never been to the Palace before (Mummy had though). It was surprisingly good. Perhaps one of the best castles we've seen recently.

It is a ruin - which Daddy wasn't expecting - but very well preserved. Lots of rooms and stairs. And you get up the towers all the way to the top. It's so big that we didn't even see it all! Thankfully it's so close we'll be able to go back any time we like. Some of the best rooms are well enough preserved that you really do get a feeling of how grand it would have been. The royal quarters and the great hall especially. The old entrance is also accessible from within the palace (the access to the door is gone so unless you're 40 feet tall you won't be accessing it from the outside) and Daddy and I had the necessary sword fight there. Unfortunately, Mummy and Daddy forgot the camera so it's phone photos again - another good reason to return to the palace though!


Here's a great photo of me and Mummy and Christopher Columbus at the top of one of the towers with the church spire behind. We didn't go into the church on this visit - stacking up the reasons to return another time!

Tenuous Cycling Link

Sitting around on a Saturday afternoon watching telly... The weather has been a bit changeable - meaning it might be sunny now but in five minutes the rain could be heavy enough to drown a fish. Still, Daddy suggested we go for a bike ride - with the tag-along. I agreed, but only after Lazy Town finished. Folks familiar with Lazy Town may appreciate why Daddy suggested that was quite an ironic statement.

While waiting for Lazy Town to finish, I had trouble getting comfortable but eventually managed...

Red Bananas

I spotted these in Morrisons and insisted Mummy bought them.


Daddy spotted them when he got home and got very excited. And a little scared. The next day he'd plucked up enough courage to try one but I'd read the packaging and told him they weren't soft enough yet. Still, he was too excited to wait and opened one anyway.


I tried it first and I have to say, he should have waited a bit longer until it was a bit riper. He finished it off and I had a yellow banana instead. I'll maybe try them again in a couple of days...

PYO

We went along to Craigie's Farm just outside Edinburgh to pick some strawberries and raspberries. It's a really nice place and you pick lots of different fruit if you're into that sort of thing. We picked loads of strawberries and Mummy and Daddy also picked some raspberries as well. Daddy made me try one of the raspberries but I still don't like them - which is a shame. Interestingly, strawberries are probably my favourite fruit at the moment and this time last year I didn't like them so maybe next year I will like raspberries?!


The farm has its own wee shop too and cafe. We were going home for lunch so we didn't get anything from the cafe. Mummy and me made Daddy wait in the long queue to pay for the fruit while we went outside to play on the toy tractors then came back just in time to make Daddy buy us some ice cream too! I got a very tasty cone but not being that experienced in eating cones I made quite a mess getting through it in the hot sunshine. Mummy helped me and then I was stripped and wiped clean for the drive home afterwards. I'm still wearing just my pants and socks while writing this.

Urquhart Castle

One of our holiday days we went to Urquhart Castle by the banks of Loch Ness. We picked up cousin Andy on the way so it was a double treat.

Urquhart Castle is pretty good. It's very big with quite a large footprint. It's very ruined now though and there isn't that much left to explore. It was another lovely day and we had great fun making our way around what is left and we had several sword fights. I fought with Andy, Mummy, Daddy and very briefly with Christopher Columbus.

Christopher Columbus is a teddy bear explorer that used to go exploring with Auntie Carol but he says she's too old for him now. So Auntie Carol has asked me to take care of him and explore with him. I was glad he was with me sometimes to keep me company in the narrow passageways. You'll see more of him in future adventures probably but no pictures to show you in this blog entry.

The castle is right on the shore of the loch. It might not always have been quite so close to the shore but since the opening of the Caledonian Canal the loch has risen 2 metres so it's a wee bit nearer now. But that allowed us to have a good look for Nessie too. Daddy thought he saw her but I don't think it was. We'll just need to try again.

Here's a photo of Andy and me sword-fighting.


And continuing the theme of me, Mummy and Daddy in the same photo - here's a nice one that Andy took for us:

Trampoline

While we were on holiday we also went to see some of my friends in the area. They have a great trampoline in the back garden and we couldn't get Daddy off it. It's really good fun on the trampoline but when there's a large bloke bouncing on it too it's really hard to stay upright and it can spoil the fun a little bit. Although if you time it right you can get a really big bounce - almost out of the net!

Loch an Eilein

We were on holiday the other week. A few days up staying with Granny and Grandpa (original, right?). As usual it was fantastic. And as is becoming regular for us too (luckily) - excellent weather. Who would have thought it - especially for the Highlands of Scotland.

We went to Loch an Eilein while we were there. It was really amazing. Looked like they were staging a photo opportunity for a Centre Parks brochure. There were families on hired bikes - some complete with tag-alongs (like mine!). There were folks out walking dogs. There were folks out hiking; folks enjoying ice-cream; folks deciding what to buy from the rather exclusive van with the chef who worked for REM and Paul McCartney and most amazingly - folks actually playing in the water like they were at a Mediterranean beach - swimsuits and everything.

We had a walk part-way around the loch where we met a lovely Australian woman who took our picture (I hope she wasn't from New Zealand or I've just really offended her). That was really nice of her and it was good to have a picture with all three of us for a change. I asked her if she was wearing her explorer shoes and then told her they were like Daddy's. We then walked back along the loch and Mummy and I paddled in it for a while. Daddy dipped his feet in for a minute or two then retreated to the shore claiming it was too cold for his southern Fife feet. It was great fun and I was dissapointed when we had to leave but dinner was calling. I'm looking forward to going back - don't think we'll get to paddle unless it's as hot as it was that day though!