Scotland Weekend Day Four - Part One

We woke up to our last day in Scotland.  Our time here went by so fast!!  I had looked forward to coming so much that I was wondering if my expectations were too high.  That wasn't at all the case though - it surpassed all my expectations!!!

We had a great time that morning doing a few last things that we hadn't yet done in Edinburgh (some planned and some not!!!


An important stop of the morning!  The coffee was so good - we even got some special Edinburgh mugs - including one for me as an early birthday present! :)

This is the old bookstore and the street that it's on - such an awesome place for any old book lover!!!

We didn't get a picture in front of the bookstore the other night, so we got one as we were leaving town!

Next we went to St. Giles Church which is where John Knox preached!!  It is still very protestant to this day (as the lady who invited us in was sure to tell us!).  We went inside briefly and it was so neat to here some good old hymns being sung there.

Parking space 23 - John Knox's grave

In front of John Knox's grave

The front of the church - this man was very nice and told us a lot of information about John Knox as well as the church.

Looking down a street in Edinburgh out to the North Sea

This was a neat road

And this was a dangerously fun store!!! :)

We then went to Greyfriars Kirkyard

Do you remember me mentioning it in the post about Lochgoin farm and Bothwell Bridge?

The church

"In Greyfriars church the national covenant was adopted and signed 28 February 1638"

Edinburgh castle from Greyfirars

Hmm...

Daddy talking to us about where we were

The Martyrs Monument

Across from the covenanter prison - this is where they took the covenanters after the Battle of Bothwell Bridge.

Looking down the row of cells

Wow

It was really amazing to stand there and remember those who suffered so much here, but ran the race and gained the prize because they were faithful to Jesus.

You really need to make these two pictures big and read what was said in memory of those who are buried here.  It's really neat.

Then we ventured out once more

A little road in Edinburgh

Shortbread cookies!!

We enjoy a little treat

Looking down at Edinburgh from...

Up at the castle!!!

We drove the royal mile

Then we headed back to the Sir Walter Scott monument to try to climb it once more!!

This time we succeeded!! :)

A very winding staircase

We're getting higher!!!  As you climb higher, the space gets smaller and smaller!!

On one of the levels, they have a little information about Sir Walter Scott

Mommy stayed back at the car with some who didn't want to climb it

(that's our van down there on the left!)

To the top!!!

The view from the top was amazing and it was so much fun to climb up!!  Definitely a favorite from the day - if you go to Edinburgh, be sure to climb the Sir Walter Scott monument!!!

Hey!  The girls found two different "Savanna's"

(there were lots of names on the walls)

Beautiful Scottish hills in the background

Rooftops of Edinburgh

Our favorite picture of the castle

On the way out of Edinburgh, we made a "spur of the moment" decision - to go to the North Sea!!!

If you remember way back to our post on Leiden in Holland, we didn't quite make it that time.  Now we got to on the other side of it!!

Absolutely beautiful

We had so much fun and found lots of special sea shells and rocks!!!

This is a great picture mommy got of my great (even though he can be pretty ornery!! :) little brother.  I like it so much because he's one of the hardest people to get a good picture of (and he doesn't mean to be difficult!!)

At the sea

We even saw a starfish!!

"I  *heart* Scotland - Alba Gu Bra!" (Scotland Forever!)

Shenandoah loved the seaside

We all got a little wet - some more than others!!! :)