Wherever the road (or plane) may take me.....: castle

What did you do today? I climbed in a castle : ) Actually it was called Huntington Tower Castle. It was a residence for 3oo years from the 15th-18th century (see here for more info: http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/propertyresults/propertyabout.htm?PropID=PL_153&PropName=Huntingtower%20Castle). It didn't look so much like a castle as a large manor house to me. The outer and inner walls are very intact and it was fun to climb the spiral stairs and explore. There isn't any furniture and the wooden floors are no longer there. So you could see where the 2 upper floors would have been but weren't. A fireplace protruded from the wall. It was a nice little stop on the way to Rosslyn Chapel. What a BEAUTIFUL chapel. It's from the mid 15th century. It was built by William St. Claire as a free pass into heaven for himself and his family. It was a Catholic Church that was damaged during the Reformation. It sat abandoned for over a hundred years and restoration began after Queen Victoria visited it and said it should be preserved. It was then rededicated by the Episcopal bishop in the late 1800s. Many of the documents from the chapel and it's history were ruined in a fire so some things are unclear. It's thought the chapel was going to be the shape of a cross but only the top part was complete. The carvings on the inside are MAGNIFICENT. They tell the story of the bible (as books were few and far between and few could read). No pictures allowed inside : ( but it is quite grand. Take a look at their website (especially under the researching tab) to see and read more about it. It's quite a good website
( http://www.rosslynchapel.org.uk ). It's still an active Parish today- imagine going their every Sunday. Wowsa.

Our day ended in Edinburgh. We arrived at our hotel, which is right near the Royal Mile. It was quite foggy and normally you can see the straight down it but not tonight. Hopefully tomorrow.