Water, wildlife and wonders... a road trip around Scotland COMPLETED 11/6 - Page 64 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Wednesday 21 June – part two: a change to our plans….
We headed out through the village of Alyth…
We then went through the town of Blairgowie, but I didn’t get many photos as it was starting to rain by now.
We soon arrived at our first destination of the day…
Now for those expecting something else, yes, we did have Glamis Castle planned, but I don’t know what had happened. I had it down as being a 45 minute drive away. Well, it was more like 10 minutes. Great, except it opened at 10:30am, according to my itinerary, and when I checked their website, no, even that was wrong, and it opened at 11:00am. I’m sorry, that’s just stupidly late, and would have left us with very little time in the rest of the day… We decided to change our plans and come here instead.
Scone Palace was originally the site of an early Christian church, which you’ll see in due course, and then an Augustinian priory in the 12th century. It became an abbey and then because an Abbot lived there, an Abbot’s Palace was constructed, so that’s how it became a palace. It only just about survived the Scottish reformation, and then it became home to the Earls of Mansfield for the next 400 years. It was enlarged in the early 19th century, and then further work took place in 1842 to make it ready for the visit of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, including the installation of running water. The state rooms are open every year from April to September, so we were here at the right time to see them. Anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself…
We saw these guys as we drove in…
… but so much better was to come… When we parked up, we heard this guy…
We only quickly took a photo of him, as we had more important matters to attend to – look!
Oh my goodness, how cute? I hope you guys are just playing!
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Even without seeing the palace yet, you've had a great time with Highland coos.
Do you know what? Had it not been for the fact we'd already paid for our tickets, I think I'd have been like "right, been here, seen what I want to, I'm happy!"
Wednesday 21 June – part three: exploring Scone Palace
Eventually, we tore ourselves away from the Highland coos, and headed into the grounds of Scone Palace…
We headed here first to see where manyKings and Queens of Scotland were crowned, from Robert the Bruce in 1306 to Charles II in 1651.
We then got some photos outside around here…
… and of some of the “normal” peacocks they have here…
… as well as the stunning albino one!
I headed inside to use the restrooms, and by the time I came out, it was raining, and the others were waiting to start the tour of the palace, unsurprisingly. I headed inside to join them. It’s self guided, but no photos are allowed in here.
The rooms are stunning, and are home to an amazing selection of items, including furniture, ceramics, ivories, and clocks. It’s almost too much to take in, if that makes sense. What did stick with me were the pictures we saw of the various Kings of Scotland and how many of them were crowned as either babies or young children.
It was also fascinating to see some of the friendships that the various Earls had had over the years as well, including the Emperor and Empress and Crown Prince of Japan. They had lots of family photos up and I loved seeing those, as to me, they really added to the feel of the place.
Scone Palace is way better than any other place - cows, coos, and peacocks!!!
It's a gorgeous building. I googled to see some inside photos, wow! I think you guys made the right choice in coming here.
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Scone Palace is way better than any other place - cows, coos, and peacocks!!!
Perfect for animals!
Quote:
It's a gorgeous building. I googled to see some inside photos, wow! I think you guys made the right choice in coming here.
I really enjoyed it, but I was disappointed that we didn't get to see Glamis. I had been so looking forward to it, because of its associations with the Queen Mother. Oh well, another reason for a return trip one day....
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Scone Palace looks very lovely, at least from the outside. It was neat for me to see the stone where kings were crowned as we discussed this when reading Macbeth.
Scone Palace looks very lovely, at least from the outside. It was neat for me to see the stone where kings were crowned as we discussed this when reading Macbeth.
Wednesday 21 June – part four: the darned peacock whisperer!
We came out via the shop, and I got a fridge magnet. When we got outside, the albino peacock was strutting its stuff again…
It made some odd noises, as if it was trying to clear its throat, and Mark imitated it, and the next thing we knew, he was the darned peacock whisperer! Is there any animal immune to his charms?
However, there was another shop I’d seen when I’d exited through when I used the restrooms, which surprised me. Believe it or not, literally one shop is right on top of the other. Very odd. The other was more food based, and both Mark and I got some food items, and I also got a collection of miniature Highland coos – so sweet! They were little statues and completely adorable.
We also got to see the old kitchen, which was quite something.
As it was raining again when we came out, we decided we didn’t need to see any more of the grounds, and headed back to the car. We headed out, but I didn’t get many photos, as the scenery wasn’t as stunning as earlier in the trip, and also it was raining a bit again…
We arrived in Falkland, which was our next port of call, but drove past the palace and gardens, as I’m so used to National Trust properties having a car park, but there wasn’t one here. At least it gave us a chance to see a bit more of the village…
Mark had the parking fairy’s luck on his side again (never happens to me – I swear! ) and he found a spot right outside the palace, so we made our way over…
We headed inside, showed our membership cards, and were told there were strictly no photos inside. Oh well.
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When we parked up, we heard this guy… 
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They are so sweet! 
about that. Oh well, heck, we'll have to go back there and have scones at Scone! 
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