Water, wildlife and wonders... a road trip around Scotland COMPLETED 11/6 - Page 12 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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What a beautiful property. That would be a popular place as a hotel, I'm sure. You know us Americans, we get so excited about castles!
That's one of the reasons I put it on the itinerary and yes, Mari got very excited when I said that later on in this trip, we'd be staying in a castle. Oh you wait until we get to that bit .... mind you, that may take a few months yet.
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Monday 12 June – part four: has it got a force field on it?
We made our way upstairs in Wray Castle…
… and disappointingly, the first few rooms were really for kids or school groups to play in. However, Mark and Raleigh found one they could play in! There would be more of this coming up shortly….
Talking of children, we entered this wonderful area…
Oh my goodness, it was just so well done. If only they’d had things like this when I was a kid! The details that went into it were just amazing.
We made our way out on to the striking landing…
From here, there were various rooms you could visit, and we went in, one by one, exploring them all. We’d heard on the introductory talk that there were 54 rooms in total to see, and I was really starting to understand how….
Raleigh wanted to re-name this room slightly…
Then we found this room…
… and Mark started this:
As you can see in one of these photos, Raleigh arrived, and decided to join in. He told us it was about 30 years since he’d last played, and Mark had to teach him the rules of snooker as they went, as let’s just it’s a lot more complex than billiards. As time wore on, layers came off, and it became a bit more serious… well ish!
However, the truth is while they could hit the balls on the table, and a lot of the time, they were getting ridiculously close to potting things, not much was actually going down into the pockets. In particular, there were so many near misses at the top right hand one, we were convinced it had a force field on it!
Next: continuation of the slowest known snooker game in the history of the universe
I'm getting so frustrated - I'm on my iPad at work, so using the guest wi-fi in the hospital. And NONE of the pictures will come through. They just show up as little boxes. . So, while I can read the report, it doesn't really make a lot of sense without the photos. I have to remember to circle back when I get home. Isn't it annoying when work gets in the way of TR's?!
Oh wow. Totally not what I would have expected in the castle, what fun so far!
Who knew Raleigh would find his own room inside. Cool!
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I'm getting so frustrated - I'm on my iPad at work, so using the guest wi-fi in the hospital. And NONE of the pictures will come through. They just show up as little boxes. . So, while I can read the report, it doesn't really make a lot of sense without the photos. I have to remember to circle back when I get home. Isn't it annoying when work gets in the way of TR's?!
Oh my goodness, yes! I mean, heck, what's more important? You're so right, you are going to need to see the photos for this to make sense.. .and hopefully they'll be worth the wait.
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Not sure why, but now it's letting the pictures come through, and yes, it makes a lot more sense!
That looks like a kids' paradise (regardless of age, right, Mark?!)
Mark & Raleigh look so serious at their game - was there something riding on it? Some scotch, perhaps?
The kids' rooms are fabulous, and like you, I would have loved something like this when I was a kid. Cool that there were a some big kid games for Mark and Raleigh, too.
Love Wray Castle and so beautiful inside with the amazingly decorated rooms and artifacts! Looks like Mark and Raleigh are enjoying themselves for sure! Great views of the grounds from the castle.
Just wondering if you had visited here before as the name sounds familiar and thought you may have covered it in a previous TR and that it is a trust property as I know you have membership?
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
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Just wondering if you had visited here before as the name sounds familiar and thought you may have covered it in a previous TR and that it is a trust property as I know you have membership?
No, all of this was new to us. The last time I was in the Lake District was probably in the mid 1980s. In fact, the only places we'd visited at all before on this trip were Glasgow, so you will see a couple of familiar sights when we get there and the same with Edinburgh, but everything else was a new experience, which is nice, especially given it's our own country. It means there's still a lot to explore here!
Monday 12 June – part five: continuation of the slowest known snooker game in the history of the universe
You re-join me through the slowest known snooker game in the history of the universe. As the game was slow going, I headed out to use the restrooms, and look what I found! Apparently this used to be the dressing room – yes I can see that.
Mari and I continued to watch the match unfold in front of us, chatting amongst ourselves, making comments, and generally loving every minute of it. I never knew snooker could be so much fun, but this game really was, as it was just going nowhere fast!
Then the 11:30am guided tour arrived in the room. The guys just told them to carry on, as they’d continue playing, and so they did – complete with audience, some of whom were just as mesmorised by how badly they were playing! By now, this had been going about 40-45 minutes, and they’d managed to pot, between them, about five balls…
Obviously this was great entertainment for the tour group, as we bumped into some of them later elsewhere in the castle, who all asked about the game, and we even saw one couple later in the day, who enquired about it!
At this point, look how many balls were still on the table!
As the tour group were there, we heard about the quick exit from the castle down this spiral staircase, so Mari and I decided to go and get some photos, as the door is an emergency fire exit now, and not usually open…
We also heard that the mirrors that you might have seen in some of these shots, at either end of the snooker table, had to be installed (they were heated), as this was the coldest part of the castle, and it was not unusual for people to walk in and find ice on the floor in the winter!
About midday, Mari and I decided to check what time the game had started, because entertaining as it had been and trust me, we had all laughed until it felt as if our sides were splitting, we figured we’d better move on. We’d been there about an hour!
We moved on, although sadly the remaining rooms we had didn’t have much in them. They all seemed to be used to promote other National Trust properties in the area. I guess this is where they were talking about getting ideas in the introductory talk for what to do with them. We did at least have a funny photo opportunity for Mark in the room dedicated to the Steam Yacht Gondola that we’d hopefully be taking later that afternoon…
I had called them to see if it was running, and they’d told me it was, and had taken my number to call me in case they weren’t, so it was looking more hopeful than I’d thought earlier on… fingers crossed!
We headed out of the castle, still admiring the views…
… and we made our way into Hawkshead, our next stop of the day to visit the Beatrix Potter Gallery. It’s a lovely little village, although with some slightly surreal sights…
However, it is also very quaint and very much what you imagine an English village to look like….
Next: “well, he has to be able to breathe and see where he’s going!”
1 hour?! Wow! They were having fun, right? It definitely makes for a good story. Interesting about that room being so cold though, cripes!
Eeyore!! And Yoda too! And who doesn't love a purple cow. My kind of town.
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That's a cute Eyeore surprised you didn't try to take him home, he would look lovely in your garden.
I went to lift him up, as I liked the idea, and I could barely pick him up, he was so heavy! Honestly, the way the car was loaded, I figured that would just about finish the car off...
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.... mind you, that may take a few months yet. 
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If only they’d had things like this when I was a kid! 
The details that went into it were just amazing. 
. So, while I can read the report, it doesn't really make a lot of sense without the photos. I have to remember to circle back when I get home. Isn't it annoying when work gets in the way of TR's?! 
In fact, the only places we'd visited at all before on this trip were Glasgow, so you will see a couple of familiar sights when we get there and the same with Edinburgh, but everything else was a new experience, which is nice, especially given it's our own country. It means there's still a lot to explore here! 
We did at least have a funny photo opportunity for Mark in the room dedicated to the Steam Yacht Gondola that we’d hopefully be taking later that afternoon… 
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