Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Three days in Scotland

With all our driving, the trip to Scotland was like getting there, "oh, there's Scotland!", then turning and going back home.(back to the flat)It wasn't boring there, but over sixteen hours was spent driving.Luckily, there were heated seats in the back!!!
    When we got to the rental car place, they were on costumer ninety and we were number 122.We waited for about an hour and a half, and then went to get our car, and then the man said "oh, and you didn't have to wait in that line."Oh foot!
    We had like a 5:50 hour drive.It was really supposed to be just a five hour drive, but the M6 had A TON OF traffic.Same for the intended eight hour and three hour drives.It was pretty much only shopping and traveling, come to think of it.
    We DID go to Mary King's Close, though.  It's the second widest street in Edinburgh, but it is not used anymore.  It was used in the 1600s to the late 1800s.  It is "underground" because the streets today are so high.  Mary King's Close was built more aligned with the hills, but the streets are much higher today, so they cut part of it off, and built over the rest.One man,the last to live there,had a toilet called a "thunder box". (This was unusual because most people just used a bucket).It was visible if you opened the door to his house, and he was so proud of it that he opened the door to his house whenever he used it!
    We got to go to, and get on the Queen's royal yacht,Britannia,since it is no longer in use.It is REALLY BIG,and has over 30 big and normal-sized rooms!Mom says narwhals aren't real, yet there used to be a narwhal tusk on the ship,and this isn't autocorrecting me.
  The last thing I learned is that the Scottish flag+the English flag=the Union Jack.
Scottish flag
                    +

English flag
                      =

Union Jack!!!
    

4 comments:

  1. It's always interesting to read about a trip I was a part of from a slightly different perspective (I was the driver in this account). I think my favorite fact from the Mary King's Close experience was learning about the two times a day everyone emptied their chamber pots into the street, simultaneously, from all 9 stories.

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  2. It sounds like this was a very interesting trip, with some unique facts that were learned, even though there was a lot of driving. Josh, at least if everyone dumped their pots at the same time, they all knew when to stay out of the way so there were no nasty surprises!

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  3. Hi Knox! What an adventure you are having. I have only been to London by way of a quick layover at Heathrow airport, but Jeremy and I have spent time in Scotland. It is such a beautiful part of the world! We didn't visit Mary King's Close, but we did visit Culzean Castle. I hope you continue to have a wonderful trip. Keep sharing! I enjoy reading your posts!

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  4. Here's the good news: narwhals are real and they're simply glorious in their absurdity. (http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/narwhals)

    Here's the bad news: unicorns still aren't real.

    I hope you're learning a lot in a fun and memorable way, Knox!

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