My Favorite Places Visited!

Well, I've been back for about four days now. Craziness. So, I just thought I'd post a few photos on here, and let you know what my favorite parts of the tour were.

 1. Isles of Iona and Mull

Breathtakingly stunning. All of Scotland was, but particularly the brief look I got at the Hebrides. The pictures just don't cover it. If I ever lived in Scotland, it would have to be not too far from the sea (but not too close, either, I have this fear of hurricanes and tsunamis, heh). Look for more about Iona later.

2. Stirling Castle
Best castle we visited, that's my opinion. So cool. And scenic. Central Scotland is beautiful. And the castle overlooks where, during the 1st Scottish War for Independence, William Wallace and Andrew Morray lead the Scots against a significantly larger English force in 1297, crushing them in the battle of Stirling Bridge.

View of River Forth, fields where battle was fought,
Abby Craig,  and the Wallace Monument

Wallace and Morray hid on Abbey Craig, having the advantage of the high ground. The English forces, lead by the Earl of Surrey and Hugh de Cressingham, where on the opposite bank of the River Forth. The earl realized his disadvantage, and sent a message to Wallace. But Wallace refused to surrender, sending back a strong-willed, defiant retort that angered the earl. Spurred on by his anger, the earl attacked, opting to cross the narrow Stirling Bridge, which was closer to Wallace, but could only fit two men abreast, rather than traveling further away to a ford where more men could have crossed at once. Wallace waited until just as many English as he knew he could defeat had crossed the bridge, and then the Scots fell upon the English. It was a massacre. The earl (the coward) escaped, but the English force was laid waste, saving Scotland from English conquest.

Edinburgh Castle

3. Edinburgh/Edinburgh Castle
Was very impressive. Awesome castle. Capitol of Scotland.
Royal Mile has nice shops. I did most of my souvenir-purchasing there.

4. London
It's so big! So much to see! And so much history! A person could spend a lifetime there, just taking it all in, I'm sure. Within London, my favorite place we visited was either St. Paul's Cathedral or the Tower of London.

St. Paul's is so gorgeous. I do believe the most beautiful church I saw, and we visited several. It's so amazing how it was spared through WWII, and became a beacon of hope to the British.

The Tower was very neat. It was the first real castle I've been to, and I was impressed. A TON of history there, too. Weirdest fact: Did you know they keep 6 ravens within the castle grounds? Apparently, there were always ravens in the Tower. One of the kings's (one of the Jameses, I think, I can't remember) wives didn't like the ravens, so the king was going to get rid of them. However, someone told the king about a popular legend that the day the ravens left the Tower, the monarchy would fall. So the king decreed that there must always be 6 ravens in the Tower. So to this day, there have always been 6 ravens keep on the ground. Their wings have been clipped so they can't fly away. However, one did escape. Other than that, the only time there have been less than 6 ravens in the Tower was during WWII, when several of them died from shock during the bombings.

5. York

York Minister

Lots of history, here too! (I have a thing for history, if you didn't notice.) Constantine was crowned emperor of Rome here, there are remains of Roman walls and standing Roman/Norman walls, all kinds of Viking artifacts, and--we were almost to Scotland! ;) York Minster Abbey was my second favorite of the churches we visited, I think.

6. Windsor
A grand castle, to be sure. No wonder it's the Queen's favorite. Again, lots of history. Gorgeous interior, wish I could have gotten pictures. Queen Ann's dollhouse--astounding.

7. Oxford
To eat, talk, stand, and walk where C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien ate, talked, stood, and walked--priceless. Seeing what they saw. Amazing!

Windsor

The Eagle and Child Pub in Oxford