Brit Isles - Glasgow, Scotland

 Well, we knew rainy weather was forecast for just about every day of the cruise, but so far, we had almost no rain.  Today made up for that. It rained, not just a little, pouring rain, downpour, all day long. No breaks, until we got back to the ship!

But we were prepared with umbrellas and raincoats so we made the best of it.

Our first look outside - looks rainy

Tug was pushing us in to dock

            

We took a guided tour and headed out first, to Stirling Castle. Stirling Castle is one of the largest and historically most important castles in Scotland. It sits on top a geological rare formation of a mountain of lava, surrounded on 3 sides by steep cliffs, providing a very secure fortress giving it a strong defensive position.  So secure, everyone wanted it and it had at least 8 unsuccessful sieges. Mary Queen of Scots lived here as well.

The castle dates back to the 15th century and was a palace (for Scottish kings and queens) and a fortress.

This grassy area below the castle is called the King and Queen's Knots where royalty took part in activities such as hunting and jousting.  Currently, it's a community park. When we drove by, people were playing frisbee with their dogs....in the pouring rain!

Many parts of the castle are restored to what it would have looked like

Lots and lots of unicorns, as the Unicorn is the national animal of Scotland since the 12th century!  The unicorn is a symbol of purity, power and magical powers. It also symbolizes the power and determination to not be conquered and remain free 

The lion always symbolizes the United Kingdom and the unicorns Scotland, so here, they protected each other and were allies

        

The castle kitchens were huge and busy 24/7.  Kitchen workers were almost always men

We then drove through the Trossachs National Park, part of the Highlands of Scotland,  and stopped in Kilmahog for a short break and to feed the "Highland Coos" (not cow)

We then headed back to Glasgow and as soon as we got back to the ship, it stopped raining!  Of course.

As we boarded, there was a guest performer in the atrium playing the bagpipes