Perfect Autumn Day
Well, if anything, my mom got one beautiful and sunny day. Today was our first big tour, travelling southeast to the Ayrshire Coast. This tour was a first for me, especially since Pedro and I tend to travel north. My mom chose this one, wanting to see some castles and the beach.
This morning the walk to the train station had me thinking we need to get up a bit earlier. Pedro and I basically power walk everywhere, shaving off 5 mins compared to whatever google estimates. We just made it to the train station, but luckily the pick-up point for the tour wasn't far from there and we had time to spare. The rest of the day would be an easy-going bus ride.
Our first stop was Whitelee, a windfarm that reminded us of Indiana, covered in wind turbines. It is the UK's largest windfarm, with 215 turbines. Supposedly, they create enough energy to help lower our power bill (we'll see this winter). We got some much-needed coffee and sipped it while listening to the relaxing sounds of the turbines. It is surprisingly quiet and comfortable.
The castle was the next stop, and we were given three hours to explore the grounds and eat lunch. Given a map and a ticket, we set off straight for the Culzean Castle (pronounced Cul-leen). The grounds were beautiful, especially with the fall weather and changing leaves.
The first stop on the map was the Ruined Arch leading up to the main castle, a little teaser.
Inside of the castle was right up my mom's alley. Lots of history. It was built in the late 1700s for the Earl of Cassillis, but the restoration and upkeep of the castle had every room looking like a perfect condition. The first room we saw had various weapons arranged in patterns on the wall, reminiscent of the capuchin crypts.
The views from the sitting rooms and bedrooms were all sea-facing, so you could see the beach below. Today wasn't too cloudy, so we could even see the islands off the coast of Scotland. (One of the guides said on a clear day, you can see Ireland!)
The kitchen I believe is a popular favorite, and my mom and I spend the most time in this room, just admiring it. The window was also facing the beach, and the natural light made the room incredibly bright, especially reflecting off all of the copper pots.
These bring to mind Cinderella, don't they? And you can see the strict rules below.
Just outside the kitchen, there were stories from servants written on the walls. They suggested it wasn't all bad, and maids would sneak out of the castle to go dancing with the locals. But one had to be thin to squeeze through the bars around the castle!
Walking through the gift shop, my mom loaded us up on some Scottish sweets, and we continued on the trail through the grounds. We decided to go down to the beach since it was such a nice day and were surprised to find little tidepools among the rocks, it was beautiful.
From there, we had to climb back up the stairs (which felt a like a little workout) and ended up on a terrace with cannons.
We decided to break for lunch at this point, to make sure we had time to get food. There was a single cafe at the front of the park, so we had to trek back a bit, and wade through the crowd of families with screaming kids. (There were so many that we named today Tantrum Tuesday) The cafe had little sandwiches and cakes to choose from, and all very Scottish. Prawn and mayo, smoked salmon, and bacon rasher sandwiches were among the options, so my mom went with the safe option- ham & cheese. There weren't any tables inside, but we ended up in an even better spot, outside at a picnic table with a view of the coast.
After food, and a bit of sweets, we had time for a few more places before we had to get back on the bus. We chose to go to the Deer Park (we had heard the deer all the way back at the castle) and Camellia House, which was close enough to swing by. We really lucked out with the deer, as they were all lounging in the nearest corner to us.
Camellia House seemed like a mini castle with beautiful glass windows, full of plants. Probably a great place for a wedding.
Back on the bus, on the way to Alloway, we made a stop in Dunure. On the edge of the water, there was an old castle ruin. This castle was a fortress of the Kennedy family, the same ones who lived in Culzean Castle, just a few miles down the coast. The castle is from the 1200s and has since hosted Mary Queen of Scots and a few major events during the Jacobite Rebellions. We learned later on from our guide that the small dome-like structure next to the castle was a 'doocot', which houses birds. Whether this is just a kindness, or the birds were kept for a purpose, we don't know.
My mom really liked this stop. Not just for the ruins, but the sea breeze, which smelled like the beaches back in Florida.
Then we made our way to the birthplace of Scotland's national poet, Robert Burns. This was another spot where we got a lot of time to explore on our own.
On the way in town, we saw the famous Brigg O'Doon, and a picturesque bridge behind it, so we headed there for some pictures.
On the way to the bridge, we realized there wasn't a good place to get a picture of it, and a guy from our tour bus was realizing the same. We could see from the bridge a great place to get a picture of the bridge, and we pointed this out to our fellow tourist.
Other tourist: Isn't that private property though?
Me: It wasn't locked...
We were all giggling on our way to the gardens to get our perfect bridge shot, not being too sneaky going through a gate and walking past the garden maintenance man. But no one stopped us, and I think our fellow tourist felt a bit braver knowing we were along for the ride.
My mom: It's better to ask for forgiveness than permission!
From there, we could see the Burns Monument and headed there to see the small gardens surrounding it.
We decided the actual birthplace of Robert Burns (his childhood home) was too far away, so we went to his grave instead. The kirkyard (graveyard) also had a metal devil cutout inside the gates, so my mom had to get a picture.
The kirkyard had stones throughout the area with bits of Burn's poetry. There were also little cutouts of the pumpkins, zip tied to various things as a part of a local scavenger hunt.
We headed back to the Robert Burns Museum, where we intended to get some tea, but the cafe was just closing. That led us to browse the gift shop....where my mom grabbed even more sweets.
Mom: It's not all for us! I gotta bring some stuff back!
We got back to Glasgow around dinner time, so we picked up Chinese take-out from Pedro and I's favorite spot. The rest of the night was spent catching Pedro up on our adventures, sharing our souvenirs, and watching tv.
