Dunfermline Abbey
Went to Dunfermline Abbey today with tyro_83. It's about an hour away by bus (or it's probably not meant to be, but with the roadworks that's on the *highway* - I'm not sure of the word for it, but that'll do) it took an hour or so to get there.
Dunfermline is this small town out in the middle of Fife (yes! I left the *kingdom* of Edinburgh for the first time and ventured to the "Kingdom of Fife") whose only claim-to-fame is the remains of old benedictine abbey that was built in the 11th Century. It did the normal church service scene, housed a few monks, members of the royal family during the ages and became the burial place of many different members of the royal family- most significantly being Robert the Bruce who was apparently buried beneith the pulpit. After that it kinda fell into disuse and when it started to fall apart people stole the parts to build other parts of the town.. as people who don't appreciate history when it's happening are prone to do.
So we did the normal touristy things: looking around, chatting with the custodian and asking questions (or rather I did- because as soon as I open my mouth it yells tourist! - of course I don't yell tourist literally, its my accent that gives me away, but we all knew what I was talking about didn't we? Anyway moving on--) and exploring the ruins.
The amazing stained-glass in the *new* church.
The stereotypical scottish meal of Haggis, neeps, tats and Irn-Bru (which tastes like a combo of Fanta and Creaming Soda).
The guy warned us the spiral staircase was small.. He wasn't kidding! I felt like I was on a movie set where I was playing a giant and everything was in miniature-size around me. I could easily have my back leaning against the outside wall and touch the inner column.
This cute peacock who so completely wasn't scared of us. We were worried he was hurt or something because he allowed us to come so close without moving. He was giving away feathers on demand however..
Those small stairs on the way up again.. you just don't get how miniature it is!
oh, and finally- we found this in the park. I've been looking for a nice one of these since I got here:
Dunfermline is this small town out in the middle of Fife (yes! I left the *kingdom* of Edinburgh for the first time and ventured to the "Kingdom of Fife") whose only claim-to-fame is the remains of old benedictine abbey that was built in the 11th Century. It did the normal church service scene, housed a few monks, members of the royal family during the ages and became the burial place of many different members of the royal family- most significantly being Robert the Bruce who was apparently buried beneith the pulpit. After that it kinda fell into disuse and when it started to fall apart people stole the parts to build other parts of the town.. as people who don't appreciate history when it's happening are prone to do.
So we did the normal touristy things: looking around, chatting with the custodian and asking questions (or rather I did- because as soon as I open my mouth it yells tourist! - of course I don't yell tourist literally, its my accent that gives me away, but we all knew what I was talking about didn't we? Anyway moving on--) and exploring the ruins.
The amazing stained-glass in the *new* church.
The stereotypical scottish meal of Haggis, neeps, tats and Irn-Bru (which tastes like a combo of Fanta and Creaming Soda).
The guy warned us the spiral staircase was small.. He wasn't kidding! I felt like I was on a movie set where I was playing a giant and everything was in miniature-size around me. I could easily have my back leaning against the outside wall and touch the inner column.
This cute peacock who so completely wasn't scared of us. We were worried he was hurt or something because he allowed us to come so close without moving. He was giving away feathers on demand however..
Those small stairs on the way up again.. you just don't get how miniature it is!
oh, and finally- we found this in the park. I've been looking for a nice one of these since I got here: