the battle of bannockburn and a post war sunday

3 years ago my mother started a love affair with history/our ancestors.

from the affair a desire blossomed. 

a desire to attend a festival in honor of such ancestry. 

a 700th anniversary of an epic battle needed attending. 

my mother's scottish trip destiny awaited. 

one of my mother's most admirable traits is once she sets her mind to something, it happens. 

such was the train of events that led to this glorious scotland/u.k. trip. 

so saturday the 28th of june was the day of the reenactment. 

prior to we spent a little time in edinburgh. 

those one way, no turn streets were getting the best of me so we did about 4 circles to nowhere. 

everyone was on high emotion with the potential of missing our battle appointment. 

i lost my cool. 

yes it happened a few times- 

a rage filled pull over of the car, 

some "you drive, i hate driving, i don't want to drive...." words; 

then some, "come on just drive, quit this...etc." convincing; 

and about an hour of dead silence.

there was a lot of anger in that car from time to time. 

when i'm driving 

and it's on the wrong side of the road 

so everything is in reverse 

and my co-crew is gasping, 

giving directions, 

and monitoring my every move-

i lose my head. 

i was already in high alert/emotion/on edge

then combine a time deadline, some wrong turns, and man

i lost my head-  

there was more than one pow wow of me threatening to stop driving within 8 days. 

there were days where i didn't freak out.... 

but about half the days i had to say, "ok stop this or i will stop."

so we drove. 

in silence. 

me checking the clock every 2 minutes.

calculating our estimated arrival. 

i dropped them off so they could at least be there. 

we made it though. 

all of us. 

now for some pics.

things got awesome in a hurry.

they had these interactive 3d people representing the english and scottish people involved in the battle.

they also had a room with screens on every wall (also 3d) that showed the battle.

we got to participate in an interactive battle after we perused the multimedia. 

it was way more than i was expecting.

my mom purchased the kings ticket 

we got to go in the visitors center (aka the pictures above)

we got some treats

and a good bag- that had a book, a candle, a scottish coke, and authentic scottish fudge

we also had reserved seating for the battle. 

the delicacies served.

some i liked.

some i thought were gross.

i nearly had myself some spirits (when in scotland hey?)

that strawberry biscuit puff thing... i ate about 4 and could have eaten 40. 

delectable.

naturally there was a stage for scottish bands. 

overlooking this country side.

then it rained. 

and rained.

and rained. 

and we hid under trees while it rained some more.

the robert the bruce monument.

next to this monument there was a massive flag pole. 

where the flag pole is is said place where robert the bruce claimed scotland's freedom.

the. man. 

king of the scots robert the bruce

my great great great great great great great great great great.... grandaddy.

hedwig was there for the battle.... 

but on a more serious note- 

who doesn't love birds of prey perched with easy eye access?

this wasn't quite what i imagined....

a bit smaller scale then i had in mind

it was cool. 

the announcer was extra funny so it made up for the lack of epicness.

this looks epic though doesn't it?

(it was still raining... just so i don't forget)

it was quite the experience
my first battle reenactment
my first partaking of scottish finger foods
my first scottish band listen fest in scot lands
a fine festivity to celebrate such an epic moment in scotland's history.

the sunday follwing the battle we did a repeat tour of some of the places that were closed last time we went.

the view from stirling castle 

the robert the bruce monument is in the background. 

we went back to dunfermline abbey to see the gravesite of robert the bruce.
here it is again from a different angle.

i will never tire of cathedral interiors.

stained glass is my favorite.

massive arched ceilings are favorite. 

wide open spaces are favorite. 

old awesome stone floors are favorite.

so really i should live in a cathedral- it would have all my desired amenities.

i like this a lot. 

i chuckle inside every time i see this.

the burial site of the king.

this is a view from the bridge in brave heart when william wallace destroys the opposition. 

(if memory serves me correctly... my mom will correct me if i'm wrong, mom?)

when maggie googled this place we couldn't stop ourselves. 

our first real chance to go to a pub like place in scotland. 

well it felt pub like- i wouldn't really know if i'm being honest.

yes they did serve kangaroo. 

i did indeed try a kangaroo burger- 

it was good. 

not sure what i can compare it to though. 

they also had this little gem in the restroom. 

i had never seen such a thing- 

$1 for 5 minutes of flatiron, but it takes 1 min. to heat up so be quick. 

strangest thing ever.

 

that was our saturday/sunday. 

the battle we were going to initially was scheduled for monday so we booked a hotel right by the battle. 

it just happened to be the only hotel we couldn't cancel. 

they just happened to cancel the battle on monday so we had to switch for saturday. 

it gave us some extra time to retrace our steps and see anything we had missed. 

we also went to the andrew carnegie birthplace museum while we were in dunfermline. 

he was the. man. 

seriously- i always wonder about people like that and think how do you become someone like that. 

sometimes i wish i could impact the world like people like him. 

where does one start- 

i left extra impressed and more in love with him than before. (i loved him a lot already.)

hope all in well in your area of the world. 

happy wednesday people.