Last Day
This is the last post about our Christmas '15 trip to Europe.
It was the last day of our trip.
It was the last day of 2015.
New Year's Eve! We said goodbye to the Bayons. They were off to London to catch a flight back to the US of A. It must be said here: they were absolutely fantastic traveling companions!! We all played so well together. Goals and expectations for the trip were discussed ahead of time, everyone's "must see" lists made and our travel styles, while different, managed to mesh. Synergy!! Having another family allowed the parents to do date nights, the dads got to hang together, and moms got to have time out together. The kids had each other to share the whole experience with. The boys would have liked the trip if it had been just us, but sharing it with friends we love made it so much more special. We were sad to see them go, but so so grateful to have had this fantastic adventure with them.
We checked out of Edinburgh about the same time and drove across the isle toward Glasgow with a stop in Stirling. The Stirling Castle was super cool! We arrived as the mist was just lifting from the hills. It gave an eerie feeling to the cemetery near by, and a mystical vista of the Wallace Monument across the valley.
Stirling Castle was a true residence, rather than the fortress type we'd seen in Edinburgh. We were allowed to walk around a bit more freely here, too, and again due to the holiday there were almost no other visitors there. Van and Wes found the archer windows and a couple smaller portcullis entries to explore before we entered the castle. It was a blast just checking all this out!
Inside were lots of excellent interactive exhibits for the kids about castle life - dressing, music, court life, food, etc. Moving through those we then went into the royal residence. It was so colorful! It wasn't just stone and windows - they'd done a really beautiful job restoring the roundels and all the woodwork in the rooms. There were even a character or two to meet along the way and tell you about royal life at Stirling Castle. And we finally got to see a real suite of armor! The boys were pretty siked.
The weather was starting to turn when we left the castle and by the time we arrived at the Wallace Monument it was determined that seeing it from the bottom was good enough for this journey, we'd explore the climb to the top another visit. It was still pretty cool from the base though!
On to Glasgow and one last hotel stay. We saw the Kelpies from the road on the drive over, but otherwise it was pretty uneventful. When we got to the hotel, a Hilton this time, we were so wiped. The boys were siked to just order room service and watch a movie in our room, and mom and dad were happy to oblige (NYE making it quite hard to find food worth going out for given the weather and our state of mind). We packed for the flight the next day, and just chilled. Sorry Glasgow! Next time we'll get out and check out the sights.
The boys' first European vacation was over. They were absolutely fantastic for all of it (aside from a few moments when they reminded us they were 7 & 5 years old). Mom and Dad are so, so proud of them! The journals are full and I am positive they will love looking back at them in the future (heck, they read through them just today and were all smiles remembering their entries).
This will not be our last overseas trip. Those passports are good for a few more years - we need to put some more stamps in them!
It was the last day of our trip.
It was the last day of 2015.
New Year's Eve! We said goodbye to the Bayons. They were off to London to catch a flight back to the US of A. It must be said here: they were absolutely fantastic traveling companions!! We all played so well together. Goals and expectations for the trip were discussed ahead of time, everyone's "must see" lists made and our travel styles, while different, managed to mesh. Synergy!! Having another family allowed the parents to do date nights, the dads got to hang together, and moms got to have time out together. The kids had each other to share the whole experience with. The boys would have liked the trip if it had been just us, but sharing it with friends we love made it so much more special. We were sad to see them go, but so so grateful to have had this fantastic adventure with them.
We checked out of Edinburgh about the same time and drove across the isle toward Glasgow with a stop in Stirling. The Stirling Castle was super cool! We arrived as the mist was just lifting from the hills. It gave an eerie feeling to the cemetery near by, and a mystical vista of the Wallace Monument across the valley.
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| Stirling Castle |
Inside were lots of excellent interactive exhibits for the kids about castle life - dressing, music, court life, food, etc. Moving through those we then went into the royal residence. It was so colorful! It wasn't just stone and windows - they'd done a really beautiful job restoring the roundels and all the woodwork in the rooms. There were even a character or two to meet along the way and tell you about royal life at Stirling Castle. And we finally got to see a real suite of armor! The boys were pretty siked.
The weather was starting to turn when we left the castle and by the time we arrived at the Wallace Monument it was determined that seeing it from the bottom was good enough for this journey, we'd explore the climb to the top another visit. It was still pretty cool from the base though!
On to Glasgow and one last hotel stay. We saw the Kelpies from the road on the drive over, but otherwise it was pretty uneventful. When we got to the hotel, a Hilton this time, we were so wiped. The boys were siked to just order room service and watch a movie in our room, and mom and dad were happy to oblige (NYE making it quite hard to find food worth going out for given the weather and our state of mind). We packed for the flight the next day, and just chilled. Sorry Glasgow! Next time we'll get out and check out the sights.
The boys' first European vacation was over. They were absolutely fantastic for all of it (aside from a few moments when they reminded us they were 7 & 5 years old). Mom and Dad are so, so proud of them! The journals are full and I am positive they will love looking back at them in the future (heck, they read through them just today and were all smiles remembering their entries).
This will not be our last overseas trip. Those passports are good for a few more years - we need to put some more stamps in them!
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