Linlithgow and the Ceilidh

Hello! Well today has been a really fun day.  I woke up this morning to see that it was snowing. (This statement is kind of deceiving because it wasn't sticking.  It's like it melted right before reaching the ground.)  Even though the weather was kind of "bleh" we decided that we would still go on to Linlithgow.  So, we got a train around 9:30 and were in Linlithgow by 10:00.  Now here is the funny thing, about halfway to Linlithgow we realized that the snow was starting to accumulate.  By the time we got to Linlithgow, there were about 3 inches on the ground.   Even though we were slightly disturbed by this fact, we decided to still try to see what we could.


There are a few things that I learned about snowy Scotland.  1.  Nobody functions when it's snowing.  2.  The snow is the really wet annoying kind.  So it's more slushy than snowy.  3.  The UK has not figured out the wonders of sidewalk salt.  We quickly learned these things upon getting of the train in the very snowy Linlithgow.


The town itself was really cute. (It would be nice to visit again sometime in the Spring.)  Before going, I had done a little research on Linlithgow and knew that it had a palace (which is why I was excited) and a really pretty cathedral.  So, we booked it (well as much as you can book it in the snow) towards the cathedral.  Along the way we saw some really pretty buildings.

Here is what we think was the town hall.  It had a really cool looking fountain out front.

I had a Narnia moment; standing in the snow, with an umbrella, under a lamppost, in the UK...

Then, we found our way into the church (which you can kind of see behind me and my lamppost in the picture above).  It was really pretty inside...and warm and dry.  There weren't a lot of people in there.  I don't think they get a lot of visitors even though it's a pretty old/famous church.  I say this because we were greeted by a really nice man who worked there (He may have been a priest.  I'm not really sure.).  The organist was also there and played while we were there.  It was really cool.

Here is the church (by the way it's called St. Michael's Cathedral).

Here is the inside.

We stayed in the church for a long time.  But, when we finally convinced ourselves to leave the warmth and dryness, we headed to the palace that was right behind the cathedral.

This palace has a lot of history.  Most importantly, it is the birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots.  (Mary Queen of Scots was the Queen of Scotland in the mid-1500s.  She also ruled France for a little while, then went crazy and was forced to abdicate the thrown.  She tried to claim the English crown from Elizabeth I who was her cousin and then was executed by some English guy for plotting Elizabeth I death (Elizabeth I didn't have anything to do with it).  That is the abbreviated history of Mary Queen of Scots.  Even though she kind of went crazy, she's known as martyr and is loved here in Scotland.)  

The palace is roofless (go figure.  It's winter and snowing and who decides to go to a roofless palace?  That's right, we do).  How did it become roofless you may ask?  Well, once upon a time the British were staying in the castle (this was during the whole battles between Scotland and England thing) and it caught/was set on fire.  It isn't really clear whether or not it was intentional or an accident.  But anyways the roof was made of wood, so it burned down and all that remained was the stone "shell".  The palace is still really beautiful though (and would have been even more beautiful sans snow).  Here are some pictures from the palace.

This is the entrance into the palace. (Historical fact:  This palace was only used for pleasure.  So, the royal family would vacation here.  It was never used for military purposes.)

This is the fountain in the middle little court yard area of the palace.  It is the oldest fountain in the UK (and it still works.  Just not on snowy days like today).

This is the Great Hall of the palace.  You can see kind of the structure of the palace here.  It all felt very Hogwarts.

Here is the view from the palace.  It overlooks a river that runs behind Linlithgow.

This is the view of Linlithgow from the highest turret that we could climb.  You can see the church we visited on the left and the town hall is where the Scottish flag is towards the middle.

After climbing down from the turret, we were officially soaked. So, we headed to the gift shop to thaw out a little.

I found a coo hat. They have these everywhere and I will own one before leaving Scotland.

After the gift shop we decided we really wanted to go back to Stirling and warm up.  So, we went to Tesco and bought some lunch (they have a meal deal where you get a sandwich, drink, and chips for 2 pounds) and ate it on the train back to Stirling.  Then, we rested (and warmed) up and got ready for the Ceilidh.  

First, let me explain that a Ceilidh is a traditional Scottish event.  There is folk music (there was a band at the one we went to that had fiddles, flutes, guitars, and harmonicas) and Scottish dances.  As was explained to us tonight, the dances that are danced at Ceilidhs are danced at Proms, Weddings and any other big event.  Little kids are taught these dances when they are really little, so they grow up knowing the dances.  But, if you're new to the whole Scottish dance thing, it doesn't matter because they are explained at the beginning of each dance and everyone is really helpful with newcomers.  

We had a great time.  I don't have a whole lot of pictures because nobody goes to a Ceilidh to just sit around; everybody dances (even if you aren't the most coordinated person like me).  There were little kids (like 8 years old) that did the dances and people 80 years old.  Basically, if your dancing in a group (all of the dances  are kind of like square dancing and line dancing with lots of spinning) everybody accommodates to everybody else's level.  So, while we had no idea what we were doing, everyone helped us who was more experienced. 

It was also a great way to meet local people.  We met all kinds of people from Stirling and Bridge of Allan (the church where the Ceilidh was held was in Bridge of Allan).  We had a great time.

Here is one of the dances that we actually didn't do.  You can kind of get an idea of what some of them are like.  Most of the dances we did were in a big group or line rather than coupled. 

Here are me and Katelin posing for a picture.

Here we are at the end of the Ceilidh.  As you can see, by this point, we were pretty sweaty and disgusting, but we had a great time.

Tomorrow we're going to back to church and to do some shopping in town.  Then, it's back to the essays for me.