Thursday morning, Marc joined us for a tour of the area north and west of Edinburgh. First, we visited Doune Castle, featured in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Remember the scene where the “French” soldiers catapulted animals over the wall onto King Arthur’s coconut-clapping companion?
Marc immediately found a geocache place near the parking area, his first in Scotland. Beware of Low Flying Livestock and Trojan Rabbits is the name of the cache he found. Marc and his wife Joelle have been geocaching for years, and they are very good at it! 48 countries! Over 8,000 caches. 146 in the US.
The audio tour at Doune was hilarious! Sound effects from the Monty Python adventures, with the voices of some of actors doing the narrative.
Outlander scenes were filmed in this castle, decades after Monty Python. The audio tour featured the actor Jamie’s voice, with personal bits about his time shooting scenes there. Doune Castle was a great adventure.
Between our castle tours, we saw the Falkirk Wheel, an engineering marvel built in the 20th century that allowed canal boats to be raised or lowered without using locks.
Next, we drove tiny roads toward Midhope Castle, which was used in the Outlander Series as Jamie’s home. When we arrived, with only about ten minutes to spare, we discovered we needed tickets to wander around outside the castle. Clare took a picture from the parking lot instead, and we went on for our next planned tour.
Blackness Castle was listed as part of the “Outlander” experience. The castle itself (military site?) is very well preserved, all the rocks in place. This place featured many spiral staircases, slippery in the damp weather.
Unfortunately, no audio tour was available at Blackness Castle. I love being able to listen and look around at the same time. Signs have to be read, so your eyes are too busy to enjoy the scenery.
Bunch of Geeks go Traveling 