Linlithgow!

So, yesterday Emily, Anneke, Marie and I went to Linlithgow (lin-LITH-go)! Just say that name: it has a bit of magic to it. An odd type, to be sure, foreign and exotic, yet familiar, yet mystical. A friend had recommended the palace to me, and I have a few days to kill some time before heading back to the States, so this seemed like a good opportunity to go.

Emily, Anneke and I went to St Giles, though, first, because we'd been meaning to get some pictures inside the church before we left. You have to pay for a photography license (£2) but it was worth it.

St Giles Kirk from the outside

Looking inside through the arches

Stain glass window, circa 1880s

Stain glass celebrating Rabbie Burns, circa 1980s

Carving on ceiling before entering the Thistle Chapel

Looking down the nave of St Giles, towards the entrance

We met Marie at Waverley station and jumped on a train whose final destination was Glasgow. Fifteen minutes later, we arrived at the Linlithgow station and were in Linlithgow town. It was pretty simple, only a few major streets, a few cafes. It was probably the size of St Andrews, I'd say. We grabbed lunch and had a little picnic outside (despite the absolutely freezing weather), and then headed over to the palace. The first impression that I had of the palace was that it was absolutely huge - a fact which was only reconfirmed the more we scrambled through it.

Linlithgow Palace is in ruins, but as such it's pretty cheap to get in (about £5.40), and they let you wander all over the place. There are about five floors which face onto an inner courtyard, and five really large staircases you can wander up. I think I took more pictures yesterday than I did from about October 20 - November 20. There was so much to see and explore. Were I a servant in the mid-sixteenth century, fresh-faced from the farm, I would be utterly lost in that place.

Entrance to Linlithgow Palace, no the Sauron-esque tower is not part of the actual palace

Interior courtyard - with snow!

It's pretty big - now imagine three more sides to this thing

Linlithgow Loch

Big fireplace

How the Great Hall looks today

How it might've looked five centuries ago

Wee Emily up there!

Wee Emily is still up there!

Linlithgow was really cool - literally. My fingers were about to fall off. There were few other tourists there, though, so we had the run of the place, essentially. There were so many rooms and chambers, and they all went back on one another like a maze, that it was almost difficult to get out of the palace. As all of the rooms were in ruin, as well, it was difficult to remember which rooms were Mary's, which were those used by the King and Queen, etc, etc. However, it was a very fertile place for the active imagination - can't you just see memory-ghosts of servants bustling around, of the Queen pacing through her chambers, of little Mary playing down by the Loch?

The above photo is of one of the insignias above the entrance - it's quite sumptuous, is it not? Now imagine the entire castle with ornaments and decorations as brightly painted as the one above. Rather spectacular, no?

All in all, a very, very good day.