We woke up on Sunday morning to rain, rain and more rain!!
Since neither Michael nor myself wanted to hike in the rain, we moved indoors instead!!
Our first stop was Inveraray Castle, home of the 13th Duke of Argyll and his family….
The foundation stone for the Castle was laid in 1746!! It took 43 years to complete and the 5th Duke was the first to live in it.
As expected, it was ornate, ostentatious, and had lots of gilt!!
I did enjoy this portrait of one of the past Dukes…..
This entryway was interesting with the weaponry being used for decorations!
We didn’t tarry long in the castle, but did enjoy morning tea before we left.
The next stop was to a slightly different type of castle…..
This one in need of some long overdue repairs!!
This castle stands on a rocky peninsula on Loch Awe. It was built in the mid-15th century but fell out of use and was in ruins by 1770.
It was interesting to see the architecture….
…and especially the rock masonry!
The final stop of the day was to Saint Conan’s Kirk (Kirk being the Scottish word for church)…..
The Kirk was hidden in the trees, making it hard to get a photo of the entire building, but we certainly enjoyed ogling all of the architectural details….
I love these stairs, but sure wouldn’t want to be forced to use them….
This window was interesting because it didn’t have any color in the glass…..
The more I look at it, the more I want to pull out fabrics and start re-creating it!!
I was impressed by the pipe organ…..
…until I realized that the “pipes” were strictly ornamental. They weren’t connected to the organ in any way!
It was fun to look up and see the wooden ceiling…..
…so different from the ornate ceilings of many UK Churches.
And of course, we were enamored with this “bunny gargoyle”…..
It looks as if the head is part of the gutter system.
And, I guess that these are owls…..
…but crudely carved.
On the way back to the lodge, we did a quick turn in the town of Inverary….
….until the rain sent us scurrying back to the car!!
All in all, it was a fun (non-physically taxing) day!!
Michael and I love to travel and see new parts of the world and then I love to take those memories and turn them into quilts!!! I hope that you enjoy traveling along with us!!
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I would love to go to Scotland, but I would have to hire a driver to take me everywhere, I would be afraid to drive on the opposite side! 🙂 So I enjoyed accompanying you virtually.