Archaeology Field Trip to Linlithgow Palace and the Antonine Wall

Finally! Something fairly interesting to blog about!

So today was our second (and last) Archaeology field trip.  Thankfully, the weather was much better than last time - no rain, and the sun even peeked out for awhile (even though it was really cold at some points)

Once again, we had to leave at 8:30 to get the bus at 9:00 to leave Glasgow.  We didn't have to drive as far as we did last time, but I'm not even going to be able to truly guestimate how far we drove... the clock in our bus was telling us it was 10:30 pm when we got on... and then half an hour later it was 10:34.  On the map though, its a little over halfway between Glasgow and Edinburgh (and a little north).

Anyway!  Linlithgow Palace was the birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots (and I'm sure a bunch of other people).  She was around at the same time as Queen Elizabeth I of England (mid to late 1500s), that is until Queen Elizabeth had her beheaded for treason.  You know how cousins can be.

The palace itself is not in the same state the it used to be.  I'm not really sure how/why it happened but a lot of it is destroyed in places.  Almost like its halfway between ruins and a preserved palace.  Because you can walk up into it, but there are places where they've had to put railings up because the wall is no longer there, and walkways because the floor is no longer there.  Theres also a couple rooms where you look up and realize that the floors for three floors above you isn't there (because you can see that there are three fireplaces in a row going up, and theres a mark where the floor must have been)

Inside the courtyard.  This is apparently the "newest" part of the palace, the style of windows has something to do with it.  Can't remember what style it was, gah!

From inside one of the rooms in the Palace.  I love how you can see that there were three floors here but now they're gone.  So weird to think that people used to walk around in those hallways and through those doors.

View from one of the windows.  Yay fall!

Another view from another window :)

A fancy fireplace

Looking into the courtyard from inside one of the rooms.  That darker bit on the far wall was intended as the original "grand entrance" (inside part of course), and it apparently would have made a really big statement.  There are also three niches that I don't think are easy to see in this picture that would have held some sort of impressive statues!  Oh, and thats a fountain in the middle - more on that later.

Down a hallway

Stairway... very dangerous by the way.  Especially when you've got 100 or so Archaeology students all trying to explore the same areas in a limited time.

Another view (might be from the same window or be the same area as an earlier picture, but I still like it)

The fountain in the courtyard!  Its so much better looking in person.  Its got mermaids and little drummer boys and unicorns and lions all over it.  Super impressive!  Too bad theres no water, but still, hey.

The original entrance of Linlithgow Palace, as built by James I.  (The entrance was moved by a later king around to the side... not quite sure why)  But its interesting because the reason why this is a Palace and not a castle is because its intention was not to be used as a defensive location.  It would not be good at being protected (something to do with all those windows?).  And then theres these little things in the front (bottom right of the building) that you probably can't see.  They were stuck on at a later date to make the Palace seem more... scary/castle like(?)  But they weren't really useable.

After Linlithgow Palace, we hiked back to the buses and went to the Falkirk Wheel for lunch.  I had thought that the Falkirk Wheel was a ferris wheel, based in part on the number of brochures for the place I had seen, and the fact that its 'tagline' is "A Great Day Out!".  But apparently, what it actually is, is sort of like a lock for canals.  Its a rotating wheel, with two platform things, and a boat on one part of the canal (that is really high up) can go onto one of the platforms, and then it rotates down to connect with the other part of the canal at a lower place.

For some reason, I didn't take any pictures of the Falkirk Wheel... maybe because I was sad/mad/disappointed that it wasn't a Ferris Wheel (AND it wasn't even working while we were there).  But this picture is from google... not mine.

Then we trecked up behind the Falkirk Wheel (like off to the right where that weird looking track is heading off into the distance), and after awhile, we arrived at the Antonine Wall.  The Antonine Wall is kind of like Hadrian's Wall, but more like its younger brother.  Both Hadrian's Wall and the Antonine Wall are walls built by the Roman's to be the borders to their territories/empire.  Construction for the Antonine Wall began in about 140 AD - although it was eventually abandoned.  Its not really actually there anymore as far as I know, its just kind of where they "know" it is/was.  Or maybe its there but was under the dirt... the Professor never 100% explained that.

Connected to the Antonine Wall is an old Roman Fort (which would have been used to guard the wall and control trade and traffic, etc).  Its not really preserved either, so what you mainly see is just ditches and parts where the earth is obviously built up.  They say that means there were buildings there but honestly, it looked like we were standing in a lumpy field.  I'm sure if I'd had some type of plan for the fort in my hand it would have made more sense but... alas.

I didn't take too many pictures of the "fort" and the "wall" because the pictures just look like fields... but here are some that I did take.

This is a part of the Antonine Wall.  The right part (where the ridge is before it starts to slope down, is where the wall would have been.  Then there was this ditch in front of it, for further protection.  I'm standing kind of in the ditch but where there was a pathway/gateway into the Roman Fort.  This ditch thing stretches for a loooong way. 

The rest of the pictures I took of the actual "fort" are really very boring, so I'm not going to post them. 

However, we had to walk back to our buses along this area and then in this kind of like, country lane, and I have some nice pictures from that, so... theres that instead.

Looking back at the ditch and the Antonine Wall, I guess it kind of "stops" at this point for a little while.  Once again, not quite sure why.

And then I decided to experiment and take some black and white pictures so everything else is going to be in black and white.

Gate area

Little house in the distance

Don't know why but I like this picture. 

And then we headed back to Glasgow... but the fieldtrip wasn't over!  Nope, our next stop was the Glasgow Cathedral - which, if you may recall, I have already been to.  So I decided to continue with my black and white photography thing, and try to take a couple of "cool" pictures of the Cathedral.

I know these two pictures are very similar but I liked them both and decided to share them both :)

A ceiling

Looking up at the Necropolis from outside of the Cathedral.

The little cemetery area right outside of the Cathedral.

Close up of the Necropolis.

And then just two pictures of the University that I took when we got back.

Reminds me of Mary Poppins.

So that was the field trip!

I regret to say that although today is the 5th of November, I was unable to go to Glasgow's "Bonfire Night" Fireworks.  I've heard they're really good though, so if you're here for Bonfire Night, try to check them out.  (Am feeling somewhat bad that I missed them, but stuff happens). 

I also just got to my two month mark yesterday.  So now I have officially been here for two months (!) and will be home in a little under a month and a half.  I have to say that while I am enjoying my time here, and am definitely glad to be here, I also can't wait to be home.  If you're considering study abroad, don't just take my opinion on it, because some people here never want to go home.  I guess for me, its just harder to be away from my family - thats the main hard part.  It also doesn't help that when I get back it will be time for Christmas, and I love Christmas, so I'm looking forward to both being home, and it being Christmas.

I'm expecting November to be a hard month for me - because my birthday is next week and then obviously Thanksgiving at the end of the month.  And I'll admit it, I've never been away from my family for either my birthday or Thanksgiving, so I'm not quite sure what to do with myself.  Its so strange.  I will try to update on/near my birthday and Thanksgiving to try to explain how I'm feeling at the time (mainly for those who may be considering studying abroad and want to know what its really like being away).  A lot of the things I read before coming here was all either before Thanksgiving (or whatever) or after it.  And so there was a bit of distance from the event and the feelings, and I want to try to get my actual feelings - to be as acurate as possible as to what its like.

I think thats all for now... have some essays coming up that I need to work on.

Next weekend is another weekend trip.  This one is our longest one, we'll be at our destination for four days!  Still time to guess where I'm going before I "reveal" it next week!  Incase you don't know, the poll is on the side of my blog, on the top right.  Give it a guess!

Until next time!