They also had drawbridges and gates that could be lowered to trap invaders in the entrance way of the castle in case they got that far. We even saw one castle where there was a hole in the ceiling above the entrance that the guards could pour hot oil down, onto the enemy. The castles had small openings in the walls that the guards could shoot arrows through to defend themselves.
 
The people who lived in the castle were important, like kings and queens and lords. The knights were the people who would protect the castle. The weapons used by the knights were swords, longbows, axes, daggers, shields, crossbows, and maces, which were big spiked lead balls linked to a stick. To protect themselves, the knights wore armor and chain mail. Chain mail is tiny little rings of thick iron wire that were clasped together to make protective clothing. When a sword hit it, the chain mail would protect the knight from getting killed.
 
We also went to one of the most famous places in Scotland and that is Loch Ness. The reason Loch Ness is so famous is because lots of people have reported seeing a water monster there. This is the famous Loch Ness Monster, or "Nessie."
 
There's another water monster that's been seen in Lake Champlain, which borders New York and Vermont, and people call that one "Champ." In Scotland, there have been "Nessie" sightings since the 1600s, but Nessie became really famous when pictures were taken of it in the 1930s. We probably had a better chance of seeing a flying ice cream truck then Nessie, but it was still fun to look for her.
 
Another fun thing we did in Scotland was golf. Scotland is the home of golf and one of the most famous courses in the world is here. It's called the Old Course in St. Andrews, which was the first ever 18-hole golf course in the world. We played mini-golf right next to it and we got to walk on the course because it was closed. One of the really hard things about the Old Course is the wind because it's right next to the ocean. We also played pitch and putt at the Gleneagles Resort which also has world famous golf courses.

That was a ton of fun. The pool there was also terrific! It was both indoor and outdoor . . . and nice and heated!
 
Scotland was funny too because all the sheep (and there were lots!) were spray-painted different colors so the farmers could keep track of which ones were theirs. We loved driving around Scotland because we got to see so many cute little baby lambs and cool looking highland cows, which have crazy big horns and long hair, kinda like hippie cows.

We really liked our visit here!