We slept in quite a bit today, but I think the sleep was needed. And we didn’t really have any set plans so it didn’t really matter. We did eventually get up and moving though and the first item on the agenda was to see the Wallace national monument. And all day we were just going to be hoping that it wouldn’t rain.
We took a bus to a place that was closer to the monument but there was still a bit of uphill walking to go. And then of course when you got to the monument itself there was an uphill hike and then over 200 stairs to get to the top of the monument. Needless to say we got a bit of a workout. The monument honors the Scottish hero William Wallace you fought during the wars way back in some era I can’t remember. But basically he was fighting for Scottish independence. So years later they built this monument to remember him and honor him and all that good stuff. The monument experience includes climbing all these stairs, in a narrow spiral staircase, and there are a few stops along the way, a couple of landings where there is some information about Wallace and Scotland and the monument. Really I think they just had to put some landings in as a place for people to catch their breath for a sec while climbing all those stairs.
We did make it to the top though, where it is open and exposed to the elements. It was cloudy and windy and cold and we could see it raining all around us near the mountains or highlands. So we didn’t stay too long to admire the view, just long enough to take a couple of pictures and get thoroughly chilled. Then it was back down the winding staircase and down the muddy path through the hills.
From there we set off towards the university. We were planning on stopping there to eat lunch. On the way we walked through some of the campus housing. Apparently they’re called “chalets” but basically it’s a bunch of wooden cabins and looks more like accommodations for a summer camp. But otherwise the university seems really nice. It looked like there was a lot of stuff to do there and things seemed pretty modern and new looking. While we were there we got a drink from the coffee shop and ate sandwiches we had brought with us. We also got to meet one of Rachel’s UK friends. He was English and I forget what exactly his area of expertise is but he seemed liked the way too smart type. Nice enough though.
After our lunch break we took the long way back to the bus stop so that we could see all the swans that live on the “loch” on campus. There were a ton of them. And they’re a lot bigger than you think they are. And they were hoping we had food. But we didn’t, luckily, or else they probably would have been swarming us even more so than they already did. We had to leave the swans behind though as we needed to get to the big attraction, stirling castle.
The bus took us, again, close to the castle but there were still some hills between the castle and us. But we made it up to the castle and began to explore the castle where numerous Scottish rulers had lived. The neat thing about stirling is its location. Its location is referred to as the gateway to the highlands as it is located in about the middle of the country between the highlands and the lowlands. And basically it was said that whoever controlled this area had control of the country as a whole. The whole castle experience is very well done. What they are trying to do is make the castle look as it would have when it was inhabited hundreds of years ago. They have painted the outside on part of it as it would not have been just bare and exposed stone back in the day. Also a big deal in the castle is a group of wood carvings known as the “stirling heads” which adorn the ceiling of one of the rooms of the castle. These carvings were installed during the reign of one of the many James and were suppose to show different characteristics of his and why he had the right to rule and all that jazz. So the castle people have had all of these heads remade and painted and put back in their place on the ceiling. It’s all really nice and pretty cool to see. There’s lots of information so you know exactly what you’re seeing the whole time.
We stayed at the castle right up until closing time and then we walked back into town to go out to dinner. We went to this pub where they served just your typical pub food – burgers and other sandwiches, nothing too strange. Apparently macaroni and cheese is eaten a lot in Scotland though so that’s what I got. Something I like and something “traditional”. It was a really good meal. After that we would have liked to have gone and looked around at some shops or something as it was only like 7 or something like that, but apparently in stirling shops typically close at like 5 or 6. Weird.
So we just walked back to the house and spent another night relaxing in the homey atmosphere. We used the internet and looked up our family names to see if they were connected with any Scottish clans. Mine isn’t, but it was still fun to look at all of the family tartans. The kilt is still very much used as traditional formalwear here and a big part of that is the family tartan. The kilt is not just any plaid pattern, it’s the family tartan and each clan has its own. It’s kind of cool really.
Soon it was time for bed though, another chance to get a good night’s sleep before returning to our crazy tourist schedule as we roam around Ireland. Hard to believe I’m only a week away from home! It’s been the adventure of a lifetime though and I’ll take a little exhaustion if it means I get to see so many amazing things and go to so many amazing places.
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