Here we go! A travel adventure to the "homeland." My parents were born near Glasgow and with my two older sisters emigrated to Canada in the 50's. So I have history there. John and I had a wonderful experience in Scotland in 2000 with Angie and Patty and have wanted to go back ever since.
Now with Ken and Ann (John's brother and wife) in tow we made our way across the pond for a 2 week driving tour of Scotland before heading to Ireland for 10 days. We were looking forward to meeting my cousins and Ann's "Kindergarten boyfriend" as well as looking up her Great Grandmother's place in Ballina Ireland. Friends from one of their cruises were on our agenda for lunch in Edinburgh. Lots to look forward to. So in hindsight...our travels.
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| The volvo! With a bit of a mix up at the car rental place we ended up with this brand new "prestige" vehicle. We are still in negotiations with the company about the price. The vehicle we had ordered had apparently been in an accident and this was the only other one they had that would hold 4 large suitcases and 2 sets of golf clubs! |
Our first Bed and Breakfast was Firgrove; a lovely and huge stone house in a well treed and pretty area only a few minutes walk from the pedestrian area of Stirling. Stirling is not far from Glasgow, where we landed, but we did get caught up in traffic due to an accident. It was wonderful to arrive at Firgrove and a warm welcome by Tim and Pip (his faithful Jack Russell)
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| Lovely cemetery on the way up to Stirling Castle. Castles are always on the highest ground. |
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| The battlements? |
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| Beautiful crests and restored interiors of the Great Halls. |
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Stirling Castle: part of it has been restored to the original colour. Castles were usually painted (washed with colour) and not the dull stone that we see today!
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| This is just the beginning of a beautiful breakfast experience! Smoked salmon or haddock, eggs, peameal bacon, toast, scones, fruit, cereal, yogurt, haggis, black pudding...wow! Every B&B had an exquisite offering. As a result we tried to keep lunches light...soup and a pint. Okay, we are on holiday! |
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| A great view of Stirling Castle from the Wallace Monument. |
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| A great view of the Wallace Monument from Stirling Castle (not my picture) |
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| Freedom! William Wallace's sword is impressive even to a non-violent person like myself. The man must have been huge to wield this weapon. The tower monument is tall and imposing, well almost phallic (hush!) but climbing 246 steps to the top is invigorating. Stops along the way give a history of Wallace and the era making the climb a non issue. |
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| Little Wally feels right at home here. |
http://www.nationalwallacemonument.com/the-monument.html
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| I loved this hologram of William Wallace. He speaks and is hard to photograph but this one turned out quite well. He is making an impassioned speech here and you have to see it, and hear it to believe it! |
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