A Laddie and A Lassie In Scotland and Ireland: A Day in Edinborough

Day 5 – Edinburgh

My day started out a bit unlucky. I got up extra early to take a shower and could not figure out how to work the knobs…it was either 120 degree temperature water or nothing. My hair went up in a ponytail instead. Somehow, when it was Chris’ turn for a shower he was able to figure it out; however there was not enough time for us both to shower before we had to leave for Stirling. Then, I discovered that my sunglasses had broken somehow. Luckily, I am a chronic over packer and always bring two pairs on vacation!

When we got outside, we were finally greeted by some beautiful sunshine. After a totally rainy day, it was so nice to see! We started out our trek to Stirling, U.K., to see the Stirling Castle and the William Wallace Monument. We had watched Braveheart in preparation for our trip to Scotland so we really wanted to see the places they referenced in the movie. I was also hoping to see Mel Gibson in his kilt, but no suck luck. In Scotland we have been having a bit of trouble navigating. The road signs seem to be a bit sparse, and if you see one sign (“Stirling Castle”) you may not see another for a while…and we often had to guess which ways to go in between. We have found it to be very frustrating, because we don’t have a map for each town. Travel Tip: Get a giant book of maps for the whole country before driving here! It will save so much time! It helped that Stirling Castle is way up on a hill above the town of Stirling. After finding our way, we actually found a free parking space just a five minute walk from the castle…bonus!

The castle itself is very beautiful and the views of the surrounding area are stellar. After paying the whopping entrance fee (14 pounds each) we hopped into a walking tour of the castle. We learned about how the castle had changed hands between the English and the Scots eight times from the 1100’s to the 1300’s. It was a great strategic stronghold because of its location on top of a hill. Finally, Robert the Bruce (who I knew from Braveheart!) took it back and razed it to the ground so that the English could never hold it against the Scots again. King James IV and King James V rebuilt and added on to the castle until it became what it is today. James V’s daughter, Mary, Queen of Scots was brought to the castle as an infant and spent a lot of time there as well. Inside the castle, people actually excavated an old football. It was made of a pig’s stomach. It was found in the ceiling of Mary Queen of Scots’ bedroom, where they had placed it to bestow blessings upon her. Footballs in the ceiling for good luck…interesting idea! Also, the first recorded display of fireworks happened at this castle to mark the birth of one of the children.

We were taken on a tour of the main castle buildings: the living space (including bedrooms), the courtyard and the chapel. We also saw the castle kitchen, which was set up with fake people and fake food to show what it might have looked like. There was a man dressed like a court jester who walked around and showed up randomly in rooms to give people a bit of history.

After our castle tour, we raced over to the William Wallace Monument, which stands in sight of the castle. We snapped a picture and then left, instead of paying to walk through it…we wanted to get back to Edinburgh for a walking tour and were running out of time. It turns out that we could have stayed, though, because we couldn’t find a parking spot in Edinburgh for a long time and we missed the walking tour. We were really disappointed about this… one of the downfalls of driving in big cities! Instead, we walked around on our own a bit before hopping onto another hop-on, hop-off bus tour. The tour was pretty expensive, and I think we could have walked instead. They also do not give as much historical background about places as Chris and I usually like. We find the walking tour to be much better for this. It was also quite chilly and windy, and a bit rainy to be sitting on an open-top bus. We saw some of Edinborough’s famous sites, such as Arthur’s Seat (where some really crazy tourists were climbing to the top), Edinburgh Castle, some Edinburgh architecture, and the tribute statue to Walter Scott. When we hopped off the bus, we walked around in some souvenir shops and passed by the Greyfriar’s Bobby dog statue, which commemorates a dog, who faithfully stayed at his owner’s grave until the dog died years later. This was one of my favourite things to see!

At dinner time, we went to a little pub called The Royal McGregor so that I could try my first haggis, neeps and tatties (haggis, turnips, and potatoes). I was quite unsure if I really wanted to eat haggis, but when in Scotland…It came out looking like a shephard’s pie…and was so delicious! I’m sure there are many ways to cook haggis but I was lucky enough to try it at this place and actually like it! It helped that it was smothered in gravy.

We went to bed early this night because we knew we had to wake up at 3:30 a.m. to drive to Blackpool for the Open Championship. Chris was so excited for the next day, he didn’t sleep a wink!

Chris, and Cannon, and the Views