Day 4, Scottish History

We got up early-ish in order to get a jump on the long day of driving and seeing the country-side. We said good bye to our nice little flat and headed for the Waverley Train Station to grab a bite to eat and catch the Airlink bus to the airport where we would pick up a rental car. The weather was pretty good with more sun that clouds so the on and off trend of the weather continued.

The morning mist rising off the Crags.

Morning mist.

The view of the Crags from my bedroom.

Two beds, one to sleep on and the other for gear.

The kitchen of our flat. Notice the Euro style combo washer/dryer.

The living room/dining room.

This is Chessels Court. Our flat was a couple of floors up behind the red door on the left.

Across the Court.

This was across the Royal Mile from our flat. It says "Edinburgh School of English". Mom will kill me for not investigating further!

Cheese and Onion Pasty and a Hot Chocolate for breakfast. And here I thought a pasty came as a set as was used by female dance performers. What?

Waverley Train Station was in full work commute mode.

An attempt at an artistic shot of the train tracks.

I got all geeked out on the chevrons on the back of service trucks, ambulances and fire engines. Funny that we've adapted this only recently.

Looking West towards the airport.

This is the completed portion of the Tram that will run from the Airport to City Center. Millions over budget and behind schedule. Sounds familiar.

A look at how isolated the Castle is from the West side.

While we were on the Airlink bus we snagged the best seats on the second level in the front above the driver. I was fantastic viewing and I was able to get a couple of the shots above. We got to the airport and drug our bags over to the Car Rental Station. Of course our place had the only line in the joint so after a while, D finally got our car. Unfortunately in Europe they charge extra for a second driver, even if you're related so K didn't drive either. D was left to figure out the driving on the left with a right hand drive car thing by himself. We proceeded to the lot and met our steed, whom I immediately christened Sage. She was a Ford Mondeo Titanium X, whatever that means. She was comfortable and spacious although I was soon to find out, the passenger felt like you were riding on the edge of the ditch on small roads. All of the roads were small. D drove well the whole time but I felt like I had a permanent cringe the whole trip because their roads are so small. I don't see how the bus and tractor-trailer drivers do it.

D meets Sage.

Aww, hell. Look out Scotland here come the Americans!

A helpful reminder in several languages.

After mirrors and seats were adjusted to ensure optimum visibility, we bravely ventured in to the Scottish road network and D was immediately baptized by fire. Right out of the airport there were at least four traffic circles of which two were quite large. Nothing to fear, he adeptly wove in to traffic and soon we were on the M9 (like an interstate) to Stirling, our first stop of the day.

I used a mix of phone GPS, paper map and road signs to navigate. The paper map was not helpful for the details mainly due to its size. It was at least 4' x 5' when you unfolded it, something that I did not discover until trying to unfold it in the car. While D was driving on unfamiliar roads and high speeds. Smooth move on my part. The phone GPS indicated one way and the road sign another. We chose the road sign and it did eventually get us to our destination of Stirling Castle, the center of a lot of Scottish history. We wound our way up some narrow, probably one way, streets to find that the parking lot was full at the top. We followed teeny tiny signs to a remote parking lot at the bottom of the hill where we were supposed to find a shuttle bus. Eventually we did and it worked out great with very little wait for a bus.

On the way up, and later back down, we passed a fire station where it looked like the boys were doing a rope drill of some sorts behind the bays.

We got up to the Castle after a short bus ride and toured around. We had more time than we did at Edinburgh, so it was nice to take our time and really get a feel for the place. The River Forth is in the valley and Stirling is situated at a choke point where any invaders from the north or the south would have to cross the river in the Stirling area. The Castle provides a perfect vantage point to control that crossing point.

You can just make out the William Wallace Monument across the river.

One of the arrow loops.

Ready for action.

The Great Hall is whitewashed on the exterior so it appears almost golden in the sunlight.

One of the more ornate tapestries in the Queen's bedchamber. Apparently the bed in there was only for show, she actually slept in another room nearby. There's a joke in there somewhere about decorative throw pillows that you ladies like, I'm sure.

The Royal Coat of Arms.

Robert the Bruce.

After touring the Castle and the grounds we stopped for a bite in the cafe there. Not bad. Then we got back on the bus as it began to sprinkle a bit and headed back down to the car park. With a little bit of time we decided to head across the River Forth to the William Wallace Monument.

Constructed in the 1860s, it reminds me of the George Washington Masonic Temple in Alexandria. The Wallace Monument (this is the National Wallace Monument, there are others around Scotland and around the world. I'm going to have to find the one in Baltimore.) sits on another hill across from Stirling Castle. From the top of the 246 steps you have expansive views of the area around Stirling, the site of the Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1267 and Bannockburn off in the distance. We got to the car park and D and I hopped on the minibus for the short drive to the top. As the only passengers on this trip the driver, a Glaswegian as we found out, we chatted with the driver during the five minute drive. He was quite talkative, unusual for a Scot, and I think D and I caught what he was saying with about a 5 second time delay for comprehension due to the thick accent. He was telling us that they have had a lot of rain this summer, more than usual, which has led to ruined crops and higher produce prices. The things you learn!

We got to the top and entered the Monument. The 246 steps to the top were dizzying but we were rewarded with informative history displays along the way which corrected my understanding of Scottish history which to this point was mostly based on Braveheart. The real history is more entertaining I think.
The Hall of Heroes had information on national heroes from the past and several marble busts of most of them. Once at top there was an observation platform where we could see most of the historic sites in the area. From the first battle with the Picts to Stirling Bridge to Bannockburn, it was well worth the price of admission.

Lunch at the Stirling Castle Cafe. Ham and cheddar baguette, potato salad and a San Pellegrino Limonata.

A storefront I snapped on our way down the hill.

An Army truck makes its way in to the circle.

Those that know me know why I took this picture. Also, I have a Bruder toy version of this truck at home.

These portable traffic lights were all over Scotland anywhere they were alternating traffic around a work zone. Beats flaggers standing out in the sun all day.

The monument from the valley floor.

From the bottom.

That is Stirling Castle. You can just make out the lighter, gold colored Great Hall.

Another crest.

The Man himself.

Wallace again.

Not sure.

Robert the Bruce I think.

Looking back towards Stirling Castle. Stirling Bridge is to the right of the photo.

Bannockburn is somewhere back that way.

The dizzying 246 steps. And narrow too.

We chose to walk back down where we met up with K and piled in to the car to complete our journey in to the Highlands.

K had read about some place called the House of Bruar that sounded like a good place to stop if we wanted to find good Scottish tweed and clothing. After navigating unclear road signs (at least that's my story!) we pulled in and what a place it turned out to be! Safe to say that this place is on my Christmas wish list for the next couple of years. The bad thing was that we got there around 5:20 and they closed at 6. Boooo. I only had time to look around, but I definitely picked out a few tweed sport coats that would look great on me. Hint, hint.

More pictures of construction equipment.

Gathering rain clouds as we approach the Highlands. Should have brought my Barbour coat.

Blurry shot of a cool rollback.

I should have asked how my name got on his truck. And who is WJ?

Heavy rain forecast.

My Christmas wish list.

After we closed down the House of Bruar we tried to make up some time to get to our destination for the night, the Glengarry Castle Hotel. D and K didn't have a good idea of what this place was going to be like since the description made it sound at first like you would be staying in an actual castle. Then it was clear that the hotel was built next to the ruins of a castle, the Invergarry Castle in the town of Invergarry. I had visions of a motel like a Holiday Inn or Motel 6. I couldn't have been more wrong. The Glengarry Castle Hotel is in fact built next to the ruins of the Invergarry Castle overlooking Loch Oich, but it is actually the manor house built in the late 1860s by architect David Bryce who designed over 100 baronial mansions in Scotland.

We checked in but in an effort to find a place to eat (it was close to 8 and the Hotel was about to stop serving) we didn't unpack, we instead motored back up the road towards Loch Ness to the town of Fort Augustus. There we were to find the Lock Inn which came highly recommended as some of the best pub food in Scotland. Once we found it after a bit of driving on both sides of the Loch canal, it didn't disappoint. 

My off road folks might appreciate this. A diesel, 4 door cab, Ford Ranger.

Nice Superwinch. Check out the winch emergency shut offs on both corners of the bumper. Really nice set up.

More chevrons!

We finally made it to the Lock Inn, but had to wait for a table. While we waited the barmaid poured a pint for we three thirsty travelers. A table was sorted and we sat down to enjoy the traditional fish and chips.

Check that monster out! I had to ask if it was actually the Loch Ness Monster they fried up!

I think this was Bailey's Cheesecake. Whatever it was it was delicious!

My favorite.

The lock system leading to Loch Ness.

Once back at the Glengarry Castle Hotel, I rewarded myself with a wee dram of 18 year Macallan in the lounge while I caught up on some reading. That's the Scotsman and Nat Geo in case you can't make it out. Sublime.

It was a long day of driving for D and everyone took a few moments to relax in the sumptuous lounge in the Hotel before turning in for the night. The Glengarry Castle Hotel comes highly recommended from me. The baronial mansion felt like I was spending a night with the Earl and Countess of Grantham. I slept well.