Tuesday in Stirling

On Tuesday we hopped on a train to Stirling (about 45 minutes away) for a day out. The weather was beautiful and sunny, just like it has been for most of the week. Our first stop was the National Wallace Monument, without realising just how long a walk we were embarking on. I knew it was just out of town, and we could see it from downtown. We just had no idea how big it is, and therefore that it was a lot farther away than it appeared. It took over an hour to walk there, and then once at the foot of the hill on which it sits we walked up the forest path to the base of the monument.

The monument itself was a beautiful stone Victorian structure dedicated to the memory and legend of William Wallace. Opting not to climb it (we'd already walked a long way!), we walked all around the base, admired the views of the countryside, the hills of the highlands in the not-so-far distance, and the town. Included in our view was Stirling Castle, sitting high above the city and reminding us how far it was back to town and our next stop. We ate lunch at the poorly marked picnic area to the side of the monument (the 'Picnic Area' sign had been turned around 180 degrees so that it pointed over the edge of the cliff), and it was this peaceful lunch that was my favourite part of the day.

On the way back to town we opted for public transport, and the ride on the bus lasted only a few minutes. We wanted to get a better look at Stirling Bridge, which we had crossed earlier, and to do this we climbed a hill path up to a couple cannons and 'The Beheading Stone'. From here we took a different path, walked along an alleyway, and winded our way up the side of the castle's hill up to the entrance of the castle.

Stirling Castle has an amazing history. I actually think it's history and architecture is more interesting than Edinburgh's. Stirling is considered the gateway to the highlands, so its strategic importance has been known and fought over for centuries as the English kings fought the Scottish monarchs for control. There's lots of buildings to see, including the large hall which has been completely restored, and even painted in the colour of gold that the entire castle would have been painted in the medieval period. There were also several beautiful tapestries hanging in the hall, and more are being made (they each take 4 years to make in the traditional manner) to replace the original ones which are now housed in NY. Unfortunately, one of the main buildings is currently under refurbishment, but hopefully it'll be open again to the public within the next two years.

We decided to get a joint membership to Historic Scotland, which gives us free access to castles and sites all over Scotland, and 50% off historic sites in England and Wales. This means we can now pop up to Edinburgh Castle whenever we want :) I hope to make good use of our membership over the next year or two!