Braveharder! (May 17th)

Come on...you didn't really think I was gonna get to the foot of the Wallace Monument and not actually go in, did you?

I retraced my steps from a few days before and found myself in Stirling once again.  I took the same bus and got up to the Wallace Monument where I now had all day to spend if I wanted to...not just a few minutes.

I browsed around the gift shop and found just about anything William Wallace or Braveheart you could ever ask for.  My favorite was the William Wallace beer...but I passed it up to save the 6 bucks and the weight off of my shoulders in my pack.

I didn't have a working camera, so I opted to spend $18 on a disposable camera...damn weak dollar.

I finally began climbing the 250 stairs of the monument.  Half way up though, I stopped and saw William Wallace's ACTUAL sword!  It was quite a site to behold, even though it didn't look like the sword used in the movies.  Personally, I think it was a good idea to create a new one because it looked much cooler then the real one.

He was a truly giant of a man though, as the sword was 1.6 meters long!  Some men's swords are longer then others I suppose.

After a few snap shots and checking out the terrible video they had of actors portraying William Wallace (honestly, they should've just put Braveheart on repeat), I headed to the top for...you guessed it...another great view of the surrounding area!

The bad thing about when I went was that it was freakin' cold out!  Couple that with the wind up on high and I could barely stand it.  Luckily, I found the one spot protected from the wind up there and was able to stay for a good half an hour.

I helped the moment by listening to the Braveheart soundtrack as I enjoyed the good view.  I know, how awesome am I??

After my nerd time was up, I decided it'd be cool to try to climb up some of the nice landscape I had just observed.  Heck, they didn't look that hard to get to, so I thought I'd give it a shot.

Me and my legs were sorely mistaken.

Literally, 5 HOURS LATER!  I still hadn't gotten to climb up anything!  I'll bet I walked 15 miles.

It wasn't all bad though.  I passed a super market more than one and enjoyed milk and cookies as I walked.  Now THAT was great!

I got to walk around Stirling University though, which reminded me a bit of Iowa State.  It had a Loch instead of Lake, and a golf course, but other then that it felt very similar.

My legs were very absolutely spent, so I started walking back to the train station.  I passed over Stirling bridge, the location of Wallace's greatest victory that earned him the title of Guardian of Scotland.  Though the original wooden structure had been destroyed, this one was from the 1500's and was still an interesting bit of history to experience.

I eventually tore myself away and hopped on my train back to Edinburgh.  I told Kaylie that I couldn't leave Scotland without trying some Haggis, so we set out and found some.

Now I don't know if it was TRUE haggis, but it actually tasted pretty good.  It was smothered in a pretty good house whiskey sauce, which may have dulled the true flavor of it.  When I come back I'll have to try the nothing-to-hide version.

The rest of the night was spent getting prepared to depart Scotland.  Kaylie wiped the tears of sadness from her eyes and said goodbye and good night.  By the time I went to bed, I only had a few hours of sleep before I had to catch my bus.

Hope my early morning travels go better then the other half of Places Productions...