FREEDOM! (May 15th)

I was heading to Stirling today to check out the castle there and to see the William Wallace monument. Despite the movies numerous historical inaccurasies, there really was a person named William Wallace and he's known as the Gaurdian of Scotland.

I ended up sleeping in a bit, which I didn't think was a big deal at the time.  I went by a little convenience store to get some flapjacks....it was actually the exact one we went to the night before when I tried some of Sam's...I pretty much thought about it all night cause it was AMAZING!  Now flapjacks aren't synonymous with pancakes, like in the States.  They're pretty much sugary oat bars of deliciousness.

So I grabbed a few and caught the noon bus to Stirling.  The ride took about an hour, but honestly it could've lasted all day and I would've loved it.  The scenery of Scotland is what I came for and it is just remarkable.  The rolling green hills, Highlands monopolizing the horizon, is just a truly amazing sight to see!

I got into Stirling and didn't really know what to do, so I hopped on my first sightseeing bus of the trip and enjoyed the views of the city.  There a recorded audio commentary during the ride, so I learned a lot of cool things about the city.  We went around near Bannockburn, where Robert the Bruce defeated the English in the year of our lord, 1314.

I visited Stirling castle next, which was quite a site to see.  Like Edinburgh castle, it was perched up high on an outcrop of rocks overlooking the city.  I took a tour for the first hour and a half I was there.  It was lead by one of the best tour guides I've had to date...partially because he spoke with an awesome Scottish accent, but mainly because he was very entertaining.  He wasn't a typical tour guide because he really got into talking about the information and he committed.  Much better then most tour guides I've seen recently.

The most interesting thing I saw was the spot where Mary Queen of Scots was crowed at the tender age of 9 months.  It was said that the crown slid right over her entire body because she was so small:)

I felt very rushed after the tour though, as I had only 15 minutes left to just explore the castle and check out the views before the next bus came.  I would've just gotten the next one, but I was very pressed for time because my return bus home left at 6 and that was the last one of the day.

So I was left with only about two more hours in Stirling.  So I caught my bus and it lazily meandered through town and finally out to the Wallace monument.  Since it took so darn long to get there I was in a pickle.  I only had about twenty minutes to spend.

Should I spend the 6 pounds and sprint up the 250 stairs or should I save the money and just go on home?

It was a tough decision, but I decided just to go home seeing as how I didn't want to get stuck in Stirling for the night.  Oh well....

I caught my buses and got back to Edinburgh without any problems.  That night Sam cooked up some bangers (brats) that was really good.  Kaylie had to work on an essay, which then actually turned into just going to bed, so Sam and I went and grabbed a few pints.

The beer was good, though I don't think i'll ever get used to room temperature beer...just not as good as cold beer.

One more pint at an Edinburgh townie bar and then it was off to bed for me.