After a hearty breakfast of Tesco chocolate milk
(it rivals BYU Creamery in deliciousness, I swear)
and Stoats gluten-free porridge bars,
we were ready to face the day, come rain or shine!
Oh, and we needed cash too, as we were venturing outside the city.
I never quite got used to the coins -- look how many different types there are!
But the notes were easy enough. And they had different faces for Scotland and England.
The morning sky drizzled rain and cold,
but heeding the old British saying of, "if you don't like the weather, wait 10 minutes",
we headed out of our flat to catch our tour to Stirling Castle and Loch Lomond.
Judging the rain to be more relentless than we first thought,
we slipped into Tesco to purchase two £5 umbrellas
and splashed off to catch our wee tour bus.
If we hadn't disturbed the peace of sleepy Edinburgh and sprinted down Prince's Street,
umbrellas broken and flapping behind us as the rain poured,
we would've missed our ride.
Soaked to the bone, we putted off towards Stirling Castle,
stopping for a quick drink and bite in the cafe outside the inner gates.
Barr's is the company that makes Irn-Bru, and apparently they make American cows too.
And then we breached the castle.
Tour guides dressed in ye olde clothing and lead groups of children around the courtyards,
but we broke free of the crowds and forged our own path around,
having only a short time before we were scheduled to drive up to Loch Lomond.
Stirling Castle is surrounded by lush fields of green and beauty.
And off towards the rolling hills the William Wallace monument stands tall.
So majestic.
We then found ourselves on "The Ladies' Lookout",
a balcony of sorts where ladies of noble blood came to take in the gorgeous view.
"More humble activities", indeed. :)
The rain only added to the wistfulness we felt standing atop the castle
and looking out at the never-ending fields of green.
Chased inside by the drizzle,
we found ourselves in the presence of a most noble and pure beast
and Scotland's own national animal,
the unicorn.
Stirling Castle's symbol is a unicorn in green,
bringing to my mind unicorns playing in the grasses around the castle.
We've got you now, English lion, waha!
Delving deeper into the royal chambers, we found this curious tapestry.
The eagle and his red, white, and blue flag seem a little bit familiar, hmm... :)
Och, no, this tapestry was part of a refurbishing movement in Stirling Castle
to show the impressive royal pedigree of Mary of Guise
with a unicorn, lion, eagle, crown, and the Cross of Jerusalem on a cloth of estate.
And Her Majesty's apartments were just as exquisite,
mirroring the entire castle in rich draperies and decorative fabrics.
Incredible craftsmanship everywhere we looked,
Stirling is the prettiest of Scottish castles.
The old Chapel Royal was demolished
and a line rests a few paces outside of the new one,
marking where the original rested.
I could not drink in this view enough.
This charming tree made me think of all the period dramas I've seen
with summer days spent under trees picnicking and composing poems.
Scotland is a land of stone and history, I just adore it.
Remember the old palace we visited in Dunfermline dedicated to King Robert the Bruce?
We found a memorial to the man at Stirling Castle,
sharing the sweeping landscape with the distant William Wallace monument.
This curious edifice made me feel like I was suddenly in the Da Vinci Code,
with an alluring "Rock of Ages" engraved in the stonework.
Actually, this is the Star Pyramid (or Salem Rock)
of the Holy Rude church ("rude" means "cross")
commissioned by William Drummond in dedication to martyrs of Scottish freedom.
The Old Town cemetery resting at Stirling Castle's feet quietly soaked up the rain.
Back on the bus all too soon, we ventured into the tiny town of Callander,
often called the border between the Lowlands and the Highlands.
This tree line marked where one ended and the other began.
Recommended by our guide, we hopped off the bus and right into Taste of the Trossachs
a cafe that was bursting with people as we entered.
Settling in elbow-to-elbow, we called for Belgian hot chocolate to warm our bones.
I burned my tongue gulping this down, it was heaven.
This charming place offered gluten-free sandwiches,
so it was my turn to try a toastie!
I warily watched as Ken-kun ordered an eggy burger.
Being an islander, he doesn't really care for burgers and is no judge of them,
so who's to say if it was good or not?
We were scheduled to tour Loch Lomond, but the rain and wind picked up as we neared.
Our guide offered to take us on a whisky tour instead, but we wanted to see the loch.
We were the only ones who harbored that desire though.
The others watched quietly as we marched off the bus and sprang open our 'brellies,
the mud squishing around our sneakers as we stepped off.
And then we turned to watch them drive away in the rain,
our guide promising to come back for us at the end of the trail.
Not five minutes in, our shoes were already taking a hit.
But we had been soaked since morning, so what was a little more mud and rain?
We battled to keep our umbrellas from breaking in the ever-shifting wind,
venturing back and forth from the path to the beaches to soak it all in, hurr hurr.
Scotland is so full of life.
Wee streams flowed from the tops of the hills to the loch,
bright red spattered among the green they fed.
The gray skies just helped the landscape surrounding us glow all the brighter.
Through the sheets of rain, we spotted islands in the loch.
Err... where was the path again? Right, just beyond this flooded part.
Our umbrellas buckling in the rainy gale,
we did not hear the sheep until they were right beside us.
Being true Scots, they didn't mind a wee bitty rain.
Lomond is the largest in breadth of all the Scottish lochs
(but the deepest of course is the murky Loch Ness).
Our path flooded with a rain-made river, causing us to strategize a way to the other side.
Finding a broken piece of boating, we delicately hopped across.
One adventure lead to another and we were faced with a choice.
Not having a map or prior research of the area,
we relied on Ken-kun's deductive reasoning and sense of direction this time.
"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."
The path edged ever closer to the water,
climaxing in a metal bridge a few meters above the water.
I tiptoed across, grasping the rail as my feet slipped on the wet metal.
But my goodness, the other side was breathtaking.
Ken-kun's instincts proved strong, and we soon found ourselves
in the lot where our guide promised to meet us.
Not finding his bus just yet, we ventured up the path and waited at a crossroads for him.
Being a true Scot himself, he plodded up to us in wellies and no jacket,
guided us to his bus and gave us a personal tour as we drove to pick up the group,
regaling us with all the goings-on of current Scottish politics.
Taste buds pricked with fine Scottish whisky, the group happily piled into the bus with us
and we detoured through the industrial city of Glasgow back to Edinburgh,
leaving the Highland tree line for another day.
To be continued... in the next post!
Oh mmy gosh ~ these photoss photos are beautiful! Thanks for sharing. :)
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