First Day in Scotland

Mom and I woke up after a restful night of sleep to the sound of a rooster outdoors--no wonder the B&B was called Woodcockfauld's!! We came downstairs where Mrs. Galloway served us a traditional Scottish Breakfast which consisted of: An over easy egg, piece of bacon, a pork sausage, a piece of fried bread (fried in bacon grease), a friend tomato, a few fried mushrooms, a hashbrown triangle thingy (lol), orange juice/coffee/tea, regular toast with your choice of strawberry jam, orange marmalade or honey. It was quite filling.

Our first stop was Stirling Castle. Along the way, Navi malfunctioned and I had to do a manual override--shutting her done. I felt like Jordie shutting down Data (for all you Next Generation Star Trek Fans). The palace section of Stirling Castle was closed much to our disappointment, but the weather was beautiful and warm despite the strong winds. To tide us over at the castle, mum and I tried some toffee icecream from a little cart parked outside and it was the best icecream I've had in a while. Stirling Castle staff, to make up for the closure, opened up Argyll's Lodging, a grand historic house just yards from the castle. Our guide, Ross, talked about the living habits and traditional uses for rooms, etc. According to him, the Scottish pint is/was 3 times larger than the English's. The house itself wasn't as interesting as we thought it would be. Mum and I prefer castle's and homes which are still lived in--it gives them more life lol. In Stirling, we also visited the shops (of course!) and tried the famous Irn Bru--not my most favorite thing in the world. First, I don't like pop because the fizz hurts my tongue--so I was in real pain when sipping the most carbinated drink I've ever had in my life. Mum says Champagne is pretty carbinated too, but even my older brother, when trying the bru, was suprised at how much it made him burp! hahahahaha Just had to share that little tid bit!

Next we drove to the William Wallace Monument (Braveheart!!!). Kate (my sis in law), our hiking in Silver Creek Falls was good training for the trek that awaited me in pursuit to reach the top of the mountain where the Wallace Monument stands. (Mum opted not to go up--not really her thing). The climb, though strenuous, was beneficial in 3 ways...it helped me work off that fat loaded Scottish breakfast (haha), afforded me the pleasure of seeing the blue bell covered hill sides, and got me to the top. When I began scaling the narrow stairs within the Wallace Monument, I began to feel a bit quesy (vertigo!). I made it to the first landing, where, fortunately, Wallace's sword was on display--if it had been up on the second landing, I don't think I could have made it! That's right, I didn't climb the 269 steps, but did get to see Wallace's 66 in. sword (the blade itself is 52 in.). Historians presume that Wallace must have been at least 6'6 feet tall in order to yield the formidable weapon.

After doing a bit of shopping, we spotted a Beefeater's (like an Applebee's), had supper, and called it an early night.