Day 8 - Stirling

Finally, a pretty day! We woke up to sunshine and blue skies, and it helped to put us all in better spirits. I got ready quickly and went down for an early breakfast at the B&B while everyone else was still getting ready, then I headed out to do a little souvenir shopping at the Royal Mile. The rest of the gang picked me up about 45 minutes later and we headed to Stirling. We certainly enjoyed the warmth of the sunshine as we explored the grounds and various sights of Stirling Castle. The views from the outer walls were incredible. You could see the famous Stirling Bridge and the Wallace Monument. From the castle we headed to the Stirling Bridge, where William Wallace (Braveheart) fought his most famous battle. We didn't spend long there, but did take quite a few pictures in this picturesque setting.
The Wallace Monument was next on our list. It sits high on a hill and supposedly offers amazing views of the town and castle. Unfortunately, it cost quite a bit more than we were willing to pay to climb to the top of the monument, so we just got out at the car park and took a few pictures of the statue at the bottom. Braveheart is Ben's favorite movie, so he really enjoyed getting to see the sights in Stirling.
We weren't really sure where to head next, and Mom saw a sign saying it was Stirling Tartan Week, so she convinced Dad to let the two of us out in the town center to see what was going on. There was an open-air market, but not much else as we walked through the town. On our way back, though, there were three bagpipers dressed in full traditional attire playing in the town square. We listened for a few minutes before we headed out of town.
Next we went to Linlithgow Castle, which was on our way back to Edinburgh. The castle was yet another ruin, but it has tall towers on each of the four corners, and we climbed up ALL of them. Dad counted over 100 stairs on one tower, and that wasn't the tallest one! The view from the castle was lovely - it is right on the lake and next door to a fine church (with a rather odd ornamentation on top). Just like at Edinburgh Castle, there was a wedding going on at Linlithgow, so Papa and Ben people-watched while the rest of us explored.
As we left Linlithgow, I heard about another castle which was only 4 miles away and supposedly offered superb views of the Forth Rail Bridge, so I convinced Dad to drive that direction. None of us wanted to explore that castle, because it really wasn't much to see, but it is right on the bay, and I REALLY wanted a picture of that bridge (in case you don't know, I love bridges). So I walked out on the pier (it was really windy and cold out there) and took a few pictures of the bridge. They aren't the best, because it was kind of hazy and the bridge was farther away than I expected, but at least I got my picture of the bridge.
I know - it seems like this was a really long day, but it wasn't over yet! We drove down south to Rosslyn Chapel. This little chapel was featured in The DaVinci Code, and I had heard wonderful things about it. It was one of the places I most wanted to visit around Edinburgh. Rosslyn Chapel is known as having links to the Knight's Templar and the Mason's, and its most notable feature is the stone carvings that cover nearly every inch of its interior. Pictures simply cannot do justice to the beauty inside this little church. Unfortunately, the exterior is covered in scaffolding, but it did allow the opportunity to walk around on a raised walkway above the flying buttresses and see upper exterior of the building up close and personal.

Finally, we headed back to Edinburgh and the B&B. We dropped Papa off to relax for the evening, and we ventured back down to the Royal Mile for one of the oddest experiences of our trip - an Edinburgh ghost tour. We had a rather obnoxious guide who chose to pick on Dad (since he's an American) and made him be the witch in one of his stories. We all had to chant "Witch, witch, kill the witch" at Dad, and he made me say that Dad killed my poor dog. It was kind of amusing. What wasn't amusing was when he took us down into the underground crypts and scared the bejeepers out of us! We all agreed that the tour wasn't worth the money, but it is a quintessential Edinburgh experience, so we were kind of glad we did it.

Finally we went back to the B&B and fell into bed exhausted - after packing up and getting ready to leave Scotland the next day. More on that adventure later...