We got up early, had breakfast at the hotel, and headed out to the car rental. It did not look far nor hard to get to on the map. We walked, and walked and walked and could not find it. Standing on a street corner, Wade had entered a store to ask directions, looking at a map a woman took pity on us and asked if we needed help. I think Shelly and I said yes at the same time. We told her where we were headed and she informed us we had walked right past the street. We headed back from the direction we had come. Turned on the street, and believe it or not an hour after we started, we found it. The men went in to rent it and came out with an upgraded car and agreement costing us about 4x what the original was going to cost. I am terrible with pictures and have no idea why I even took this picture of the car, but here it is. It was a Volkswagon Sedan. We would spend a lot of time in that car.
From the Rental Car place we walked to the Clyde River. Wade compared it to the St. Louis Arch. Then back to the car and on the road to The Battle of Bannock battlefield in Stirling.
Dick was the driver and Dave the navigator. Driving is CRAZY! At
first we were all helping as backseat drivers. We learned very quickly
to keep our mouths shut and only respond when asked for help. It was
so confusing driving on the wrong side of the road, so many one way
streets, tons of roundabouts, and the steering wheel on the right side. Dick and Dave did an amazing job even with all the confusion.
Stirling Castle, occupied by the English, was under siege by the Scottish army. The English king, Edward II assembled a force to relieve it. This attempt failed, and his army was defeated in Bannockburn by a smaller army commanded by the King of Scots, Robert the Bruce. It was not one of my favorite stops but interesting.
Monument
Countryside from the monument
Stirling Castle on the hill
Shelly opted to take a nap instead of walk to the sight.
Next stop was Stirling Castle. On our drive to Stirling Castle we opted for lunch. On Yelp Dave found a place called The Fat Cyclist Cafe. It sounded unique and it was in Stirling so why not. Why not, because Stirling is a very little town with narrow streets and no parking with several one way streets. We finally found parking on the street, a lot of maneuvering back and forth to get in the spot, and finally found the cafe. It was a cute little cafe with really good food. While at the cafe we asked about the Castle and found out it was literally a two minute walk from the cafe. We were already parked so we fed the meter a little bit more money and up to the castle we went.
Just inside the gate. The pink hair was truly amazing in person. It was fluorescent pink.
Looking over the wall
See the golf course to your left?
King and Queen for a moment in the Great Hall
The castle was amazing with breath taking views. The cliffs off the edge were steep and amazing. The castle is not just a castle but more like a small city as you can see by all the buildings in the pictures above. Just outside the castle entrance on the street is Argyll's Lodging. Entry was included with the castle cost. It was close to closing and obvious the workers were ready to go home. This 17th century nobleman's fortified mansion was built close to the castle. Aristocrats wanted to live near power. The Earl of Argyll's family resided here for about a century. We were able to see the kitchens, dining room, drawing room and bedrooms. Of particular interest were the chamber pots. The bedroom pot was in a closet-like nook with only curtains separating it from the room. The office pot was situated a mere 4-6 feet from the desk in wide open spaces. I would have found it hard to concentrate knowing what was in the pot so nearby.
We spent way too long at the castle and did not get to the Wallace monument before it closed. There is a shuttle that can take you to the monument during visiting hours. We could have walked to the monument because it was only 1.5 miles straight up but it was getting late in the day and we still had a couple of places still to visit. The picture below of the Wallace Monument was taken from the "car park" at the visitors center.
In Glasgow there was a golf course called Lethamhill. Leatham was originally spelled without the a. So off we went to find the golf course. It was a low budget mini course with basically no club house and no merchandise. The guys were a little bummed that they could not get anything with the Letham logo. They all took a scorecard.
Wade liked rule #5.
Did you notice how short the flag is?
Down the street was Riddle Park Cemetery. Dave thought there were Lethams buried there. We looked and looked but with no luck. We gave up and headed back to Sauchiehall for a Chinese dinner. It was delicious and then off for Ice Cream again for dessert at Desserts. A very full day of site seeing.
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