|
May 21, 1999
Day 6
This is a good day. First we didn't have to pack up and move today. Second we are in Scotland. Our clothes should be done by 11 a.m. and we should be done with our tour of Edinburgh around 12 p.m. Our tour guide was great, he was in full Kilt dress and once again another local with a tremendous love for his city and country. It took us a little longer on the tour than we had planned. It was about 1 p.m. when we got done. A lot of the stories and history that we got the night before from Rob we heard again from our official tour guide. Everyone had the afternoon free and Keith and I had plans to leave the city all together. Before we could leave the city we had to get our laundry to the hotel and than go back into town to the train station. We got to the train station around 2 p.m. or a little after. Our train ride was great we headed west and slightly north to the town of Stirling. Stirling is were everything comes together through history. This is were the William Wallace Monument is at, were his sword is, were the battle of Stirling bridge and the battle of Bannockburn. Stirling castle was a royal castle and is very rich with the history of this country. It is situated in a very strategic spot because you had the river that had to be crossed and the country to the west was to rough to cross over. That meant that all traffic came right to the Stirling bridge and into view of the Castle. Well once we got there we headed straight to the Wallace Monument. Once we got there a very sad and terrible thing happened. But before that we were having great Scottish weather we had high winds and occasional rain or sunshine ( not at the same time). We shot a bit of video from the base of the hill that the Monument with all the wind blowing and a bit of sunshine. Than we headed up to the base and there we started to get video in the wind and rain. All of a sudden the video went dead. That is right we had a dead battery and the good one that we did have some how got mixed up with the dead one and ended up on the charger back at the hotel. So all the secret wonders of the inside of the Wallace monument and all the view that can be seen and heard from the top are hidden in our minds and on a couple of still shots that we were able to get. It felt like someone took the wind out of our sails. We made the most of it and than we headed back to the hotel and to a dinner and show with the rest of the group that evening. At the dinner I tried my first taste of Haggis. I can't say that I will be eating it on a regularity but I did try it (and it wasn't bad). But truth be known I couldn't find any local Scots that eat Haggis. I think it is their tourist joke. You know, "Hey eat this... " It is kinda like all the hikers in Montana that hike with bells on there shoes back packs or walking sticks. I have never seen a local Montanain with bells on. We call them dinner bells for the Griz although they are sold as a noise device to scare away the Griz. At any rate the food was good the show was ok. We heard a piper and fiddle player, plus dancers and singers. All in all it was a little to flashy but... We hit the bed that night after getting packed because we are heading north of Inverness, Scotland.
|
|
