21 September 2014

Another long drive, but we had a few things to do before we left. We figured 3.5 hours to Edinburgh via Stirling, plus time at the castle and time for lunch. Most of it would be on wide lanes, or motorways. A lot of haze so no stopping for pictures.

We got to Stirling about 1. As I think I have mentioned, the TomTom does not recognize and POIs. Since the castle does not have a street address, it can be hard to tell her where you want to go. I see the castle, but how do I get there? Fortunately, Stirling is big enough that there was a good signal and Google Maps worked. Yay!

This time of year you have a chance of being able to park at the castle instead of parking in town and walking up. There was a line and it costs L4, but we were able to park at the castle and grab lunch at the Unicorn Café before exploring the castle.

View form Stirling Castle

 The castle is well–presented. There are a series of rooms explaining the history of the place and all the Scottish kings and queens that lived there. Mary Queen of Scots was taken there for her safety as a child. Stirling was built over several hundred years, and the architecture reflects that. The restoration is wonderful. They have replicas of the carved heads that James V(?) put on the ceiling of the outer room where everyone waits to see the king. 

Unlike the English castles, this one was painted yellow - "The Kings' Gold" 

They have replicas of the Unicorn tapestries in one of the rooms – and they are working on additional half-scale replicas in the tapestry studio. The wool is from Wensleydale sheep and dyed to match the originals.

No wall walking today. Too much haze for photos. Michael did pick up a few samples of single malts at the gift shop.

We drove the last hour to Edinburgh and managed to find the B&B with no hassle. Nice people and a great room. Michael is looking forward to the Belgian waffles tomorrow. We planned on Thai for dinner, but the restaurant was closed. There was a Turkish place around the corner that was fabulous. Grilled squid appetizer was delish.