Falkirk and Stirling, Scotland

Today was a big day in my life.  As a huge "Braveheart" fan I had always wanted to see the battlefields that Mel Gibs... er William Wallace fought on.  Therefore, after an EXCELLENT night sleep for L Rizzy, we left Edinburgh's finest, Worst Western, early this morning and first drove to Falkirk.  There is not a big monument at this battlefield as it was a resounding English victory.  Therefore it was quite difficult to find but with some research I think we were able to get the right place.

Next we headed to the Bannockburn Heritage Center near the battlefield of Bannockburn- where in 1314 the patriots of Scotland, starving and outnumbered, charged the field and won their freedom.  Also here was a nice monument to Robert the Bruce.  Inside I was able to try on a helmet with chain-mail as well as watch a nice video about the events of the battle, which L Rizzy really loved.  After soaking in this history we headed a few miles up the road to Stirling Castle which was amazing.  Sitting on top of an extinct volcano, this castle had great views of the surrounding countryside.  After lunch in the cafe we drove to the Stirling Bridge and walked across while reading about the history of the battle.

After these exciting adventures, we anxiously drove to the cherry on top: The National Wallace Monument.  After parking the car we had a 25 minute hike up to the foot of this beast.  Then we crawled up 247 steps stopping only to admire the Wallace sword.  Once on top the wind was amazingly powerful.  The weather this day called for 45 MPH winds... on the ground.  After admiring the views we crawled/stumbled back down to our car and headed to our amazing B&B for the night: Old Tram House.  After settling in we headed to a local park so L Rizzy could blow off some energy and then had dinner at The William Wallace.  Once back at the B&B, L Rizzy got into the shower to be cleaned of his dirt and nearly immediately was fast asleep in the cot.

Tomorrow we will drive up to Urquhart Castle and also see the Loch Ness Monster (hopefully) before bedding down in Inverness.  The trip is moving along quite fast now and we are just trying to enjoy ourselves as much as absolutely possible.

Falkirk Battlefireld

Bannockburn Memorial

Running from The Bruce

The Bruce

L Rizzy and L Mama learning about the Battle of Stirling Bridge

Reading up

Stirling Castle

Running to the canons

Checking out the Wallace Monument in the distance

Castle grounds in the foreground and Highlands in the background

Stirling bridge

Hiking up the the Wallace Monument

Wallace's Sword

Don't mind the hand print or the tears

Up more stairs

Amazing views

Trying to climb over

Looking up at the Wallace Monument

Swing time

Riding the "doggie" with the monument in the background

Dinner time

Shower time

Swinging under The National Wallace Monument