LISA

Stirling and Trossachs tour

This morning saw us over-prepared (as usual) and waiting in the cold for our tour bus. It arrived, driven by a nice young Scottish man, who informed us when asked that yes, the commentary is probably only playing in one ear, that happens a lot. Oh dear. Before we began the tour we had to drive to Edinburgh to pick some people up, which seemed strange, but gave us some more experience of Scottish highways. The first official stop was South Queensferry to take some pictures of the two Forth Bridges and we then chugged along to Stirling, passing the site of the Battle of Brannockburn and arriving at the Castle.

Although we only had an hour there we felt that the castle, the main reason we had wanted to come, was too good to miss. And as luck would have it we arrived 5mins before a guided tour, so we joined that and got a condensed rundown on the centuries of history in the place.

One of the most interesting things about the Castle at first glance is the Great Hall which has been painted in a kind of creamy yellow colour. Being used to grey/stone coloured castles it is quite an odd site, but the guide assured us that this was a colour match to how that building had appeared historically as they'd found paint chips intact under some newer stonework that had been completed when the army had used the Hall as barracks. It's still strange to think of all of these old castles as being painted and brightly decorated.

Another great experience here was seeing some newly finished, bright and colourful tapestries. This really gave us a better understanding of why tapestries were so popular in castles and how all of these places would have looked, because unfortunately now, the really old tapestries are all quite faded and stained with the smoke of the fireplaces and actually look rather gloomy. So, although we could've happily spent a day there, we were pleased with what we did get to see, and hurried back to the bus so as not to be left behind!

The next hour of the tour took us through Queen Elizabeth Park and the Trossachs. Some spectacular scenery and heather-covered hills begged for photographs but my attempts through the moving bus window didn't really do it justice.

The end of the Trossachs was marked by the town of Aberfoyle, a cute little tourist town that grew up to support interest in the area from the novels by the author of The Lady of the Lake.

A little more of a drive and we arrived at Loch Lomond. The weather turned rubbish at this point and I would've been glad to go on the cruise because there wasn't really a lot else to do in the rain, but having spent a bit at the castle we contented ourselves with a nice stroll around the bay, and some window shopping.

Back at the hostel we had a new roommate. An…interesting American/temporary Scot with a fanaticism for Bob Dylan and Salvador Dali. All in all a good day with some sights that can't be beat (but I'm sure we'll try).