Edinburgh/Stirling, Scotland

 Crazy long post today!!

We are really enjoying the unusual weeks of beautiful weather!  Everyone always jokes about the “3 days of summer” in the UK implying that it’s always cloudy and dreary here.  

Today, a day trip to Stirling about an hour away via train  boasts a vibrant “old” city and a beautiful castle.   

Just £5 each way on the train so we didn’t waste one of our first class travel days on our Britrail passes.  The Scotrail train was mostly empty and very comfy.  

Again beautiful countryside from the train. 

Arriving Stirling. Downtown was quaint and thankfully uncrowded!

Walking up the hill towards the castle. Enjoying the old buildings. 

Entry to the castle, doesn’t look too impressive. 

But it turned out to be quite a favorite!  No crowds helped that feeling. But truly, if you have only one castle to visit, skip Edinburgh and tour the Stirling Castle!

I’ll just post some of my photos as we toured with minimal comment.  

Castle was built around 1500 mostly by James IV and James V. 

I enjoyed the “re-enactment “ characters. 

Also enjoyed lots of the details like this ceiling.  If you look closely the “depth” is not carved wood but paint. 

Certainly most of the fabric and tapestry is recreated but interesting nonetheless. 

The ceiling was decorated with wooden “heads” portraying important folks at the time.  These are careful recreations. 

In another area they show how they studied and recreated the head panels. 

The Great Hall, you just have to imagine how it would look as the king would entertain. Of course there was a time (like most standing castles) in wartimes that this hall was used as multi-storied barracks for troops. 

Beautiful panoramic view from the wall-walk. 

And the view in the distance towards the William Wallace Memorial.  More on that later in the day. 

This castle had a unique “limestone wash” applied for added “pop”.

I know it’s hokey but interesting to imagine what the kitchen would have looked like. 

Lots of passageways available to tour. 

The main chapel actually a little underwhelming but still interesting. 

Wow just beautiful. 

After several pleasant hours touring the castle we made our way back down the hill into town.  

A quick selfie trying to frame the castle in the background. 

A kind stranger came to the rescue. 

The Church of Holy Rude was beautiful but charged an entry fee so we declined an inside visit. 

Nearby was Cowaine’s Hospital. I had assumed it was a medical hospital but it was actually a “charitable home for the poor”. 

Hospital building. 

Walking out of town, cool church. 

The “Old Bridge” built in the 1400-1500’s to replace a succession of wooden structures.  Now just a beautiful footpath. 

A couple of miles out of town stands the Wallace Memorial tower atop the stone hilltop. 

Quite a hike!  Beautiful views from the trail.  (You can buy a tour with a shuttle to the top but why on earth would we do that, haha)

The memorial was built in 1869 to commemorate William Wallace, a 12-13th century Scottish hero. 

After registering over 20,000 steps on the watch, we opted for a city bus back into town for the train ride back to Edinburgh late in the day.  

Dropped off in the middle of the city, still uncrowded. 

Back at the Stirling train station. A very fun and full day!!