The Road Trip Begins! or, Long Days and No Internets

Driving to Stirling

After Becky got out of her conference, we finished printing directions and such and headed out! The drive to Stirling was pretty uneventful. The hostel we were staying in was right in the middle of downtown Stirling, which is a pretty happening place. There are clubs and bars all over, and the drunk people who come with them. Definitely more inebriation here than anywhere we were in Edinburgh! On our walk from the car to the hostel we encountered our first group of truly boisterous drunk Scots, who immediately made fun of my beard – but I didn't mind too much, as one of them exclaimed “Hey, it's HAMISH!” Surreal and very amusing.

Willy Wallace's Hostel

The hostel was fine. Lots of backpackers, obviously. The room we were in was actually very nice, right on the corner of the building, looking out onto two of the main streets. The guy working the desk was really great, and suggested several pubs for us to try. They have a deal with an Australia-themed bar nearby, and we headed there for dinner since we would get 10% off our bill for staying at the hostel.

That's when things got fun! I was refused entry to a bar for the first time in my life. As I walked towards the door, one guy stepped out of a group of 4 or so and into my path. “Sorry man, I can't let you in” he said. I was a little surprised, so he repeated himself, this time adding that it was because of the way I was dressed. I was just wearing a t-shirt and tennis shorts, and started to think that he might just be a local who was putting one over on me. Apparently my “confused and skeptical” face is close to other people's “I'm going to cause trouble” face, and my first refusal of entry was almost quickly followed by my first bar fight. As I looked dubiously at the bouncer I wasn't sure was actually a bouncer, a second guy very quickly walked over to back him up. The second guy had a lanyard with ID around his neck, and that's when I realized the guy was serious and was really the bouncer. So I laughed and Becky and I went elsewhere.

We were glad we did! We headed to the Albion Bar, which had a guy playing a guitar and singing. He had a gravelly baritone voice that fit the bar perfectly: we managed to pick the “local bar!” The place was full of older Scots drinking and having a good time. The singer, Ted Christopher, was working them up very well, and everyone was doing a fair amount of singing along to his set of traditional Scottish songs as well as American and British folk songs. One guy was even doing some celtic drumming from the other side of the bar. The drinks were cheap and the bartenders fast. All-in-all, we had a great night!

We woke up Saturday morning and checked out early, then drove to Stirling castle.

We had a good time, and my favorite part was the Regimental Museum of the 93^rd Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. They are in the process of some very extensive renovation and archaeological work at the castle, so some parts were closed off, and we left somewhat quickly as we had a full day today.

Getting around Stirling was a bit difficult, and we got turned around a couple of times, but eventually we sorted things out. The Wallace Monument was very nice, offering beautiful views of the Stirling/Falkirk region, and to my surprise they actually had the sword on display believed to have belonged to Wallace himself! It's enormous, and now I understand why historians believe he was huge (Estimates say 6'6”, which was even more significant then than it is now).

"THE" Sword

Robert the Bruce with a Replica

The Wallace Monument from the Castle and the top of the tower.
We headed to lunch at Nando's afterwards, at the recommendation of a friend, and it proved delicious.

They should be opening their first restaurant in Washington DC soon, and maybe more to follow, so if you ever see a Nando's Peri-Peri Chicken in the states, give it a try!

The Bannockburn Heritage Center was next, which had a lot of good information on the battle, as well as views of the likely site and of course the enormous statue of Robert the Bruce. Becky was excited to learn that no contemporary maps of the troop movements from the battle survive, as I had suggested maybe getting a tattoo of it some day. We both got a kick out of the story of the beginning of the battle, when a young English knight named Henry de Bohun charged the Bruce, engaging him in single combat. It didn't last long, as King Robert immediately delivered a blow with his axe to de Bohun's head, splitting his great helm and maille coif, “cleaving to the brain” and killing him instantly. Bruce's only regret? The swing was so mighty that it broke the haft of his favorite axe in two places.

Things got interesting then, as we realized we were too late to get to Arbroath Abbey in time to tour it before it closed. Instead we opted to head to Loch Lomond, which was only 20 miles away. The drive was nice, and demonstrated how insane British driving is. Everyone is very good at it, which is fortunate, since you go 80mph on roads that would have 45mph limits in the US. Good times! After another little bit of wandering we found the visitors' center for Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park. We parked, checked the map, and went for a walk along the shores of the lake.

Further proof for Abby that we need pets ...

It was raining and drizzling on us a bit, but still beautiful – particularly the moments when we could see across the Loch to the other side, to the mountains dappled with sunlight. Scottish weather is even more temperamental than New England weather!

Partial View of the North Sea from our room

One of our 2 comfy beds -- I'd missed fluffy pillows!

Our Trouser Press... yup.

We finally headed out, driving across a large portion of Scotland to get to our hotel in Aberdeen. The hotel is, to be honest, quite terrible. All the cost of a five-star hotel, but with only two stars worth of service or amenities! Okay, maybe not THAT bad, and we got a great deal on the room. But the desk staff is rude and unhelpful, the food we had for dinner was mediocre at best (Becky's sandwich was cold, though my pizza was good enough), and everything else costs a fortune. Want internet access? That will be 10 pounds. TEN POUNDS just to use their wireless network! Insane! The food was overpriced and the drinks that we opted not to order were even more ridiculous. So Becky and I decided to just head back to our room (Which is very nice, to be fair) and call it a night, then leave early and find a cafe in the morning.