Sunday, July 02, 2006

Michael : Yesterday we took a train trip up to Stirling for the day. The trip from Glasgow Queen Street station to Stirling took about 40 minutes. I am just beginning to realise how small this country really is. Everything is so close and handy! I guess it helped that the train system is pretty good - and fast. A generalisation, of course, but it seems to work pretty well.


Ian bursting with excitement en route to Stirling Castle.
Finally! something to write in the blog about !

Stirling is charming. Fortunately the weather was very good and we were able to get some excellent photographs of the town. Here are some of them.


The first of many William Wallace memorials.




Looking down from the Church of the Holy Rude over Stirling.


The church of the Holy Rude. (but on the whole, it wasn't rude at all, except for Jesus' nipple)






The famous scene depicting the moment when the disciples see the Lord's new outfit - and exclaim "thou must be kidding, thou canst NOT go out looking like that ! that is SO B.C. !"

After a quick bite to eat for lunch (mmm... goat's cheese and chorizo ciabatta), we headed up to the castle.
The entry fee was pretty steep (£7.50 each), but was as it turned out, worth it. The pics tell the story.



Yes, it's William Wallace again, sheathing his sword after the battle of Bannockburn, immortalised here at the entrance to Stirling Castle and if you peer off into the distance above, you'll see the Wallace monument - below.


Ian : I know it's because JRR Tolkien sourced so much of the design for Lord of the Rings from celtic history, but I think I'm in that movie wherever I look. (design on tombstone below) Like when we visited New Zealand too - feeling like we we're in the movie . . . of course, I could've been an extra in L.O.T.R. , they probably hadn't seen my performance on Neighbours - 45 seconds ! centre of frame !





Michael: Stirling castle was a stronghold for the Scottish (and occasionally the English) for nearly a millennium. It was very easy to see why this area was easily defended. It is surrounded by steep cliffs and commands excellent views of the surrounding valley and the Forth river, which was crossed by a medieval bridge. Most of the canon appear to be pointing towards this bridge, an important access route.


One of the gardens where these two characters were displaying their sword skills.




Ian: I was also an extra in this film with David Wenham ! Fifteen centimeters away from him, I was !
He almost touched me !!

The view of the 'Kings knot' garden from where the armoured boys were performing.




. . . Did I mention I was in Neighbours ?








Stirling castle from the west.

Michael: The Stirling castle entry fee also allows access to Argyll's Lodgings, a mansion built by one of the Earls of Argyll in the 16th century. Argyll's Lodging is about 100m down the road from the castle. Most of it has been carefully restored in the style of the period with furnishings and fittings.
I didn't take any pics inside - it didn't seem right, somehow .. and Ian spent most of his time in the beautiful garden. A great place to recover from his hayfever!




After spending an hour or so walking around town, we made our way up to a high lookout where we found the Beheading stone, on which the political victims of the Stewart kings were put to death. Grisly! These days it was covered in glass from broken beer bottles, not blood. The local vandals had got to it before we did.


The Beheading stone.

We then took a taxi to a little town called Kippen, 10 minutes from Stirling for dinner. I hadn't realised how expensive taxis are in this area, but it cost us £18 each way! Taxis are much cheaper in Glasgow. Fortunately, the meal was worth it and quite reasonably priced. I had got the name of this "gastro-pub" from a food magazine recommended by a lady from work. I had chicken breast with a pepper (capsicum) based sauce, served with the BEST coleslaw I have ever had. Simple and delicious. I've never been a coleslaw fan, but if I had this meal to have over, I'd have the coleslaw again... and again!

Ian : Best chips I've had in the UK so far !

Finished the meal off with sticky toffee pudding - scrumptious. All very Scottish and the produce was obviously excellent quality. The food definitely took my mind off the seasonal allergies I was suffering from that day. Apparently, it's been the worst pollen season in four years here in Scotland. Nasty!

Ian : ... and 2.5 seconds in Kath & Kim with Geoffrey Rush - critically aclaimed performance as '2nd raincoat from the left' in the Boz Scaggs concert scene.

It was then time to get the train back to Glasgow. I could really get used to this travelling by train thing. Try sleeping while driving!

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