Stirling? Okay...

Today Daniel and I took the 7:00am train into Stirling.  It was so much fun. It finally felt like we were just touring through Europe--we had an all day bus pass, no time restraints and a return train to Edinburgh anytime before midnight. We literally just wandered through the city for 12 hours. 

We started off at the Battle of Bannockburn exhibition.  Its located near the field where they believe the battle was held.  You know... the battle where Robert the Bruce defeated the English in 1314 in order to gain Scottish independence?  Yeah that one. The exhibition was pretty lame, but the 10 minute video we watched was awesome and we got to try on a few medieval things. It was fun.

I love Daniel bowing to the King. hahaha and FYI chain mail is heavy

 Daniel and I loved the monument and think that Robert the Bruce is a complete bad A.  Read the quote below (you may have to click on the picture to make it bigger).  So awesome.  At this battle the Scots were greatly out numbered, but they were able to corner the English into river bend.  (This battle is the one depicted in Braveheart.. but it's inaccurate. They changed the lead figure from Robert the Bruce to William Wallace--It's kind of okay. William Wallace is a bad A too... We'll get to him).

 After this, we took the bus to the William Wallace Monument.  We hiked all 247 (or something like that) stairs to the top and LOVED IT.  We were the only ones up there for a long time and got to soak in the view all by ourselves.  It was really windy and loud but really interesting.

William Wallace is the man that Mel Gibson is based after in Braveheart.  He used guerrilla warfare to beat the English to get Scottish independence (this is before Robert the Bruce.. so pre-1300) and was considered an outlaw.  He was eventually betrayed and turned in to the English King, where he was executed for treason, murder, being an outlaw, etc, etc.  As punishment, he was beheaded (his head was then placed on the London bridge as a display) and then his four limbs were shipped all over England and Scotland as a warning to others. 

This was us trying to capture the wind... haha

And we can't forget that the monument actually houses William Wallace's ACTUAL sword.  Not a replica.  It's huge and they estimate that the man must have been about 6'6". He's known as a hero all over the world today for his passion for independence as well as many other things.  You should go watch Braveheart now. I want to.

We then decided to just get dropped off at the city center and wander around.  I checked out a bunch of consignment shops (there are about 5 on every street... awesome) and then we ended up at the Church of Holy Rude (which means cross).  It's one of the only surviving churches in Scotland that has witnessed a Coronation.  It's old, so it's cool and then we just walked through the cemetery in the back.  Incredible (Kath-- you're going to love it! haha).  It was here that we were hailed on and soaked with rain.  Luckily we wore our rain jackets. :-)  A woman we met earlier today told us that Scotland is the only place where you will experience all 4 seasons in one day--so true.

 The last thing (besides dinner) that we did today was visit a place called the King's Knot. It's right below Stirling Castle and is rumored to have been a place used by King Arthur.  Who knows exactly what it is, but it's a mound that has been intricately dug out of the ground and then has all sorts of designs around it. It has been around for as long as anybody can remember so the rumors have to be true ;-).

The tiny man on the mound is Daniel and the castle is in the corner. 

And here is just a picture of Daniel with the castle in the background.  We didn't go in because we wanted to leave something to do with the parents when they come.  It looks really cool though and I'm very excited.

That's all for today! Daniel starts his REAL internship tomorrow.  FUN TIMES oh and we're going dancing again :-)