Compass Buster #10: Oban to Edinburgh

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I was definitely rough when I woke up. Being by the door had meant I got little sleep as people were coming and going all night. At least the hostel had a nice common room to chill out and eat breakfast in. I think we were all glad that by doing Glencoe yesterday, our guide was able to push our departure time back to about 9 or 10, if I remember correctly. The first part of the morning is a bit of blur due to tiredness. We stopped somewhere to take some photos of some Hairy Coos, I can't remember if this was on the side of the road or at a coffee place. My brain is/was fried. After all the gorgeous weather weather we'd had for the past few days, it had turned crappy again. It was cold and rainy, good job this was our last day on tour.

I do remember our first proper stop, however, that was Doune Castle. The castle definitely looked familiar. We had to pay to get in, and in our tired/hungover states none of us wanted to do that. As we walked around the outside I tried to figure out which TV show I had seen it on, I was told it was featured in Outlander, but I hadn't seen that. I was thinking it must have been Game of Thrones, as I have seen a few series of that, I'm sure it was where the boy fell/was pushed from when he caught the brother and sister at it. As you can probably tell, I wasn't an avid Game of Thrones fan. Just googled it, I was correct, it was used as Winterfell in the pilot episode. I would like to go back one day so that I can have a look around the interior.

It was a short drive to our next stop, which was the National Wallace Monument in Stirling. From the carpark it was about a 15 minute walk up the hill, Abbey Craig, to reach the top. It wasn't too steep, but our hungover bodies just weren't feeling it. There are a few different paths leading up to the monument, so if you had time you could explore the area a lot more. On getting to the top we headed straight for the viewpoint. We could see down to the town of Stirling and the river winding its way through the town and countryside. It was very pretty. The monument was built to commemorate William Wallace, the Scottish hero, the dude from Braveheart if you are old like me and remember the film. William Wallace was a Scottish knight and one of the main leaders during the Wars of Scottish Independence. He was successful in defeating the English at the Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297 and was appointed the Guardian of Scotland until defeat at the Battle of Falkirk in 1298. He was captured in 1305 and handed over to the king of England, Edward I, who had him hung drawn and quartered. The monument was built after a resurgence in Scottish national identity, which was tapped into by a fundraising campaign to get the monument built. The tower is 67 metres high and is made from sandstone. The location of the monument is said to be where Wallace watched the gathering of King Edward I of England's army just before the Battle of Stirling Bridge. The monument has some very intricate details on it. I love the knotted rope that wove its way around the window frames.

There was some kind of visitors centre at the bottom of the hill, which housed a cafe. Yay! Food! Hungover munchies were definitely needed. The cafe had quite a few options on offer and I went for a tuna melt. We had just been talking about them yesterday and I almost had one then, but plumped for something else. I'm glad I got to have one today. No trip to Britain is complete without one. The Tuna melt was delicious and came with a nice side salad. A coffee for the caffeine kick was the perfect accompaniment.

Our last proper stop of the trip was The Kelpies at the Helix in Falkirk. Kelpies are mythical creatures, which are shaped like a horse, but can change to look like a human. They are shape-shifting water spirits and are usually found at lochs or pools, I'm gutted we didn't see any on our trip, the Fairy Pools in Skye would have been the perfect place. The Kelpies that we saw were giant sculptures. They were about 30 metres high and were designed by the sculptor, Andy Scott. The sculptures were completed in October 2013 and opened to the public in April, 2014. The Helix, where they are located is a park, which is/was part of a land transformation project. The sky was dark and grey, when we arrived at The Kelpies. It was cold and rainy too, so I rushed over to get some photos of the sculptures. They did look magnificent, the silver colour was beautiful, I would love to come back and see them at night when they are all lit up. As we drove back towards Edinburgh, we dropped a couple of people off at different spots along the way, our group was starting to fragment.

We arrived back in Edinburgh around 5 pm. Since I had a couple of hours to kill before my train left, I headed to the Starbucks in the shopping mall adjacent to the station. Coffee and cake were needed to fight the hangover fatigue. I idled away the time there, apart from getting kicked out for a bit due to a faulty fire alarm, until it was time for my train. I was shattered, which for me is a good way to end a holiday as I had seen and done a lot. I really enjoyed the tour and was glad I had done it, it was expensive, but definitely worth it as some of the places would have been a hassle or impossible to visit on my own. It was nice coming full circle back to Edinburgh. Scotland is an absolutely gorgeous place, which I would like to discover more of.

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Photos

The Kelpies
The Helix, Falkirk

The Kelpies
The Helix, Falkirk

The Kelpies
The Helix, Falkirk

Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

Joys of Scotland
This blog provided us with some great memories. thanks.

[Zephyr]

You're welcome! Scotland is definitely a beauty.