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Day 47 - Monday
Left Edinburgh on Monday and got a tour called Macbackpackers. I will say this. What really makes or breaks a good tour is the people you are with and the driver. Both of which on this tour are a little lacking. The driver is a fill in driver (albeit a local which is nice), and the bus we are on is an over flow bus. Which means there are only 11 of us because the other bus is full. Don’t get me wrong, the people on the bus are nice. But with only 11 it’s hard to really get a dynamic going. But its only the first day so we will see.

Made our way to Stirling Bridge, which “The Battle of Stirling Bridge” was a battle of the First War of Scottish Independence. On 11 September 1297, the forces of Andrew Moray and William Wallace defeated the combined English forces. It’s interesting to hear the historical versions of the William Wallace opposed to what Hollywood portrayed. I guess this battle was in the movie but it was on a flat field to which Wallace would have gotten massacred being outnumbered as he was. But he won this battle primarily because the English troops were bottle necked trying to cross this bridge (amongst other things)

Still in the town of Stirling made a little hike up Abbey Craig to the Wallace Monument. The monument is a 220 foot sandstone tower. It stands on the Abbey Craig, from which Wallace was said to have watched the gathering of the army of English king Edward I, just before the Battle of Stirling Bridge. Funny side story. A local sculptor created a Wallace statue and donated it to Abbey Craig. But the statue was in the image of Mel Gibson's Portrayal. It caused a big stink. The statue was removed last year. :-)

Then it a was quick drive by Stirling Castle before making our way to one of my favorite spots... Castle Doune. Or better known as Castle Anthrax from Monte Python’s Holy Grail. It’s a great spot for any Holy Grail fan since there were four different scenes in the movie filmed at this location.

Side Note: The roads in the Highlands of Scotland are a mess. There are small and narrow and it seems like every few minutes you come to a place where they are doing some sort of construction and the road narrows to one lane where you have to wait for mobile traffic lights to guide you through. Pain in the ass.

Saw Kilchurn Castle which is a ruined 15th century structure on the northeastern end of Loch Awe, in Argyll and Bute, Scotland.

Stopped for lunch in Inverary. Nice little fishing town but spent way too long there. I could have sneezed that would have been all the time I would have needed to see the place.

Stopped and saw St Conan's Kirk. It is magnificent, beautiful, remarkable, and just a little bizarre. Walter Campbell built this church because the closest one to him was too far. Campbell did not design the church to conform to any particular style. Rather he took ideas and designs from different places and periods and produced something that serves as a collection of the best or most interesting features drawn from many other churches.

Then it was an overnight it Oban. Home of Oban Whisky. A few of us went out an watched a little traditional Scottish music and dancing. I really do think bag pipes suck. You might as well strangle a couple cats underwater and you will get a more appealing sound. Although I did do a little dancing. ;)
I like Oban. It is small but that adds to the charm. But there is still plenty to do there. Fair amount of restaurant and pubs and things to do and see.

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Part of trip: 2009 Walk of the Earth

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