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Published: March 7th 2007
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Hogmanay Group
Border of Scotland and England After big night and only 3 hours sleep, I managed to drag myself out of bed and have breakfast in the hostel canteen before it closed.
The whole group had also managed to muster by our scheduled leaving time of 10am. However, our bus driver was running late, and decided to delay our leaving for an hour.
We waited around for 11am, thinking ‘I could be in bed right now’, and then we all jumped on the coach and headed out to Stirling.
Our first stop was the Wallace Monument, high up on the protruding hill. The monument was built 1869 to commemorate Sir William Wallace, one of Scotland’s greatest hero’s. In 1297, he and his vastly outnumbered followers swooped down from ‘Wallace Pass’ to defeat the English forces at the Battle of Stirling Bridge.
We climbed to the top of the steep hill in the rain to get an uninterrupted view across the valley floor, and what is now, modern-day Stirling.
We got back on the coach and made our way over to the impressive Stirling Castle. We had a little look around ourselves before joining a tour of the castle and its grounds.
Our tour guide
was very good and lively, with a thick Scottish accent. However, as soon as it had finished it we had to rush back to the coach before it left without us!
After we got back, Helen, Klaus and Andy and I went to Pizza Express for ‘lunch’ at 4pm, and then headed back to the hostel to catch up with Grant and Matt and their friend.
Andy had to leave early to catch his train back to London. We said goodbye to him and walked to an Italian restaurant “Benny and Frankies” to meet the others for dinner. Letitia and Pete (a friend from Beca in NZ and her partner) arrived shortly later and we caught up on all the goss since we saw each other in NZ.
After dinner we checked out the carnival and happily watched from below as the others excitedly went on various rides. We meet Benny at a fancy bar on George Street called ‘La Monde’ and were treated half price drinks thanks to Benny’s contacts.
We were up, packed, fed and on our coach ready to leave by 9am on Tuesday. However, as the bus driver didn’t tell everyone
that we were leaving early, we had to wait for another hour for the stragglers.
We drove up to the top of Arthur’s Seat to get some nice panoramic view of Edinburgh before leaving Scotland’s capital. On the trip South, we stopped at a large stone on the border of Scotland and England to get a bit of a group photo.
We travelled down some quite winding country roads with hedgerows and stone walls. It was all very pretty, but I was getting a bit claustrophobic down the back of the bus with all the sun pouring in, so sat at the front for a better view.
On the way back we stopped at York, once only second in size to London. We only had time for a quick look around the York Minster (the cathedral), the old stone wall that once enclosed that city, and the river that divides the city in two. But well worth the visit.
We headed back to London, stopping for dinner at one of those dodgy ‘services’ areas, before reaching Earl’s Court. I said goodbye to everyone and caught my tube home to my awaiting bed.
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Wow man, the York Minster ain't no corner dairy.