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Published: September 20th 2007
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Ahh, the Wallace Monument. Visible from just about everywhere in Stirling, on campus, and from the surrounding area. 286 stair steps to the top, and that's AFTER you hike up to the top of that hill.
My journey began yesterday (September 19, Wednesday) at about 3:30. I was supposed to go hill-climbing/hiking with another international student, but she discovered she had somewhere to be at 4:30. It was such a nice day, however, that I decided to go myself. Only I took the wrong road (naturally) and found myself heading away from the one hill and straight towards the other. "Oh well," I thought. "I wanted to go up to the monument anyway. Might as well be today!" So onward I went.
It's only about a ten minute walk (going very slowly) from campus to the foot of the monument's hill, and it was very nice. I didn't get a pictures of it, but there was a low stone wall along the roadside...one of many adorning the landscape here. According to my cab driver from Glasgow, they're ancient, dating back from the days when farmers carried stones they found in their fields over to the edge of their land, slowly building
up these fence-like walls.
Anyway. I got to the monument, saw a really scary-looking statue of Mel Gibson from Braveheart, and began my hike.
The path was steep. And when I say steep, I mean STEEP. It winds up all around the hill. At first I thought I was okay. I thought, "hey, I must be in better shape than I thought!."
Of course, I was only about 1/5 of the way up at that point. The picture of the benches will illustrate how steep the path was. I stopped for a brief break twice, catching my breath while pretending to read little signs about "Where You Are." But I eventually made it.
The view from the top of the hill was impressive enough, but I still had those 286 steps to go! I paid my 4.90, stashed the complimentary audio tour guide in my bag because it was more of an annoyance than anything else, and got going.
The whole climb was a tiny little spiral staircase made entirely of stone. It was really kind of cool, but scary when you passed someone going the other way, because one or both of you had to hug the wall and
Mel again
See what I mean?! Scary!! let the other go by. It's a good thing I'm not claustrophibic! There are three sort of mini-museums opening up off the staircase, allowing a good excuse to rest and catch your breath. The first was a "Life of William Wallace" room, complete with his sword in a glass case. That was kind of cool to see. The second is a room filled with marble busts of famous Scots, which was a little weird, but still interesting. It was also complete with a genuine fake Wallace sword. The third room, closest to the top, told the history of the monument's construction as well as giving the locations of some other Wallace memorials around the world.
Eventually, though, I made it to the top, and though I don't usually have a fear of heights, I admit to getting a little nervous up here! Mostly because I could hear my parents' and sister's voices in my head going "don't drop your camera!" and "Katie, stay away from the edge!!" But the walls were quite tall, so it would be nearly impossible to fall...although, even knowing that, I had a brief moment of utter panic when my foot slipped on somebody's snack wrapper
and I lost my balance a little bit. It was very windy up there, so I'm glad I went on a nice day!
So I took my pictures, and then began the climb down. Although much physically easier, it was actually more mentally tasking because of course I was *looking* down and thinking about how far my body would continue rolling if I fell. But I made it just fine, and spent the next twenty minutes wandering around the gift shop, looking for ideas for souvenirs/Christmas presents. Managed to restrain myself, though, mostly because I'd just booked this weekend's bus tour to Skye, and still had that cost bouncing around the back of my head!
They did have some decent stuff, though. I was especially tempted by the fudge.
Anyway, then I hiked back down the hill. The "shortcut" down was built the same way as Lombard Street in San Francisco: a zig zag down a very steep slope. I actually had to be very careful not to miss a step and start rolling down to the bottom! I actually saw a guy on a bike heading UP to the monument, and I don't mean walking his bike up, I
Scenery
One of the little pseudo-paths opening off the main one. Not sure where they went. mean RIDING it. And while I'm sure that coasting down that hill would be a lot of fun (not to mention incredibally life-threatening), I'm NOT sure it would be worth riding all the way up!
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