Blogs from Stirling, Stirlingshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, Europe - page 11

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 ... read more

I didn’t mean to ignore my blog for so long, it just seems like nothing too cool was happening. Until Scotland that is, and I’ll start there because it’s the best part. After only three days of school last week, AO and I got up at 5:30 to put a turkey in the oven on Thansgiving day. We made a quick dinner for the ones around, and we did it just like grown-ups! After a day of traveling AO, Grace, and I finally arrived in Stirling, Scotland where Melanie, a friend of Alisha’s is studying at the university now. She met us at the train station and we went to our hostel to get situated. Friday we basically hung our around Stirling, saw the castle, William Wallace’s monument (where he beat the English, Braveheart ring a ... read more

Let me start by stressing that I have used no artificial products, sun-in, lemon juice - anything - on my hair, as some people are suggesting. It is merely the fact that a healthy outdoor lifestyle and hours of sunshine beating down on my head has blonded my hair. So I went to Northern Ireland. I booked myself on the 4.15am ferry from Cairnryan to Larne. I slept overnight in the ferry terminal and ending up bedding down on the floor of the children's soft play area. The room was sweltering and swarming with sodding midges and every other flying insect under the sun. So I had to have a sleeping bag over me even though I was losing pints of water in sweat. Every now and then I had to unpeel myself from the floor. ... read more

I joined my "Wild in Scotland" bus tour early this morning for a three day trip around the Scotland Highlands. I was pleased to find out that everyone on the trip was really friendly and that we had two great tour guides who would be showing us the sights. We started off by heading to the William Wallace Memorial. For those of you who don't know, William Wallace's story is told in the Braveheart movie. He was a true Scottish hero rurmored to be able to fight off 6 men at a time. He was a commoner who led the Scottish people against the rule of the British. He won several battles and afterwards went into exile in France and Spain. He returned a few years later only to be captured by the British. The British ... read more

Someone finally gave Buff correct information about the Dr. Who Museum. It's in Blackpool, England and rather than stop in Liverpool we are going to Blackpool. Little did we know how popular a town it is, especially on a weekend. It's a seaside resort town sort of like Santa Cruz or Venice Beach times 100! Shops to buy everything and anything. Beach and wharfs along the Western coast of England. Hotel after hotel, and B&Bs, self-catering cotttages - 3,500 of them it turns out. Restaurant after restaurant. Even it's own version of the Eiffel Tower. We walked and walked and walked and walked and walked and walked (we had a map of the town center that we never even got to) but finally heard that distinctive music of Dr. Who. We made it! Had to drag ... read more