Blogs from Stirlingshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, Europe - page 5

Today we started helping with the wedding plans. We went to Aberfoyle to Alex’s parents house for a visit, Shane and Chris left to run some errands and Alex and Karla stayed to tried on their fancy dresses. After some laughter we all met up in Stirling for a wander round the town centre. We had a quick stop at home for supper then went out to visit the church where Alex and Chris are getting married, it was a lovely little rural spot made of stone in the middle of a field. We arranged some furniture and took some photos then went back to the house for cheesecake and a movie. K+S x... read more

After some much needed sleep, and a run (in the rain) to get rid of the jetlag, we headed out for our daily adventure. Actually, today was supposed to be the Highland Game Fair, but due to extensive rain over the past few weeks, they were forced to cancel as conditions were poor at the grounds. So, I went back to my files and found a great backup plan. We decided to visit Stirling Castle which came highly recommended from several sources and did not disappoint! There were 4 main castle buildings and we started off with a guided tour. This was a good choice as Charlie, our guide, gave lots of history of the castle, including its many transitions between ownership by the Scottish, then the English, then the Scottish, etc. This was the site ... read more

LOVED LOVED the castle here. It has only recently reopened and WOW they have done a magnificent job. Before heading to the castle, we stopped at the Bannockburn battlefield and met one of the more colourful locals walking his dog who filled us in about some of the history (what a clever dog). The heritage centre at the site, although closed for the offseason, had just had a school group through and the manager invited us in for a private viewing at no cost. He played a short film showing the history and events around the battle fought there in 1314 during the Wars of Independence between Scotland and England. Other than providing the opportunity to educate and entertain some tourists, his motive was also to rescue us from the talkative local. Yet another example of ... read more

For my last night at Turtle Beach a group of us went to Loukas Taverna for a farewell dinner. Turtles stop for no man and we walked back to camp with the night survey team who had to grab their gear for a night patrolling the beach. Needless to say those of us not on night survey decided some drinking games was a good idea, "never ever have I" followed by face painting and Marina playing the flute. In no time at all it was about time the night survey team would be back so we kept drinking and generally having a laugh until they returned. At 3:30 Cordie and Marina appeared through the bamboo but no Brian? Hannah knew he'd be swimming so we all headed to the beach and went skinny dipping...... The water ... read more

Yay, after two days of gloomy, wet and generally horrible weather the sun is shining today! Having studied our Explorer Pass map in great detail we decided that we could fit in a couple more ruins before driving down to the Yorkshire Dales this afternoon. Our first stop was Blackness Castle four miles NE of Linlithgow right on the Firth of Forth. The castle was built in the 15th century by one of Scotland's most powerful families, the Chrichtons. With its excellent defensive position on the Firth of Forth it was never a peaceful, stately home, but a garrison fortress. In later times it also served as a prison. Located in the same vicinity was the House of the Binns, a National Trust property. Since it was not going to cost us anything to visit we ... read more