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Published: October 9th 2007
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Brad rang late last night. It was about 10pm, and he was in Poland, and preparing to go somewhere the next day. Altitude 95 in Paris is booked out for the next month so we have missed out. We chatted for a while because he was on skype. He is coming to Scotland on the 6th of October, before flying in to Paris to meet up with us on the 10th. In the course of the conversation, he realised he had only booked a hotel in Paris from the 12th, and not the 10th. There were vacancies at the hotel we are staying at for those 2 days, so he may book in there as well.
We were up early enough that we would be able to get to Stirling for the opening time as we were only 20 minutes up the road. We had a cold night and awoke to the thickest fog we had all ever experienced. You could barely see 70 metres. Tanya was stressing about on coming cars. By the time we arrived at Stirling, it was even thicker. Based on the travel notes, we knew we were in the same street as the Castle but
couldn’t see it and then found a parking bay so dived in to it. 2 hours maximum only and took it. We hiked the last 100 metres up the hill and came out on to a large open, cobbled area. A massive parking area.
We headed in to Stirling Castle and flashed our membership passes. The kids were given a special activity sheet, which when completed, they would get a gift. It is part of a special promotion for October and bringing kids to the castles of Historic Scotland. Once up on the ramparts of the Castle you are supposed to see the amazing views of the City below and the narrowest point on the Firth, which the Castle guarded. We couldn’t see a single thing !
Stirling Castle was home to the Stuart Clan and was also the stronghold of Robert the Bruce. It was his base for the famous battle of Bannockburn, when he and William Wallace beat the English. Personally, given the state of Bannockburn, I think they were all wasting their time !
Stirling castle has undergone recent renovations of the Grand Dining Hall. The displays were excellent and the kids really well
occupied with the activity. Many photo ops. Our 2 hours were coming to an end and the kids still needed two answers to finish their quiz, so I went and got the camper and drove up to the big car park. The guard wanted 4 pound to park as long as I wanted, so I told him I was just picking up Tanya and the kids, so ran in and got them. By then, they had collected their badges for finishing the quiz.
We headed off to Perth and Scone Castle and promised the kids lunch at the Castle. We made a wrong turn just near the castle and when we back tracked, couldn’t turn right in to the correct street. Never mind, we will just keep going to the next roundabout, because they are everywhere, and do a 360 and come back. The next roundabout we encountered was back on the motorway! We got to Scone about 1.30pm and headed straight to the café. The kids ordered wedges and Tanya and I had some sandwiches. The girl looked up at the wall and a clock and the kids thought she was going to say something, like, we were
too late. Never mind, we sat and enjoyed lunch. Scone is still a working farm and the house is occupied by the Murray family, who is the Earl of Mansfield (he has a daughter who is about 18 or 20, so a little old for Christopher, which is a pity !) Scone used to be the Castle of the Kings and Queens of Scotland, and used to be the home of the stone of Destiny. The stone was once used as the throne to Coronate the rulers of Scotland, and was later taken by Edward the 2nd to Westminster and incorporated into the throne of the Kings and Queens of Great Britain. A replica stands in front of the Chapel, so we crowned King’s Thomas and Jordan and Queen Aimee.
Given how late in the day we were, we figured we would go to camp site right next door, as planned, and camp for the night. To finish the afternoon then, we spent the last of the palaces opening hours doing the “Murray Star” maze. Lots of fun, and a nice waterfall statue including a naked woman who looked much like Tanya ( or so I told her).
The camp site was a great hit. It was impeccable, 11 pound, they had washing powder in 1 wash packets and we washed and dried all our laundry.
We had the 2nd half of our Chinese and the kids and Tanya rejoiced in the knowledge that we are as far north as we are going to get and everyday will bring us closer to home !
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