It's a Stirling Tuesday...

Yawn... hello, lovelies!

Welcome to another chapter of our Scotland adventures. Forgive us, we're a little sore and tired today as we had a very busy & active day in Stirling. We have been walking ALL day. Three cheers to Luna for keeping up with us (she had to walk twice as many steps with those little legs!) and for being such a gem.

But before we get into it all... we want to give a special "shout out" to our readers who took the time to comment. WE LOVE YOU! So tonight we raise our glasses to Suzi, Marilyn, Carrie, Joy & Nancy. Thank you - that means a lot to us. (We'll throw Brandon in here as well because I know he tried!) So thanks to all of you. This takes a lot of work, as you might imagine, so we appreciate you appreciating our efforts!

To Cindy's Aunt Carol: Please ask the Apple Store folks how to post a comment on the blog when you go there tomorrow!

Now that we have that out of the way... let's get on to our day!

It's going to be another picture explosion. It was hard to choose which ones to share because we took so many! (Cindy took around 250 alone!)

We woke up early and headed to the subway, which we can now navigate like pros. We went to Glasgow's Queen Street Train Station and purchased our tickets to Stirling. Had some coffee while we were waiting. It was great!

:: Queen Street Train Station ::

Didn't have to wait much long at all and we were on our way! 

:: Sleepy Luna on the Train ::

The landscape is AMAZING. We just got to sit back and relax along the way. Took some pictures and had a nice ride.

:: There's our girl! Awake at last! ::

:: MommaRam's looking rather gorgeous as well! ::

:: And here we are as well... Cindy & Jenna ::

Okay, so we're all present and accounted for! Although... we cannot forget our mascots...

:: Our furry little friends came along for the ride... ::

After a quick jaunt on the train we found ourselves at the Stirling train station. A little background on where we are going. 

On MommaRam, Jenna & Luna's 2009 trip to Scotland, we did a lot of company tours. There are pluses and minuses to doing tours when visiting a new place. A plus is that you don't have to worry about the transportation issue and you get a taste of a lot of different places that the country has to offer. On the minus side, we're talking a little, tiny, miniscule taste. For example, when we first went to the Stirling Castle, we were only "allowed" to visit for 2 hours, because of the "tour schedule." That is a laughable amount of time to enjoy a place such as this. We raced through it to race to the gift shop to race back to the tour bus. Needless to say, we missed out on a lot. (And you still have to pay the same admission fee! It's not cheap, folks!)

We did not want the same experience, so this time, we decided to try it out on our own. And it was well worth the efforts! (Despite our tired legs.)

After a quick and scenic jaunt to Stirling, we got off of the train and headed UP, UP and UP the hill to the castle. (It is a steep climb, to say the least!) We were very lucky that it was such a glorious day! It could have been an entirely different experience if it were rainy. Let's show you...

:: View from whence we came... ::

:: You have no idea how many of these we climbed up. ::

We will say this... we were very happy that we were climbing first thing off, and not at the end of the day. That's one great big positive. #2, we were thankful that we have the capability for such physical exertion. (Jenna has lost over 130 pounds over the past year and a half and would NOT have been able to do this two years ago. And for that she is extremely thankful!) And #3, we found so many little interesting sights along the way that we would have missed on a group tour. By really exploring the environment on our own, it is amazing how many little treasures we found along the way. Let us share...

The neighborhoods we walked through were picturesque, to say the least. Even the alleys were sweet:

:: Sweet little back alley ::

And we stumbled upon this little gem:

:: These signs are all over the town detailing the important spots! ::

:: Here's John's house! ::

:: Another view ::

:: A little further up ::

Again, it is amazing the treasures that you can find along the way! The views from around town into the distance do not disappoint either...

:: Pretty houses - and the Wallace Monument in the distance ::

:: Check it out! Cindy's camera takes close ups! ::

These were the sights we were awarded with whilst undertaking our major walk to the castle. The town posts those little information signs all along the way, like the one for John Cowane's house. We stopped and photographed them all. We will spare you all of that but it is so handy to photograph so we have that information later.

:: Cannons half way! ::

:: Castle! Toilets! Two great things! ::

:: Unicorns are HUGE here ::

We finally reached the top - the Stirling Castle. Our rewards were huge:

:: Gorgeous Scotland Countryside ::

:: Another view. ::

:: Robert the Bruce Statue ::

King Robert I was "Robert the Bruce." Here's a little nugget of history on him: Robert the Bruce existed from 1274 - 1329 and was one of the most famous Kings of the Scots. His line directly extends to Mary Queen of Scots. 

Additionally, we also mentioned the Wallace Monument earlier. This monument is another historical location in Scotland that you can visit if you are so inclined. MommaRam went there this past April and said that we really aren't missing much so we trust her judgement and will simply enjoy that monument from afar. 

Once inside Stirling Castle, we went on a photo frenzy.

First things first, they have knights!

:: MommaRam, Sir Whatshisname, and Cindy ::

:: It's a castle! A real one! ::

:: More of a view... this is from Queen Anne's Gardens ::

:: So much to behold ::

:: The old garden grounds ::

That last shot is just of the remnants of the old garden grounds that once were. Imagine what it must have looked like in its former glory and what the Lords & Ladies looked like strolling along its paths.

They still do show quite a splendid array of flowers in Queen Anne's Gardens:

:: They have purple ones! ::

:: And lovely orange ones as well! ::

We had a marvelous time walking amongst the flowers. It was simply sublime.

And we hadn't even hit the "main" castle gates yet... let's go there now...

:: Main Entry to Stirling Castle ::

:: Let's go in, shall we? ::

:: Ok. Seriously? Cindy... what did you DO?!? ::

Not even in there for 5 minutes and she gets her butt in trouble... yikes! 

:: Inner courtyard views ::

 

There are nooks and crannies everywhere!

 

 :: Nook ::

 

 :: Cranny ::

:: Spectacular Garden Gate View ::

:: Spectacular Cindy View ::

One exciting new addition to Stirling Castle is a new feature that was opened in June of 2011. This was something that was advertised during MommaRam, Jenna & Luna's first trip to Scotland that we were very excited about. Now we were able to experience it and it was well worth the wait! They have an entire new section of the castle opened - one that gives visitors a glimpse of what life was like inside of the palace chambers. 

They have many kid-friendly activities and things to do. It was the highlight of the castle tour!

In the lower chamber rooms they have a little game set up for children where there is a little wooden mouse hidden in each chamber room.

:: Said mouse. ::

Luna and company (our mascots) had a great time finding the mouse hidden in each room!

:: Mouse & Zoe ::

 

This next series is taken from the "music room." Luna loves music and this was her favorite room!

:: Court Drums ::

:: Learning the Harp ::

:: Playing harpsichord for the Zoe & Mouse friend ::

 

Then we came upon Jenna's & Cindy's favorite room - the fashion & fabric room!

 

 :: A little princess ::

:: Zoe had to get in on the action as well ::

:: Even Jenna could not resist! ::

This place is jam packed with information and fun around every corner. Let's head on over now to the Queen's chambers...

:: Knight's are on guard to protect the Queen (Cindy!) ::

:: May we present to you... the Queen on her throne ::

:: Little Queen in the making (don't mess with HER!) ::

:: The Queen's Inner Chambers ::

:: Luna in the Queen's Chambers ::

:: The Inner Chambers Bed ::

:: Beautiful Light View ::

Speaking of views... there is something spectacular to see outside every window and door in this castle.

:: Stunning ::

There were also many beautiful courtyards to visit:

:: This one possibly housed a lion, and was called the "Lion's Den." ::

:: That's where he was kept. Weird. ::

We carried on... and on... and on. This place has much to do and see!

They have a host of military related history for folks who like that kind of stuff. (There's stuff for boys, basically!) Including gruesome punishment to prisoner's, torture and weapons. We'll stick with the pretty stuff...

 

 :: Shiny cannon pointed at the Wallace Monument ::

:: Watch out for this one - she's cute but dangerous! ::

We're winding down now... went to the kitchen chambers to see how feasts were prepared for the court. It was one of the most fun of places!

 

 :: MommaRam's "boyfriend" from our last visit ::

:: Watch out, MommaRam, that baker is checking out your buns! ::

Well, we've given you a cornucopia of pictorial pleasures. We do hope you enjoyed the visit to the Stirling Castle. We were so tired by the end that we were, again, so very thankful to be walking downhill. We took a slightly different route on the way back.

Two more photos on our way through town back to the train station...

:: Darnley's House Info:

:: Which is now... a coffee shop!!! ::

Here's the bottom line: to truly get the full Stirling Castle experience, it is best to find your own way there and skip the group tour. Stirling has a lot to offer and needs a full day to dedicate to its splendors.

We threw a lot at you today, we know - but we hope you enjoyed it as much as we have! For more information, may we direct you to the Stirling Castle website: http://www.stirlingcastle.gov.uk/.

Another day down... tomorrow evening marks our one week "anniversary" of being in Glasgow! 

We love you and miss you all!

Jenna & Cindy (and MommaRam & Luna)

PS - to answer Diana & Jenna's cousin Nancy's question - the wine here is great! Tonight Cindy & I enjoyed some South Eastern Australian chardonnay and it was delightful after a full day of walking. MommaRam had an interesting beer - Hobgoblin, or something like that. The seaweed beer is still all of our favorites but it was decent as well.