England: Week 8 - Scotland (Stirling Castle and Wallace Monument)

I LOVE Stirling area. 

We were welcomed to Stirling with the constant rain that is usual for Scotland. And I loved it! I actually remembered coming to this castle many years ago. I remember there being Scottish dancers performing just outside of the castle. This place has been one of my favorites for years.

Just so you know we took about 400 pictures on this day alone. I've narrowed it down a lot. 

Stirling Castle from below. When this place was built they actually took stone from the "mountain" that it sits on to build. 

A cemetery. People knew that the Castle was a safe place and wouldn't be rebuilt on so they buried their dead near the Castle. It was so peaceful and beautiful!

William Wallace Monument in the rain.

Us in our rain gear.

View of Wallace Monument with another part of the cemetery.

Our tour guide. LOVED his accent. I'll try to post the recording I have of him later.

This building is in the center of the Castle and has been through a lot. If you look closely you can see a few of the changes over time. Next to the 2nd door on the left there is an outline of where the door USED to be.

We took a tour of this old house which is full of history!!! It is right next to the Castle and many important people over time have lived here desiring to be the closest to the king. The home was built in parts over time. It used to be a vibrant pink color and the brown artwork over the windows also used to be painted in bright vibrant colors that would represent the wealth of the family.

I'm sitting in the oven.

This is the guest room. The first room you would enter after waiting in the servant area down stairs. What is amazing about this room is the far wall is actually original paint from 1500s. The whole house has been reput together from tax records and wills. Go Genealogy!!

Purple was a color that showed your wealth.  It would take about 10,000 clams to get just a few drops of purple dye. This purple throne shows the family's wealth

The third room is where the couple slept. You can't tell from this picture but EVERYTHING in this room is covered in purple fabric. Showing once again the wealth. I also learned that the beds back then weren't short because the people were short (though they were a tad shorter than we are today) it was because it was thought unhealthy to sleep flat on your back. So people slept sitting up.

Erin on her throne.

Eating at the local pub. I LOVE PUB FOOD.

This is my SALAD and chips.

The garden seating at the pub.

Inside the local St Mary's Church. The ceiling is ORIGINAL!!! Dating back to 1500. No nails or screws. INCREDIBLE STUFF!!! This is also the building on 29 July 1567 that James VI was crowned King of Scots.

I love the colors that the stained glass windows make on the ground.

William Wallace Monument from a distance. This is where we were headed next.

Wallace Monument up close. See that circular thing on the left side of the building going all the way up... Those are the stairs that we climbed up.

View of Stirling Castle

Level one of the monument held William Wallace's Sword

It is as big as it is in the movie.

The stairs that people went up AND down.

View from the top of Scotland

Back at the bottom these were actors that were telling the story of William Wallace.

Erin and I with the executor.

View of Scotland Mountains.

We headed back to northern England that evening and stayed at a port city that night. Our room looked over the bay.

A wonderful day!