Our first stop was at the Forth (Rail) Bridge, crossing the Firth of Forth. It's old (finished in 1890) but still in use today, about 2,5 km long and absolutely massive.
Our second stop was in the city of Stirling, by its castle. We figured the 1,5 hrs stop wouldn't be enough to explore the castle properly, so instead we took in the scenery of the city itself while enjoying an icecream. Scenery including, as seen above, the graveyard around the Church of the Holy Rude.Fun fact: Holy Rude actually means Holy Cross, like the differently spelled Holyrood in Edinburgh that came up in my previous Scotland post. (To be honest though, this wasn't as fun a fact as the mental image the words "Holy Rude" first conjured up in my mind.)
Outside Stirling Castle stands this statue, with the William Wallace Monument (seen Braveheart?) far in the background. In an interesting turn of events, I found out after the trip that the man this statue portrays is meant to be my greatgreat*insert-lots-of-greats-here* grandfather. (Genealogy is fun!)The name is hard to see in the photo, so I'll give a hint: his name begins with Robert. Ends with Bruce.
Onwards we went and soon came to Loch Lomond, where we had a lovely lunch and wandered along the shores.
The views were delightful. We could happily have spent a whole afternoon here, but sadly only had another 1,5 hrs.
On the way back to Edinburgh we stopped at Scotland's southernmost Highland distillery Glengoyne, where we enjoyed a tour and whisky tasting. Mr Morrgan, who is the true whisky appreciator of us two, took a liking to their 17 year old and brought a bottle of it back home.
The next day it weas time to head back home to Finland, but on the way to the airport I had the chance to do one more thing I'd wanted to since I was a kid - ride on the top of a double-decker bus!So, those were some of the highlights from the Scotland birthday trip. And for those who might have been wondering, yes I did eat haggis and black pudding (and even a deep-fried Mars bar) and liked it very much. ;)
So, does this mean I'm back? We'll see.
