Day 5:
This day we leave Oban and make our way to Stirling. We made a stop along the way to see Hamish the Highland Cow II.
At this little stop, visitors were able to purchase fresh vegetables to entice Hamish, cow and calf to come over for some pets. It was pretty cute to watch some of our trip mates get excited about seeing a Highland Cow for the first time.
After our visit with Hamish II, we took off to Stirling. Our coach stopped at the base of Argyll Hill. We only had a little time to spend here, and it was one of the stops that Cody and I were most excited to see! Not only the monument itself, and to set foot on a place where battlefield prowess took place - but to see William Wallace's sword was a highlight!
Cody and I basically sprinted from the bottom of the hill to the top. We wanted to be the first inside the door.
Below: Here we have what is said to be William Wallace's longsword.
Above: I had to share this image. The size of the spears and some of the longswords always amazes me. And yes, Cody is back in his kilt in honour of William Wallace
After checking out the sword, and reading more about William's story, we enter a room dedicated to the men and women heroes of Scotland.
Below: A replica of Robert the Bruce's sword.
Below: Cody took a photo of the image of what would have been the Battle of Stirling, and how it looks today. You can see Stirling Castle still stands on a neighbouring hill.
It became a habit that Cody and I seemed to push our luck at each stop haha Realizing we would soon be late for the bus, we ran allll the way back down the hill. It's starting to look like a Doctor Who episode with all this exercise!
If you'd like to know more about William's story, you can find a brief write up here:
Above: Stirling Castle.
Above: A war monument
Below: A statue of Robert the Bruce
Fun fact: the Unicorn is Scotland's national animal!
Above: A photo of Lord Darnley's house. Lord Darnley was the second husband of Mary Queen of Scots. We quickly grabbed some coffee.
From Stirling we made our way to Glasgow, our last night in Scotland :(
We had a bit of time before supper, we went exploring. Lo and behold, we came across the TARDIS!
From here, we met up with the crew and headed to our supper for the night. A place called 'Shenoo'. This little restaurant was located above the bar, where they served us some traditional Scottish meals.
From there, we had a free night. As this was our last night in Scotland, some of the crew would be heading home, while we would join others for the remainder of our trip in Ireland. One Canadian friend was going to be heading home, so we hit up the streets of Glasgow for a few drinks. We came across a pub that offered over 700 whiskies. It was a quaint... though busy little place.
After hitting up the streets, we headed back to the hotel and had a few more drinks with the folks that were there.
Day Six:
It was up early for to head to the ferry to take us across the water to Ireland!
I've quite decided I like ferry rides! It was refreshing to be on the deck and have the wind in your face.
We headed to Dublin that night to meet with the members of our group. We stayed at the Clayton Hotel (which was pretty freaking fancy), and had supper there.
Next on the tour, we head to Kilkenny!
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