Saturday Adventure Series: Stirling

Saturdays are the perfect time for a Scottish adventure . . . or even a misadventure. Why waste the day sitting around your flat in the pj's watching online TV and eating biscuits? I mean, yes, biscuits are quite nice and chocolatey, but really, time is of the essence and what is Sunday for if not restful contemplation on the newest episode of The Mentalist?

So here begins my new posts about my fateful Saturday outings.

Last Saturday, I took a crazy trip to Stirling with a group of friends, two Americans and our token Scottish friend. It was epic. Just like the movie Braveheart. . . coincidence? I think not. For those of you who thought Mel Gibson's character William Wallace was all fiction, you are only half right or maybe 3/4 right. Cause while Braveheart may be so historically inaccurate that it causes historians to tear their hair out, the character and the inspirational battle (of Stirling) are both real.

In fact, Stirling is where the Wallance Monument is located. This lovely, odd tower dedicated to this Scottish hero was our first stop on the trip.

So for those of you who know me, you know that I am an awkward person. Like really awkward. Scotland has not changed that about me at all. I am still really, really, really awkward and so was this trip.

We get to the top of the hill where the monument is located and see that there will be a historical retelling of the Battle of Stirling. Oh yeah. So we wait, and we wait, and we wait some more. At about 5 till we head to the tour area where (behind the monument) where we see people gathering. Oh good! The retelling must be starting! So the three American girls and one Scottish girl all hurry over to the side. As I round the corner, I see something that makes me stop. Ashes. Not like, “there was a fire here” ashes, but like “we gather here today to mourn” ashes. Then I see people crying. Then I see one of my friends blindly continuing on. We walked in on the middle of a funeral. Well, more like we walked in on the middle of some dead person being spread all over the Wallace Monument. It was terrible. As soon as I realized what was going on I turned and fled, unable to control my spontaneous giggles. I mean, it was SO funny in a dark, we crashed a funeral way.

Image: Three tourist Americans blindly walking towards a group of mourners thinking it is the historical retelling of an epic battle. It could have been a movie.

Thankfully, the rest of the tour went smoothly. We climbed some stairs, we took some pictures, I almost lost my hat due to winds, we visited a castle where all those famous, dead, royal Scottish people lived. You know. Average tour stuff, but man, did that day start with a bang.