Stirling and a Big Giant Hill

This is the last planned post about my trip last year on a Contiki tour of England and Scotland, my visit to Stirling.  It's a fitting last post, Stirling had a giant hill, and I feel like I've finishing climbing up a hill writing this last post about the trip!  

Our visit at Stirling started with a stop at the Wallace Monument.  Normally, I'm game for an adventure to see a monument like this, but with limited time and it being located at the top of a steep hill, I decided pass on this one.  See, I have a fear of climbing downhill - slipping and breaking my leg.  It's not a rational fear, but since it only impacts me once in a while, I choose not to address this issue.  But you can read more about how this fear affects in this post on visiting a glacier. 

The good news is that there is a nice visitor center with food, drink and shopping. 

Our next stop was Stirling Castle where we were given an hour or two to have lunch and explore.  THIS is the big giant hill, Stirling Castle is at the top of a hill in Stirling.  It's the type that you could easily walk down while exploring the city without realizing how much of a climb back up it will be.  I'm not a wimp when it comes to a good walk, but if you don't leave yourself enough time you wont be able to pace yourself going back up to meet the bus.  And for what?  A few minutes to see the town?

What's a savy travler to do?  Look out the window on the way in and the way out so you can "see" the town.  Then walk half way down to a pub (Nicky Tams) and have a nice lunch.  After lunch you'll have some time to see the castle, visit the gift shop, or just enjoy the sceanery.

I decided not to visit the castle.  I had already seen Edinburgh Castle and quite honestly, these sites in England and Scotland are expensive!  And the Pound is not a friend of the Dollar!  If I had enough time to really explore the castle I might have gone, but I didn't think 30 minutes was going to be enough time considering the cost.  The good thing was that there was an ice cream truck and a few statues to explore outside the castle.  It was also a beautiful day and the views from the parking lot were quite nice as long as you didn't look at the parking lot. 

But on my walk halfway down the hill, Stirling struck me as a nice little town.  It was kind of quiet, but there were cute shops and pubs and some old world charm.  You really can't go wrong visiting anywhere in Scotland, and certainly not in Stirling. 

Just a reminder about my giveaway that is ending on October 30 for a copy of My Memories Suite 2, digital scrapbooking software.  You can find out more about this here.