Stirling yesterday, Luss and Glencoe today

We're all sad that this marked our last day in Scotland.

Tuesday we all got our exercise - after breakfast we toured Stirling Castle, a favorite royal residence of many monarchs, a 5 minute walk from our hostel. It was amazing - the castle has been recently restored with painstaking attention to detail, and done in the manner it would have been originally. We saw painted ceilings with brilliant colors and ornate detail in several rooms, and in a great hall, a reconstructed oak timber frame ceiling (400 oak trees were necessary to construct it, and it took two years) because when it was no longer used and the army occupied it, they had ripped out the original to make three floors for barracks. The tapestries of the unicorn hanging in the queen's chambers told a great story, an allegory of Christ. We were able to see the last one being woven... the originals are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC, and were consulted so that these replicas would be exact in as many details as possible. It is taking 3 weavers, sitting side by side, 2 years to re-weave this tapestry. They are quite valuable, and were highly prized possessions because of the time put into them. THe new ones will be more brilliant in color (like the originals would have been).

The views from Stirling Castle were also great - overlooking all the surrounding area. It was a strategic spot to occupy, and a difficult castle to take. From it we could see the Wallace monument, which we visited after a pack lunch back at the hostel. The Wallace monument was well positioned and quite elevated - it was a challenge walking up the path just to get to it (part of the reason I fell asleep last night rather than blogging!!) Once inside, there were 246 steps up to the top in a narrow winding staircase. Fortunately there were two rooms as we ascended (about every 82 steps) with displays. The view from the top was amazing, but the wind was whipping through the top lookout, as it was through the slim vertical openings in the stone tower as we ascended. We were all glad for our warm clothing! While the sun occasionally has warmed the day, in general it's been on the cool side.

Today (Wednesday) we spent in Glencoe. On the way we stopped in a small town called Luss on Loch Lomond. It had quite a few cottages and a few gift shops and a coffee shop. We tasted shortbread, tablets (a buttery confection), and many got ice cream (natural, toffee, or chocolate).
We had quite a drive to the highlands, just more than 2 hours, but it was well worth it. The views were amazing. We had a guided tour from the Scottish National Trust through the glen, pointing out various things of interest. It was a somewhat damp walk - Scotland has received quite its share of rain over the past week or so, but today was mostly clear with just a few clouds. We saw snow on the tops of the mountains, deer, sheep, and highland cattle. We heard the story of the massacre of Glencoe.

One of the highlights of our trip has been the delicious meals out where traditional Scottish fare has ben available. Today we were at an Inn just past Glencoe. Menu items such as haggis, steak & ale pie and quite a few other entrees were enjoyed.

As I write, several have gone out to the coffee shop just down the street for their last outing! Tomorrow we will have the cars packed in time to get on the minibus and depart for the airport at 5am. It will be a long day adding back the four hours to our clocks. We land in Newark at noon, God willing!

Thanks for your interest & prayers for us - it's been a wonderful time.