Sightseeing in Stirling

The same afternoon that I climbed the Scott Monument, the FYSAE group headed out to Stirling for the home stays. We were all split up between several host families, usually two to a house. Alana and I were staying with Jane. I was a little nervous about the homestay--I always find it a little weird at first to be staying at a stranger's house. But Jane was very sweet, and I felt very comfortable staying with her within the first evening I was there. We watched television shows on the BBC, and Jane would explain things that were new to me and Alana. By the end of the night, Jane had given me and Alana a really interesting view of local history. This is honestly one of my favorite ways to learn about cultures--there's nothing quite as good as hearing about the history of a culture from someone who's lived there their whole life.

The first day in Stirling, the FYSAE group met at the central point of the neighborhood. Taxis took us in groups to a museum in town. The museum chronicled the history of Stirling, with artifacts from several centuries stored there. It was fascinating to see all the culture and history preserved in what, by all accounts, is a very small town. After the museum, we all walked from there to Stirling Castle. It was pretty typical weather for Scotland, from what Jane said. It wasn't raining, but it was really foggy, and my glasses kept getting a layer of water droplets on them because the fog was so dense.

This is the main courtyard of the castle. The gray building is the more traditional castle, it's where the royals would have
lived; the building that looks kind of orange is the church. (I don't think you can call it a chapel, because it's huge!)

A shot of the castle from behind the arch off the kitchens.

The building that used to hold the kitchens for the castle.

A row of cannons lined up at one of the walls of the castle. I think they had about ten or fifteen cannons just at the one wall! It was pretty cool; they had so many, so well preserved. 

The castle was amazing. The way it was built was really fascinating. I've always loved old castles, so I was fascinated by Stirling Castle. I'll just let the pictures do the talking here, because I don't think I can do anything in describing it except rave about how much I enjoy exploring castles. After visiting the castle, taxis picked us up again and took us all to a bowling alley...yes, I did indeed go bowling during my first week in Scotland. It was certainly a lot of fun. After bowling, we had time to walk into Stirling to get a feel for the town. I again ended up with the same group I had explored Edinburgh with.

We explored the downtown area of Stirling, which is full of stores, banks, and pubs. We checked out some of the stores, then went to Iceland. Iceland's a cheap grocery store, but it's mostly frozen foods. After that, we went to the Thistles shopping center. I believe it's the equivalent of a mall, it just isn't out on its own the way malls in the States are. After walking around for a while, we called the taxi service to take us back to our respective houses. That night, Jane again told me and Alana stories about the history of Stirling. She also told us more about some of the shows on the BBC.

The view of the Wallace Monument if you're
standing at the base of it. 

The next day, the taxis again picked up all the FYSAE students. This time they took us to the Wallace Monument, which is built in honor of William Wallace (and yes, he is the guy Mel Gibson plays in Braveheart). The monument stands on top of one of the hills in Stirling, so our groups hiked from the gift shop at the bottom of the hill to the top, to the entrance of the monument. This monument, like the Scott Monument, had a winding staircase to the top. Luckily for me, this staircase was much more open than the one in the Scott Monument, so I didn't freak out as much on the way up. There were three little chambers on the way up that served as little museums, to store the history related to William Wallace. Once you're at the top of the monument, you can get an incredible view for miles around. (If it's not really foggy. The day we were there, I felt like I was standing in a cloud).

After visiting the Wallace Monument, the rest of the afternoon was ours to do whatever we wanted. Everyone went to the University, so we could see it before we moved in. I was able to get the key to my room from the porter, even though I wasn't actually moving in until the next day. Since Mike and I are on the same floor, we went to see if we could figure out where our rooms were. I was surprised to find the hall  only one flight of stairs up from ground level. (I'm on the fourth floor, so it threw me off a bit!) I found the kitchen, and then Mike and I wandered back to the lobby. It gets a bit confusing in the halls, and there're fire doors everywhere. I think from entering the building to getting to my room, I go through six doors, and some of them are right next to each other. If there is a fire, I'm not too concerned about it ever reaching me, because I think I live in the most fireproof building of all time. Oh, and all the walls are cinderblocks too, so they won't burn easily.

About half of the FYSAE and study abroad student on top of the Wallace Monument. 

That was my last night staying with Jane. By now, it was practically ritual. Alana and I got home, Jane answered the door and said that she'd go ahead and put dinner on. We'd watch television and Jane would tell us about what things were like when she was growing up. We ate dinner, and then watched the BBC soaps and late night television shows until we decided to go to bed. Thinking about it now, I think it's funny that I was nervous about the home stay at first, and by the end of it, it was almost like staying at my own grandmother's house.

After that, I was headed to University! And I'll be back to write about that soon. A tout a l'heure!