It\u2019s too early to \u2018do\u2019 anything so I think I\u2019ll head for the bus station to enquire about buses to and from Falkirk as well as buses to Melrose. (Don\u2019t ask when a decision between going to Ayr or Dumfries led to a decision to go to Melrose!)<\/p>\n
Time?<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve misplaced and most likely lost<\/em> my watch, darn it! (It was just a cheap one I use for travelling. The bracelet broke during my Ben Nevis climb, and I was just carrying the time piece in my pocket. I did end up finding the watch later that evening.)<\/p>\n After 5, most likely 7ish.<\/p>\n Mighty impregnable Stirling castle. Not much of it remains. What\u2019s left dates from the time of the Stewarts (about the sixteenth century). The oldest feature of the castle is from the reign of Robert II (late fourteenth). Unfortunately, the castle is under going major<\/em> restoration so a lot of it was inaccessible and what was<\/em> accessible had yet to be restored! Still, it was fun walking the ramparts, almost crawling into dungeons.<\/p>\n Included in the price of the castle ticket was \u2018Argyll\u2019s Lodging\u2019, a fine Renaissance home. I got to explore at my leisure.<\/p>\n Then came the Old Town Jail. Now that<\/em> was worth \u00a32!!! My tour included myself and a guy from Holland, so it was even better. One man enacted several characters very <\/em>convincingly (you\u2019d forget it was the same guy playing each part!). The jail was reminiscent of the Ottawa-Carleton jail.<\/p>\n Then,\u00a0<\/em>a bus to Falkirk (Scots for \u2018speckled church\u2019, isn\u2019t that bonnie?) where I visited Callendar House. I went for the battle of 1298 exhibition and am glad there was other stuff, too, because the exhibition wasn\u2019t great. It was more of a \u2018Braveheart\u2019 exhibition and pre-wars of Independence show than anything else. They had a reproduction of the Wallace \u2018portrait\u2019.<\/p>\n But the rest of the museum! 1) a working Georgian kitchen where I sampled sponge cake and a lettuce and spinach soup, which was very<\/em> palatable\u00a0! 2) a clock maker\u2019s shop where, in costume, using old tools, a man repairs clocks for the museum. 3) a general store where we sampled \u2018sucre d\u2019orge\u2019 [barley sugar, a rock hard candy]. 4) a printer\u2019s shop. Of course, there was more to the museum than that, but I really<\/em> like the living history \u2018stuff\u2019.<\/p>\n Since no one knows where the battle really happened, I didn\u2019t bother heading for the \u2018Wallacestone\u2019 where Wallace was supposed to have commanded the battle.<\/p>\n Returning to the bus station, I asked about Melrose. \u2018The Borders?!\u2019 the man exclaimed (not rudely). I could have sworn I said a bad name\/word, etc!!! Turns out no buses run there, so I was told to go to the train station. \u2018Take a train to Berwick (England!!!)\u2019 That would have cost \u00a319 and I would still have to catch a local bus to Melrose! So, tomorrow, I\u2019ll head back to the bus station and ask about other places of interest, Ayr, most likely. I have to be frugal! It\u2019s sort of pleasant not knowing where I\u2019m heading to next. I just have to make sure I have a bed at the other end!<\/p>\n
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