Finally made it around the Airthrey Castle, which I knew was on campus but didn’t realize it was really only like a 3 minute walk. Then we went on the Stirling Ghost Tour walk around the old town and graveyard beneath Stirling Castle.
Went back up to the Wallace Monument to actually go inside; the views from the top were quite good but more welcomed was the breeze cooling me off from the Scottish heat wave (80 deg) – which doesn’t seem like much but is actually pretty serious because Scotland is not equipped for weather above like 70, and we actually had to have class online today because our teacher couldn’t get here because the train lines are melting. Then we went to the Birds and Bees pub where we ate and enjoyed a Scottish and Irish Folk band, and taught us a wee dance.
Last day on the highlands so we made a few stops on the way back to Stirling: Invermoriston Falls, Loch Ness (a lot skinnier and less swampy than I preconceived, but an impressive 800 ft deep almost everywhere), Lagan Dam, and a short hike through Reelig Glen – where the tallest tree in Britain used to be (till it got struck by lightning and fell over and broke the sign talking about how tall it was).
We drove all around the Isle of Skye today. Everything felt straight out of Lord of the Rings, hiking through the mist and this big rocks slowly coming into view as you pass, it was an awesome feeling. We started out at the Fairy Pools, then went to some statue of some mountaineers to have a picnic for lunch. Then we hiked up the Old Man of Storr (which was quite the hike and accidentally took the long way round coming back down), saw Kilt Rock, the Quaraing, and finally the Faerie Glen.
This morning we started on our weekend tour to the Isle of Skye; when we started off we were finally getting some of the classic Scottish rain, but it cleared up as we went north so we could see all the mountains and lochs lining the roads. I definitely don’t remember all the names of the mountains we stopped at, but I do know that on the way we drove through the Loch Lommond & Trossachs National Park, and Glenco, and saw the Three Sisters, Glenfinnan Viaduct (Harry Potter bridge), and Eileen Donan Castle. Oh, and I finally saw my Highland cows! We stayed at a hostel in Stromeferry; pretty janky – we could only have power on either the first or second floor and (spoiler  alert) the second night the showers stopped working all together, but you get what you pay for and we were pretty much only there to sleep.
Today’s ISS day trip was into Glasgow. Saw the Duke of Wellington Statue in the square, which has apparently had a cone on its head since the 90s, and whenever it gets taken off it just gets replaced quickly. Then we went onto the Kelvingrove Art Museum; of course all the paintings were beautiful but I was really taken away by the hanging heads – I couldn’t find a plaque so I have no idea what the story is behind them, but it’s quite alarming to be exploring the beautiful old castle like architecture then turn the corner and suddenly there’s a bunch of bipolar heads screaming in the air (spookily lit up I might add). We continued to the Botanical Gardens, and for somebody who cannot keep plants alive, I was really in my happy place walking among these towering plants. Glasgow’s a cute enough town, but not a whole lot to do, so we went around shopping for the rest of the afternoon after eating lunch at Wellingtons, which is apparently a very British and very popular chain, like a Mcdonald’s the way it’s on every corner. We also had our first hint of the classic Scottish rain, but it only lasted maybe 5 minutes.
Walked along the Back Walk trails behind the Stirling Castle. All these areas have loads of small trails going all about, and I’ve found my favorite way of hiking around is to only have the vaguest general idea of where I might want to end up and just see where the random trail I pick takes me – there tends to be some cool statues along the way as well, and sometimes a Beheading Stone. At the bottom of the trail I landed in an open area where I have been told sometimes Highland cows hang out, but there were only sheep today, so the hunt continues. That spot was right next to the King’s Knot which is kind of just an interesting landscaping choice (I read the plaque but can’t remember the actual history behind it). Then for dinner, we walked over to Bridge of Allen again.
ISS planned a Mini Highland Games for us. We walked to the park in Bridge of Allen, which is the most adorable town and just seems like the perfect place to live. One of the strongmen from the Alva games was actually there teaching people how to do the events.
My feet have been killing me from all the hikes this week, so I took the day to chill out, went into town to get groceries (and new clothes/shoes), and then some of the girls in our flat went down to the movie theatre on campus to watch the Minions: Rise of Gru.
We went to the 164th annual Alva Highland Games. It felt like a mix between a fair and a track meet, just with kilts and bagpipes. We mostly watched the Highland Dancing and strongman events, like shot-put, throwing hammers and weights, and the classic event: tossing the caper.
