Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Linlithgow and Sterling: Scotland Day 3

Friday August 3, 2012: Scotland Day 3

Once again woke up at 7:00am thanks to the lovely ringing of the marimba on my iPhone, showered, and grabbed my usual cereal and banana breakfast. The morning was beginning great without any issues, until Paige, my roommate, discovered that she had misplaced her wallet. We were just about to walk to the bus stop and we all grabbed our bus passes when she made the discovery. Luckily, her wallet had been left on the couch in the lobby of our building and was turned in, with all of the contents still in place! Once we solved the mystery of the missing wallet, we hopped on a bus (a double decker one) and made our way to the Edinburgh Waverly Train Station.

We would be taking the train to the towns of Linlithgow and Sterling. Both home to castles and much history. Once on the train, it was nice to be able to just sit and watch the Scottish countryside go by as I listened to some music on my iPod, mainly consisting of artists such as One Republic and The Fray. The train ride to Linlithgow was not long at all, and we were soon making our way through the quaint little town and walking up the street to Linlithgow Palace.

Linlithgow Palace was the birth place of Mary Queen of Scots and is also said to be haunted by her mother, Mary of Guise. We however, did not have any ghost encounters! We were able to tour the Palace and learned much about the history, thanks to two wonderful tour guides. The guides are actually school children from nearby Linlithgow Primary and Linlithgow Academy that are participating in a summer project. Once we were done at the Palace, Paige, Jake, and myself wondered throughout the town until it was time to meet back at the train station. During this time, we stumbled upon a wonderful little bakery called Oliphants Bakers' Shops. It is not large in size, but its pastries are mighty delicious!

Once it was time to meet back at the station, we boarded the train for the town of Sterling. Sterling is also home to a castle, which played a very important role in Scottish history. Several Scottish Kings and Queens have been crowned at Stirling, including Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1543, and there have also been at least eight sieges at the Castle. I however thought that this Castle was a bit too modern looking. It has recently been restored so I feel that it has lost some of its historic spark. Once were were done at the Castle, we then made our way to the William Wallace Monument which is also located in the town of Stirling. The monument commemorates Sir William Wallace, the 13th century Scottish hero. Visitors first get to hike up bit of a mountain before reaching the base of the monument, and then get to climb a 246 step spiral staircase to the viewing gallery inside of the monument's crown, which offers breathtaking views of the Ochil Hills and the Forth Valley.

Once we were done at the monument, we made our way back to the train station in Sterling, and boarded the train back to Edinburgh. Most of us fell asleep on the way back thanks to the stair climb!

Once we arrived back in Edinburgh, Paige, Jake, Beckie, Kate, and myself headed to find a place for dinner. We decided on Pizza Paradise, one of my favorite restaurants from the last time I traveled to Scotland. Pizza was wonderful and the chocolate cake for dessert was also very good. However the water that cost a over 2 pounds was a bit outrageous. After dinner, we decided to catch a bus because we were all pretty worn out from the day. Once we got off the bus stop at Pollock Halls, Paige made the discovery that she had left her bag at Pizza Paradise. Both her and I walked back to the restaurant to retrieve the bag while the others headed to The Abby to hang out and watch the Olympics. Once the bag was retrieved we met the others and hung out until we decided to call it a night.

 Courtyard in Linlithgow Palace
 Entrance to Stirling Castle
 William Wallace Monument from a distance
 246 spiral steps!
Rolling Scottish hills from the top of the Wallace Monument

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