Early morning, the first of this trip. It wasn't too bad either. Kate and I had to be ready to go at 9:30 AM since we needed to catch a ride with Kate's mother into Crieff in order to grab a bus to Stirling. What's in Stirling? Well not abandoned factories or my driver's license; that's Sterling.
First we had brunch in Crieff. Kate had a pancake and yours truly had a breakfast sandwich. Coffee was included of course. It was a tasty meal though it did make me miss pancake houses of home. Downers Delight I shall return to you soon!
Right, so after breakfast Kate and I caught the bus to Stirling. About an hour (maybe shorter) later we arrived outside the Stirling shopping center. We made our way through but stopped to grab a birthday card for Kate's Aunt Lil. European cards are far more blue than the American ones. Least the ones at Hallmark stores.
The card was bought and we moved onwards with our mission. After walking up a hill and following a cemetery path filled with daffodils we finally arrived. It was Stirling castle! For me this was a major deal. Remember audience the only castles in America belong to Disney and are less than a century old. Castles are a love of mine. I enjoy exploring them and creating ridiculous fantasies about living in them. Not as a princess, no I'd rather be a servant spending time with the stable boys. Oops, you guys didn't hear that.
Kate and I decided while buying our tickets to have a two castle deal; one for Stirling and one for Edinburgh. No problems there, more castles means more stable boys. Again, oops. So we started our castle wander around twelve-thirty and spend a good deal of two hours there.
A quick run down: Towers , short film on the statues, trying on hats, sitting in a throne, dealing with the wind, absorbing the amazing view, posing with cannons, and just having fun. I especially enjoyed the statues and carvings since replicas of original colors were included next to them. It astonishes me that something so old can last so long through the forces of the elements. I mean damn, hundreds of years! I really should build a castle for myself in order for me to last throughout time.
Once it hit two-thirty or so Kate and I felt the need for sugar. What better way to satisfy that urge than with milkshakes. These were not ordinary milkshakes either audience. Oh no they were Shakebar milkshakes. To give my Stateside audience an idea of these shakes they were like a frothy mixture of heaven. Mine was galaxy caramel (a type of chocolate) and Kate's was carrot cake. The galaxy was clearly amazing but if I'm ever in Stirling again carrot cake it shall be.
That technically was our lunch (we made up for it later) which meant it was time for shopping. Oh how I had fun with that. See in France (Le Havre) there aren't many stores that sell nice clothes or at least clothes that suit me. Scotland is different. Finally I have a pair of charming summer dresses as well as some heels, flats, and a decent top. Sales are dangerous for Scales.
We hurried to the bus stop and grabbed a good pair of seats nearish the back. Unfortunately we were plagued with two babbling school girls. I'd like to think that I wasn't that annoying at that age but it's possible that I was. Though fussing over "how terrible I looked on holiday" doesn't sound like me. The ride was smooth and relaxing once they left.
Dinner itself was a drive away. We were heading over to a place called the Real Food Cafe about half an hour from Kate's home. They apparently have fantastic fish n' chips which this American was eager to taste. Admittedly my diet wasn't too healthy today; it becomes worse just wait.
So I had fish n' chips as did Mr. Appleby while Kate and her mom had venison burgers. I do enjoy venison but I was in it for the fish. Only thing missing was coleslaw, darn. The tartar was perfect though.
Not too far into waiting for our meal appeared some family friends of the Applebys. They were John (the father/professor of economy/rad) and his two children Helena and Rannoch. Having them in company was fantastic, the more the merrier. We talked about interesting topics such as Africa, equation solutions, and wind farms. See, told you they were interesting. Least to me they were.
Then a surprise happened. The dessert to be specific. It went by the name of West Highland Way Hey Hey and was insane. Even for Americans this was crazy. It was an enormous bowl of ice cream, fruit, whipped cream, and chocolate disks. I did have two servings but it took seven of us to demolish it. Job well done team, who's ready for sprints? No one? Damn.
The ride home was slower but went fast enough for me. I love driving through the twilight, gives the world a lovely blue tint. After arriving home Kate and I decided to veg out on the couch and watch The Duchess. Again, decent film give it a go if you can. Tomorrow is another earlyish day so I'd best leave you here. Sides I don't think me sleep typing would be effective blogging. Let's not try.
No comments:
Post a Comment