that week i fell in love with a country

Eek, finally updating on the rest of my time in Scotland!

Well morning after a great night meeting Sarah’s friends, we decided to do something with our day & hiked up to the National Wallace Monument.

“Standing high above the fields where William Wallace led his troops to victory at The Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297 is The National Wallace Monument, a magnificent tribute to Scotland’s famous patriot and martyr.” –Brochure from the visitors office

The hike up was really pretty, moss covering the trees & peeks of the monument through the woods. There was a beautiful view of Stirling from the bottom of the monument, but the vista from the top was unreal. There were 3 floors of exhibits: the first detailing William Wallace’s life & Scotland/England at the time, the second with busts of famous Scotsmen & some quotes that made me wish I was Scottish, and the third with pictures of other Wallace monuments over the UK & even in NYC! The stairs up were classic medieval/just really old – tiny spiral staircase the entire way up with little window slits so you could see how far off the ground you were. Not the most pleasant of experience if you’re a bit wary of small spaces & heights. The top was worth it though, and I can imagine how much more beautiful the view would be with a snow dusting across the hills or in the summer with a clear blue sky.

from the very bottom of the hill

Peek of the Wallace Monument on our way up!

Nîmes-ers in Scotland - Freedooommmm!!!

some great quotes that made me wish I was Scottish

Gorgeous hills

:)

To follow that, we went home & cozied up to a fire & Braveheart! I’d never seen it before, but seeing it that day in Scotland – ha by the end I was desperate to be Scottish! Similar patriotism comes from seeing The Patriot for us Americans :)  And yes, I know that much of it is not historically accurate, but still a great story & movie. Sarah’s dad was hilarious, he kept coming in to quote the lines…about 15 seconds ahead.

The next day we were off to be super-tourists with a full day in Edinburgh. It’s only about an hour train ride, so we got there around 10am. Walked from the train station up the hill to the Royal Mile, ducked into Starbucks so Marshel could buy an Edinburgh mug, and then went to a museum called the Camera Obscura. “Enjoy the fascinating Camera Obscura Show, fantastic views of Edinburgh, and three galleries packed full of an amazing range of optical experiences which have been amusing visitors of all ages and nationalities since 1853!” It was funny, full of pictures and fun optical illusions...we felt like kids & it was great! After that we got a bit more serious & walked up to Edinburgh Castle for a tour. To read more check out the fab Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edinburgh_Castle

Here are some pics:

3 in a row?! Just had to!

Edinburgh Castle

In the Camera Obscura Museum

Castle

Mons Meg - Huge cannon

After the Castle we wandered the Royal Mile for awhile longer, stopped into the Childhood Museum (bunches of old toys), & then trained back to Stirling.

I. Love. Edinburgh. Classy, historic, cultural, beautiful, old & fashionable.

The boys left to return to London that night, and Sarah & I watched Love Actually. Hooray for Christmas in the UK!

Thursday was great! My aunt’s friend lives in Elie, Scotland (in Fife) & he volunteered to pick me up & take me around to see a different part of the country. My choice – St. Andrews! I wanted to see the Old Course in particular, but we also got to go into the British Golf Museum, see the Cathedral, part of the University, & walked around the town a bit. Lunch was delicious, some of the best food I’ve had in the UK! Unfortunately my memory is a bit fuzzy & I don’t recall what the name of the place was. Here’s a bit of St. Andrews though:

Old Course!

The North Sea!

By the time we got back to the car it was getting dark, so we weren’t able to make any major stops in the villages back to Elie. We did drive through a couple really cute fishing, coastal villages. During the summer the population over there expands with all the tourists flowing through for the beaches & seafood. Speaking of which, when we got back to Elie we swung through the house for a bit, went to a tiny pub for dinner where I had the best fish n chips of my LIFE. Perfection, the fish was. I also tried a Scottish beer, called Tartan, which was pretty good. Oh & the drive to & from Stirling was absolutely stunning. Rolling hills, green countryside, occasional cliffs or peeks at the beach, small villages, old manors and estates, grazing sheep…turns out Scotland is more beautiful than I imagined.

I got back to Stirling in the morning & did some skyping before Sarah & I started getting ready for a classy night out in Edinburgh! The four of us (Sarah, her boyfriend, his friend & me) went to an amazing dinner at The Outsider followed by drinks at The Dome (equivalent of The Drake in Chicago) before heading home. Even more love for Edinburgh after that!

The next day was……CHRISTMAS EVE!!! Of course it was very strange not to be home, but I couldn’t have been in a better place in Europe for the holidays. We made cookies, listened to Christmas music most of the day, watched the Michael Bublé special, went to a church service at a Catholic Church that Mr. Philliben goes to & went to dinner at an Italian restaurant that Mr. & Mrs. Philliben have been going to for nearly 30 years now!! & then of course came CHRISTMAS! Pretty traditional day: wake up, open presents, have a lovely breakfast, see family & more family, back to the house to prepare for dinner (I skyped with some of my family & friends), fam hang out, dinner, games, bed! It was nice to meet more of Sarah’s family, and I had a few amusing conversations about Chicago & America with her grandpa & her young cousin. The cousin started imitating my accent once we became friends (she was about 9), veeeerrry funny for me. She was cute though, and I realized I missed my kiddies back in France! Boxing Day came next, my last (for now) day in Scotland :( Most of it was spent packing, hanging out in pajamas, and then going to a bar with some of Sarah’s friends.

Overall, if you can’t tell, I had an amazing time in Scotland & am itching to get back once it starts to warm up a bit. I want to go to some of the lochs & up into the highlands, as well as see more of Glasgow & Edinburgh. I loved England, but after only a little over a week, Scotland is just as much a favorite country as England. Guess the UK is just making all sorts of great impressions! Next stop – Ireland!

Currently I am safely in Paris with Lauren & Swags for New Years (!!!!!). Will update once we get back to Nîmes! 

Lots of love!