It has been a few days, very busy days. We are still in Scotland and we were joined by my Mother in Law. We have been busy since then. The Wallace Monument, Edinburgh Castle and I snuck away to Galway, Ireland to meet up with my cousin living there and check out the city.
The Wallace Monument is visible from a long distance away as it stands 220 ft high on top Abbey Craig (which is 364 ft high). We climbed 246 steps inside the spiral staircase to the top for a commanding view of the surrounding countryside including the Stirling Bridge. This is where William Wallace gained fame at the Battle of Stirling Bridge. "The Battle of Stirling Bridge is depicted in the 1995 film Braveheart, but it bears little resemblance to the real battle, there being no bridge (due mainly to the difficulty of filming around the bridge itself) and tactics resembling the Battle of Bannockburn." Wikipedia
The next day we ventured to Edinburgh to the Edinburgh Castle. Approaching from the south you can see that attacking from this direction would likely be not successful. View the rest of the gallery here. We continued on to the castle, a very busy place, and took in panoramic views of Edinburgh. When we left the castle we went down the Royal Mile to St Giles Cathedral, where we had a lovely lunch. By this time, the kids were running out of steam. We had covered a lot of ground and decided to head back to our AirBnB.
Later that night, I caught a flight to Ireland to catch up with my cousin living in Galway. I was booked on RyanAir, which is notorious for cheap flights, and experienced the no frills flight. Because I was only going to be there the day I had only my camera bag with a change of clothes and toiletries. In keeping with tradition by bag had to be hand inspected at security.(It has been explained to me that, because I have so many electronics and camera gear in one bag it will always warrant further inspection) The flight was uneventful and short. When I landed I went to pickup my rental car, which when we booked we asked for the smallest car with a built in GPS(or SaNav). They got half of it right, I was given a Skoda Citigo, a tiny tin car with a tiny engine and very few amenities. To rent a portable GPS was an additional €14.95, it is less expensive to turn on my Canadian cell phone and use the map function for the day so I took a pass on the GPS. When I went out to the lot to pick up the car I saw the beast itself. It wasn't pretty. No GPS, no cruise control, no usb port, no bluetooth, and a horrible automatic transmission. When I started to leave the parking spot I thought the park brake must be on because it wasn't moving, nope, first signs that the transmission was not up to the standards I am used to. If you have ever driven with a new driver who is learning how to drive standard for the first time you have an idea what I talking about. The feeling of someone who keeps their foot on the accelerator as they depress the clutch creating "the lurch" and then, takes a full second or two to release into what feels like two gears higher than they should be and not enough gas. I made it out of the parking garage and started the 2 1/2 hr journey from Dublin to Galway and got in at 12:30am. My cousin and I then proceeded to talk for two hours before going off to sleep. At precisely 8:00am, the construction alarm clock I didn't know I set woke me from the couch. Good time to wake up. My cousin then gave me a quick tour of downtown Galway before she had to go to work. I then proceeded to explore and walk around Galway for the next 5 hours. I walked to the University and then around the narrow streets trying to find my bearings. I did get turned around a few times, but eventually picked up a map. I especially found the waterfront fascinating and made several beautiful images. As the time to leave came near, I left the city, feeling like I will be back.
See the pictures by clicking the gallery here.