Scotland - Day Twenty six - Stirling, the Kelpies and Edinburgh (again.)

Day 26 - and we were leaving our luxury pad in Loch Lomond and heading back to where our journey started, Edinburgh.

And we were sad to leave. Partly knowing our adventure is coming to a close and largely because we would prefer to stay and live the life of a rich, decadent hedonist forever. But sadly the bank reminds us that we bank with them, they do not bank with us. So leave we must.

We took some photos of where we stayed (Cameron House) and had a wander round as we’d arrived in the rain and gloom yesterday. It’s a lot bigger than we’d realised. If you win lotto or are already stinking rich, stay here. Just for one night. You won’t be disappointed. They are child and dog friendly. There is a great indoor pool, a couple of bars, a few restaurants. It’s fab. It was good enough for Winston Chrurchill to stay here so it should be good enough for most.

I was enjoying a look around their really nice shop hoping to get some “Cameron House” gear, until the Favourite Husband states (far too loudly) that it resembles school uniform and started calling me Britney. I knew this had the potential to head South quickly, so escorted him out. I do regret not buying the gear though, maybe they do online?

From here we were heading to Stirling for a quick visit to the town and a longer visit to the castle. We loved the town, there’s a good selection of nice shops and cafes. You can drive right up to the castle and park right outside. I think I’ve had my fill of castles for now. And I think the Favourite Husband may have done too as we seemed to be lacking our usual enthusiasm and energy. Or it could have been the bottle of champagne and drinks at dinner yesterday. What I did enjoy though was the tapestry exhibition. I’d declared myself “not interested” and was going to give it a miss, but decided to go in anyway as I was right there. It’s the story of the “hunt of the unicorn” tapestry and deciphers the panels; describing what is depicted, as well as what the imagery may have meant to its medieval audience. I’m prepared to be mocked, but I did not know that the unicorn was often used to depict Christ. Understanding what could be the story behind it was really interesting.

We had intended to visit the Wallace Monument but realised we weren’t going to have time.

I think that’s always the way, when you know your holiday is coming to the end, your energy tails off and your focus shifts. Either that or we’re just weird.

We did have time to pop to the outskirts of Falkirk to see the Kelpies on our way back to Edinburgh and I am so glad we did. I found them stunning, they took my breath away. The photos you see don’t do them justice. You need to get up close and personal. They’re beautiful. They’re striking. They’re stark. I thought the gift shop was one of the most expensive I’ve been in, so I retreated with my hands firmly in my pockets. Turns out though that you can organise a tour of the inside of the Kelpies which I rather regret not having done. Additionally, they light up at night which would be very cool to see. They are called Duke and Baron and are by the well respected Scottish sculptor Andy Scott, a graduate from the Glasgow School of Art. The Kelpies are 30 meters high and weigh 300 tonnes each. So not much more than me after a month in Scotland.

Then it was back to the big smoke of Edinburgh for us. We intended to drop our bags at our last night’s accommodation, but there was nowhere to stop so we dropped the car off first and then Ubered back. The poor lady at the car rental office nearly fell off her chair when she calculated the mileage that we’d clocked up in the “Porsche.” A grand total of 2,725 miles or 4,385 kms. She asked where we’d been but then decided it might be better to ask where we hadn’t been.

And then I caught the Favourite Husband photographing the bloody “Porsche.” It wasn’t that long ago he really didn’t like her, now he’s getting all spicy with her. And they say women are fickle …

Some interesting facts from our 26 days in Scotland; I’ve done

447,322 steps

377.9 kms

108,652 steps a week

16,100 daily average

Which begs the question, how come I’m so much fatter?

I asked the Favourite Husband to which his response was, “do people want to see our calorie intake data?”

No. Nobody needs to see that …