Day 7 – Day Trip to ‘Braveheart’ Country

The 1995 Academy-Award winning film Braveheart is one my favorite films and while in Scotland I had to explore the Scottish lore covered in the film.  The movie depicts a series of very important events in Scottish history, which fortunately took place not too far from Glasgow in a city called Stirling and its neighnoring city of Bannockburn. 

I took a 30-minute train from Queen Station in Glasgow to Stirling.

It was a beautiful day which made for great country views from the train. The white dots are sheep.

Scottish countryside between Glasgow and Stirling.

The old-fashion streets of Stirling.

Downtown Stirling featured a main street of quaint shops, cafes and pubs.

 

 

Stirling is best known for its iconic castle which is one of the largest and most important castles, both historically and architecturally, in Scotland.   The castle sits atop Castle Hill and is surrounded on three sides by steep cliffs.   Its strategic location as a gateway from the highlands to the lowlands has made it an important fortification from the earliest times.   During the Wars of Scottish Independence (1296-1357) the Stirling castle switched hands between the English and Scottish on numerous occasions.

The walk up to Stirling Castle featured a statue of Robert I, better known as Robert the Bruce, the King of Scotland from 1306-1329.

The Castle entrance.

The Queen's Garden.

A view from the northwest side of the Castle looking out onto the nearby fields. The Castle was in a position to see 6 or 7 battle fields in the distance.

The central square inside the Castle walls. This building is the main palace where the King and Queen ate and slept.

The cannon gallery on the eastside of the Castle.

A view of what a cannon soldier would see as he aims at the oncoming troops.

The spire in the distance is the William Wallace monument as seen from the Stirling Castle.

One of the many walkways along the Castle walls where soldiers would patrol the perimeter.

Taking in the views.  This is one of the sides of the Castle on a cliff so off this ledge is about a 120ft drop.

One of the cliffs that the Castle was built on.  You can see how big of a drop it is.

The King's quarters.

The King and Queen's dining hall.

The dungeon corridors of the Stirling Castle.

 

 

Once I conquered the Stirling Castle it was time to make my way to the battle fields of Bannockburn.  I took a 10-minute bus ride to the rolling green hills where arguably the most important battle in Scottish history took place: the battle of 1314.  On the hill looking over the Bannockburn field is a heritage center that provides all the history, artifacts, and monuments of the infamous battle.  A monument to both the battle itself and Robert the Bruce, the hero of the clash, have been erected in honor of the victory.  Although out numbered 3-to-1 against the superior English archers, cavalry and infantry, Robert the Bruce lead his men in a strategic and brave battle that won them their independence. 

The Braveheart film ends with this goose-bump monologue, “In the year of our lord 1314, patriots of Scotland, starving and out numbered, charged the fields of Bannockburn.  They fought like warrior poets. They fought like Scotsman. And won their freedom.”  That war did in fact win their independence, but it wasn’t until 1326 that the treaty was signed for Scotland to become a sovereign country.

The Bannockburn Heritage center was filled with artifacts, history timelines and a 10-minute movie all about the Battle of Bannockburn.

The center also had warrior gear for guests to try on...

Not sure how anyone could fight in such heavy gear.  I could barely put it on and move around.

A replica of the swords used during the Wars of Scottish Independence.

 

The monument dedicated to the Battle of Bannockburn.

This is on the Bannockburn memorial and reads, "We fight not for glory, nor for wealth, nor honor, but only and alone we fight for freedom, which no good man surrenders but with his life."

A view of the Stirling Castle from Bannockburn.

Robert the Bruce statue overlooking the fields of Bannockburn where he lead the Scots in the Battle of 1314.

The fields of Bannockburn.

 


Around 6pm I left the battle fields and headed to the train station.  Near the train station I popped into a tartan store to see if I could finally find a Logan-patterned scarf, blanket or tie.  I had the Logan pin and the shoulder throw, but I wanted a scarf or blanket.  Lucky enough, Marian, the Queen of Tartans (pictured below) had both a scarf and a tie.  She knew each clan pattern, family heritage, related clans and a lot more.  She was amazing.  I quickly snatched up the scarf and tie and headed to the train station.   

The Queen of Scottish tartans, Marian.

Once on the train I quickly fell asleep (it was long day of exploring).   Forty-five minutes later when we pulled into Queen Station I had to be woken up by the train steward cleaning the cars.  He nudged me and said "Hey mate, we're at Queen Station."  Fortunately, my stop, Queen Station, was the last stop or else I would have been on a long train ride out of the way.   Once the sleepy haze cleared I headed back to the hotel to change and go out for my last night in town. 

I went to a late dinner at a local tapas place called Torres.  Since it was a late dinner I was one of only two parties at the restaurant, which allowed for me and the manager/waiter, Nacho, to get to talking.  He was from Valencia, Spain (not a city I'm visiting), but he was still insightful on things to see and do during my visit to Spain.  He loved that I was from Los Angeles because he's a huge punk rock fan and wants to come to LA to see some shows.  As I was finishing my meal the restaurant was closing and Nacho offered me a after-dinner Spanish wine.  That lead to a shot of Jameson (natural progression) which then lead to an invite to a going away house party for one of the restaurant's waitresses.  I gladly accepted and was on my way to a fun final night in Glasgow. 

Torres, a tapas bar on Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow.

I had the goat-cheese jam spread...

...a pork chop on toasted bread...

...and chicken dumplings and chorizo.

Post-dinner shots with the staff.  Xena (L) was the waitress having the going-away party and Zen (R)was a waiter at the restaurant who was off-duty but was coming to the party.

A few shots later Zen felt the need to rub my head...it was a friendly bunch (also notice the new Logan scarf!)

After shutting down the restaurant the group went to Nacho's place to celebrate's Xena's going away. Nacho is in the back, Jimmy (Nacho's roommate) is on the left and Xena is in the middle.

 

Group shot.

My new Glaswegian friends - Nacho, Zen and Jimmy.

 

After the house party on my way back to the hotel I stopped off at a noodle place to grab a bite and I mentioned to this young gentlemen in line that I was a Celtic fan from America and he just about lost it. He insisted on buying me my chicken chow mein and who am I to decline.  Cheers mate!

 

An eventful day to say the least.  Lots of history, some good food and a bit of boozing.  Friday morning I take the hour-long train ride to Edinburgh where I’ll spend one day and one night before flying to Spain for 14 days (Madrid, San Sebastian and Barcelona).  I better start touching up on my Spanish.