Stirling Castle

Today was the first cold day we've has and with the wind, it feels much colder. We had to get out the big coats for the one hour train ride to Stirling.

Stirling Castle is a grand structure with many of the walls and ramparts still in place. It is considered one of the most important castles in Scotland.

Stirling Castle Entryway

Lots of cannons

However, much of the "reconstruction" they've done is tacky, like whoever's in charge doesn't have very good taste. They seem to want to appeal to families and have a lot of things set up for children.  For example, they spent 13 years reproducing famous unicorn pictures which were never in the collection although they believe there once were tapestries with unicorns.

Not the real one

Still, it's a remarkable structure that has a rich history. Most of the buildings are from the 15th and 16th centuries. Mary, Queen of Scots, and the Stewart Jameses (IV, V, and VI)  lived there, for example. Bonnie Prince Charlie tried to overtake the castle and failed. Robert Bruce had better luck in 1299. There's lots of other important Scottish history but I can't keep it all straight.  There's a lot of kings, queens, and invaders involved.  More important is that the castle has been used as backgrounds for rock star videos, including by Bob Dylan and REM.

An equally interesting place which doesn't seem to be advertised with the castle is the very near Church of the Holy Rude (not mispelled), established in 1129 and has been used for many coronations.  James the VI was crowned there as a baby and John Knox preached there..  There was an argument between ministers in the 17th century which resulted into the church being divided with a wall into two parts--the East Church and the West Church. That arrangement continued until 1936.  The church has had some restoration, most noticeably some new stained glass windows, funded by a tradesmen guild that has been in existent for centuries. Most of the stained glass is from the 19th century but a couple are from 2012 and the parishioners are very proud of them. We can tell you the significance of every single picture in the following because a kind Scottish gentleman told us:

The images and what they represent really are fascinating so we were glad to hear about it and thankful the "guide' didn't follow us around and tell us about all the windows.

For dinner, we ate at an unusual restaurant called Indaba which serves tapas with an African twist. We tried many different dishes including a dessert trio which was the best dessert ever. I'd explain the dishes but Mickey has promised to make it all.  Seriously. Just ask her.