Winding up our whirlwind tour of Scottish tourist attractions, my folks and I headed for Stirling yesterday, where we saw the seventh castle/palace of the last two weeks.
Seven? Why, yes: Edinburgh, Holyrood, Glamis, Inverness (rebuilt), Urquhart (ruins), St. Andrews (also ruins), and Stirling, which is much like Edinburgh in miniature with an enormous great hall tacked on and painted yellow. It's great.
While it rained for much of the morning in Stirling and my parents, for some odd reason, saw no need to climb the Wallace Monument (could have been an after-effect of my making them climb Arthur's Seat and walk to Duddingston twice), we still had a nice time touring the castle and the Church of the Holy Rude ("Holy Cross", to those who didn't take Old English), and survived two trips with an insane bus driver who bore a strong resemblance to Chris Farley.
Today, we hit Rosslyn Chapel, which is well worth a look - it's only half an hour away on the 15 bus, and student admission's only £6. Anurag had warned me that the chapel's exterior is covered by a new roof, but this seeming detraction is actually a mixed blessing, as the walkway around the inside gives visitors an up-close look at the carvings on the spires. People, this place is gorgeous, tiny by church standards but covered with enough carvings to keep you happy for at least a good two hours. Between dodging DaVinci Code fans and trying to spot Jesus by the baptistery, we passed a pleasant morning, then returned to Edinburgh in time for Miss Julie, a Fringe play put on by a small cast from Birmingham Southern. I'm not just saying this because they're from BSC, but they did an excellent job, and they're only here through Saturday, so if you'd like to see Strindberg Southern-style, hop down to C Soco on Chambers Street at 5:15 some afternoon and take a look.
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