The visit to Sterling Castle was worth the bus ride. The visit to a smokehouse? Not so much.
Breakfast at our Glasgow hotel, set out as a buffet, could be considered a full Irish/Scottish/whatever. That is if your definition of breakfast includes (besides eggs), haggis, various sausages, baked beans, mushrooms, grilled tomatoes, & something that was labeled a “potato scone.” What that actually appeared to be was a bit of mashed potato squished into a thin triangular shape then fried within an inch of its life. There was also an extensive selection of cold choices, fruits, pastries, cereals and the like.
Now on to the Castle. Like most castles in this country, it is perched on top of was shaped by geological forces into an extremely high perch looking down on the River Forth. The roads up are tiny, winding and mostly are single car at a time, especially if someone has chosen to park along the roadside. I would not want to be a bus driver. But there are a lot of them, for obviously tourism is a huge industry here.
The Castle itself dates from the beginnings of the 1100s (or probably earlier given its excellent defensive location.) If you are a history buff, you already know about the Romans, the wars of Scottish independence, Robert the Bruce,
various failed English attempts at conquering and the like. If all of that makes you yawn, go read the Wiki summary above. It is reasonable, condensed, and is unlikely to bore your completely.
(the gardens in what we think of as a mote area are extensive)
Of more interest to me was the exhibition on the recreation of the Unicorn Tapestries. (for a complete discussion, go to the bottom section in the Wiki article under Stirling Tapestries.
All seven replicas now hang in the Queen’s chamber in the castle.
The museum segment on the Scottish Highlands’ Argyll Regiment was extremely well done The Wiki article focuses on the more modern times (1880s on) but but obviously the history of military units in Scotland predates the unification.
The smokehouse stop? Whiskey Smoked salmon, smoked cheese. I skipped the tasting. but enjoyed the local area, the descriptions provided by the young woman whose family owns and runs the place (180kg/week of smoke salmon) which they buy farmed from the west of here as the salmon in the river are just about vanished.
We are staying tonight and tomorrow night at a quaint small hotel with stairs, twisty corridors and a marginally adequate set of signage. Translates to – if you know where your room is -not a problem. Otherwise? Forget it.
But the views on the way getting here were lovely
