Stirling Castle

Yesterday Luke and I took the train to Stirling.  It's about an hour from Edinburgh and it definitely worth the trip.  Stirling Castle has been restored by Historic Scotland and provides an accurate representation of life at the castle during the 16th century.  And it is absolutely beautiful.  Because it has been restored, it is really busy as well.  We had to stand in the queue for about 15 minutes to get tickets which we had not yet experienced on any of our other trips to castles.

Included in the price of your ticket, you also get an audio tour guide (the blue things hanging around our necks in the picture above).  I'd recommend bringing headphones so that you don't have to hold it up to your ear the whole time.  But it gives you a lot of information about each of the sections of the castle.

On our way to the castle, we passed the Church of the Holy Rude (where James VI was crowned), Mars Walk (the home of the Earl of Mar - Guardian of infant James VI) and the Stirling Old Town Cemetery (a beautiful Scottish kirkyard).  We also passed Argyll's Lodgings (a 17th century townhouse) but did not get to tour it because the tours had been cancelled for the holiday period.  Hopefully we'll get to do that the next time we go to Stirling - as long as someone comes to visit us soon (hint, hint).

After we spent a couple hours exploring the castle, we headed into Old Town to Nicky Tams Bar for a great lunch and a couple of pints.  I'd definitely recommend it if you're heading to Stirling any time soon.

Here are some pictures from our outing.  Enjoy!

Church of the Holy Rude

Stirling Castle from the kirkyard 

Now that's the way to be remembered!

Poor little guy lost his head!

The mountains in the distance look mysterious in the clouds.

Chapel

Ceiling of the Great Hall

Royal seats in the Great Hall

They believe that James V had a lion.  This little guy was on the stairs in the lion's den.

Great Hall

Love you & miss you!
Aubs, Luke & Luther