Sadly, today was our last day in Scotland. We got a leisurely start, thoroughly enjoying the cooked breakfast at our B&B, chatting away with the couple who runs it. The breakfast room (as well as our room) looked out over beautiful rolling pasture across the road and they told us about how the current owner of that land has been collecting lots from farmers and hoping to build residential subdivisions. Fortunately for the B&B owners, the town’s council has denied the construction permits, as well as the many, many appeals. I commented that it would be a great spot for a community garden (though such a project wouldn’t generate a profit) and got a very enthusiastic response from one of the owners (Kevin) and groans from Chuck and the other owner (Kim). From there, we embarked on a lengthy discussion of gardening, foraging, pollinator habitats, and dandelion syrup. Eventually, Chuck managed to wrench me away and off we went for our scheduled tour at Stirling Castle.

Stirling Castle was an interesting one to visit (I wish we had more time) because it combined existing historical castle structures with some reconstructions to show what castle apartments would have looked like furnished during the time of King James the IV, King James the V, and Mary Queen of Scots. They even had actors there in costume to verbally describe key features of the rooms and answer questions.

I particularly enjoyed the kitchens, which they had outfitted with mannequins and plastic food models to show how the space would have been used. It was pretty dark in the kitchens and I have terrible night vision. I had stopped to read a description on one of the exhibits and I took a step to walk around one of the mannequins to the next exhibit and IT MOVED. And then I gasped. And it gasped. And it turns out it was another tourist and we each thought the other was a mannequin. We laughed and laughed… Have I mentioned mannequins in dark enclosed spaces in old castles throw me off EVERY TIME?

We were supposed to return our rental car in Glasgow by noon but knew there was no way we’d make it on time. That said, we didn’t want to return it offensively late, so got back on the road with a quick detour to see the Falkirk Wheel (boat elevator to move boats from a lower canal to a higher one). We couldn’t see a ton from the road, but managed to see part of it and made a note to make a full visit when we return again at some point in the future.

After a weird experience with a lost tour bus (see Chuck’s post for details), we made it to Glasgow, found a place to park near the train station, and dropped off our luggage at a really sketchy luggage storage service. We weren’t 100% sure we were going to be returning home with luggage, but we both made sure to retrieve our passports from our bags so that we wouldn’t have to make a trip to the consulate in addition to potentially having handed over our bags to con artists. From there, we walked back to the rental car and dropped it off at the car return (after reassuring them that any blood on the hubcap was from a bird that flew under the car and not a pedestrian or sheep), and took a cab back toward the train station.

We thought we would eat at a pub near the station except that the one we had eyed didn’t have haggis on the menu and I was determined to have haggis one more time on our last day in Scotland. After searching, I found a highly rated restaurant just a 10 minute walk away, which didn’t seem far to me at the time. It is quite warm in Glasgow today and the walk ended up being almost entirely uphill. Chuck grumbled lightheartedly a bit, but the restaurant turned out to be the perfect lunch spot for our last day here. I got my haggis, neeps, and tatties (and some whisky) and he got a venison stew that he really seemed to enjoy.

After lunch, we walked to the Tenement House, a really cool exhibit showcasing a middle-class tenement as it would have appeared in the first half of the 20th century. The tenement’s previous occupant, Agnes Toward, moved into the tenement house in 1911 and lived there until 1965 when she was hospitalized. When she passed away ten years later with no heir, the tenement house was eventually obtained by the National Trust of Scotland and preserved almost exactly as she left it (after some extensive dusting and clean-up). During her life, she lived independently, working as a typist, at a time when it was rare for women to have a career and remain unmarried. She was incredibly neat and organized and kept copies of letters she wrote to (and received from) friends, which made for a really interesting archive, especially some from the WWII timeframe.

Chuck and I were feeling a little tired after our walking and touring (okay, maybe it was just me that was tired) and we’re both fond of train stations, so we took the metro back to the train station and camped out for a bit before grabbing dinner at Nandos next door to the station and retrieving our luggage (yayy!). We’re on the train now, enjoying some nightcaps in the club car before we try out our teeny, tiny sleeper car.

Today’s Highlights:

• Garden talk over a delicious hot breakfast
• Sharing a terror of mannequins-come-to-life with a complete stranger
• Haggis, neeps, and tatties
• Whisky
• Snapshot in time of an OG feminist
• Train station people-watching
• Peri Peri chicken
• Sleeper train

Tomorrow’s Proposed Adventures:

• Arrival in London and hot breakfast on the train
• More London sightseeing (the historic “city” and south bank, most likely)
• Seeing a West End show (Moulin Rouge)