Careening Through the Universe: Stirling and Falkirk

For my first weekend of travelling, I went to Falkirk and Stirling (towns about 45 minutes or so by train from Edinburgh). For those who don’t know, Stirling has a castle and a monument to William Wallace (think Braveheart). Falkirk has a lock system that involves a big wheel that scoops up boats and lifts them something like 35m into an aquaduct that connects to the canal system. My original plan was to spend all day Saturday and Sunday morning in Stirling and then stop in at Falkirk on the way home on Sunday to see the wheel but on Saturday morning I checked the weather and it was going to piss down with rain Saturday and be clear and sunny on Sunday. I had heard that there were fantastic views from the Wallace Monument and didn’t want a repeat of the rained out Forth bridges view so I decided to hit up Falkirk on Saturday morning and then do Stirling Saturday afternoon and Sunday to maximize the clear sunny views.

Falkirk and the Falkirk wheel were great. The wheel is quite impressive and fairly odd. I went on a boat tour that goes on the wheel and then through a canal tunnel so I could get the full experience. During the boat tour, the (hilarious) guide told us about the ruins of Rough Castle, a Roman fort, that were nearby, so after taking my fill of Falkirk Wheel photos, I followed a trail to the old fort. It was so beautiful, even in the rain, and for someone who hated history at school, I was really interested to learn about the fort and see everything laid out. It was really neat! I guess I’ve gotten to the point where I can finally appreciate history.

My outstanding photo collage of the wheel in motion.

All that rotation for the equivalent energy consumption of 8 electric kettles.

On the way to Rough Castle

After the Wheel and the fort, I continued on to Stirling. I wasn’t feeling the greatest by that point (a little rundown I think) and it was cold and wet, so that probably didn’t help with my impression of Stirling but it didn’t quite live up to what I was expecting (I was expecting more “tourist mecca” and less “small town”). Things got better on Sunday when the weather turned sunny (and windy!). I walked around a little and then visited the castle. The views definitely lived up to expectations! After the castle, I decided not to go to the Wallace Monument and instead walked to the old Stirling bridge and then headed to the train station to go home. The views from the castle were fantastic so I wasn’t sad to miss the view from the Monument (which was probably similar except you would see the castle instead of the monument). I meant no disrespect to William Wallace but I was tired and ready to leave.