Stirling

So the original idea for this weekend was for me and Keith (and whoever else wanted to join) to head up to some mountain and go skiing. We had a friend from Clemson who went last week and she really liked it. Except she was freezing. Well that was going to cost a lot, so the idea fell through and we met up with two new guys, Mark and Ben, and along with Mike we set off for Stirling. We got there and set off for the Stirling Castle. I think I like this castle better than Edinburgh and I think I like Stirling better than Edinburgh overall. It was pretty sweet, and the views were once again amazing. Stirling is kinda seen as the Gateway to the Highlands. The castle was great. There was this one building, the Great Hall, which kinda stuck out from all the others. It seemed like a new building, it wasn't built from stone or anything like the rest of the castle. But apparently this is how it actually looked when King James built it. He had it sprinkled with limestone water, then basically painted in a limestone wash. The color of the building is known as King's Gold. I thought that was pretty cool. And the ceiling and frame of the building is made up of a very elaborate design of wooden beams. There are absolutely no nails holding them together. There is a single wooden peg holding each beam together at the joint...nothing else. It's amazing to think that so long ago people were able to think of architectural designs like this, and that they have held up for this long! The rest of the castle was really cool too.
Next we ate lunch where we met up with a friend of Keith whom he met on the plane ride over here. She is from Montana and was actually just in Stirling for the weekend visiting some friends. I swear Keith has a friend in every city in Scotland. But it was nice meeting up with her because she showed us the quickest way to the William Wallace monument where we went next, and showed us how to get up this mountain we had decided to hike. The Wallace monument was very cool. It's up on top of this hill, and at the bottom of the pathway, near like the visitor's center area, there used to be this statue of William Wallace, but it was actually a statue of Mel Gibson from Braveheart. Apparently Scottish people do NOT like that movie or Mel Gibson. From what I understand, the reason is because it was filmed in Ireland and not in Scotland. Frankly I agree with the Scots...if a story takes place in Scotland, film it in Scotland. I guess they kinda see that as a negative shot against their country. The statue was removed because people were so upset that they actually defaced the statue. Someone broke Mel's nose off, and a lot of other things were done, so they finally just removed it. When we got up the hill, it was actually too late for us to go inside because they were getting ready to close. I hope to go back someday and go up inside, I want to see his sword and everything.
Next we set off to go climb yet another mountain. This was is called Dumyat (pronounced Doo-mie-at). Ben at first didn't really want to hike it because he had worked out the day before and his legs were reallly sore. I was in the same position, because I had worked out on Thursday and my legs were still very sore and stiff. But I had decided to go anyways, and Ben did too. On our way to the mountain we cut across this set of practice fields. We all got so excited because there was a team out there practicing...they were all wearing pads and helmets and doing a fumble drill! We couldn't believe it...they were playing American football! We wanted to grab some pads and join in, but I doubt that was going to happen. So we continued and just went to the mountain. We were running out of sunlight, so we actually ran most of the mountain. Ben and Mark fell a little behind and decided the view from one hilltop was good enough...and it definitely was. The views were amazing all around. Mike and Keith took off, and I tried to keep up but I kept slipping on ice (there was snow and ice all around us), and I was getting tired and the soreness was taking its toll, so I fell a little behind. But I eventually caught up with them at the top and was able to snap a few pictures right as the sun was going down. We didn't stay long at the top. There is a tradition that when you hike Dumyat you have to carry up a rock from the base of the mountain. At the top is a huge pile and you toss your rock into the pile. I had found a rock shaped like South Carolina, so I had to carry that one up. I climbed up this pile of rocks and placed South Carolina on the very top. We got some good pictures up there, but it was way too cold to stay. Our pictures didn't turn out extremely good because our hand were shaking and at times too frozen to move. The wind was terrible. And of course, we had barely made the hike in an hour to beat the sunset, so getting down was completely in the dark. We found Mark and Ben again and began the descent. We each fell multiple times, slipping on ice. Mike and I both fell into little streams. I stepped on some ice, which wasn't actually very thick, and it crumbled beneath me as my foot got soaked, so that wasn't too much fun. Mike did the same thing a minute later. But we eventually made it down, frozen, starving, and exhausted.
We caught a bus into the city where we met up with Devin (Keith's friend) and the friends she was staying with. The 8 of us went out to dinner. It was a lot of fun hanging out with them, they were hilarious. We realized that we didn't have much time to eat, but that time went faster than we thought. The last bus back to Glasgow left at 9:15. We got our food and had to eat fast. Yes, for those questioning me, I can eat fast when I need to. I was actually the 2nd one done, and I had a huge calzone. We got our bill, left our money with the girls, then sprinted to the bus station. Buses definitely leave early, and so we had less than 10 minutes to get there. Dinner almost came back up for all of us, but we made it. It was an amazing day, and we got some great pictures. Mine didn't turn out too great, but that's because of my camera. Hopefully this will be the last time I have to deal with this camera, for I hope to go buy another one soon.
Things are definitely going very well for me. I have settled in, and we're planning all kinds of exciting trips coming up. Keith wants to go to Stonehendge for his birthday this Wednesday. So I think we're going to fly into London or Bristol, since we both have Tuesdays and Wednesdays off, and head to Stonehendge. I think we're going down on Tuesday, and maybe flying back on Wednesday, but I'm not sure yet exactly what the plans are. I hope everyone is doing well back at home. I miss you all and I'm thinking about you all the time! I can't wait to see ya'll again soon!