My Life Is An Open Book: Summer Tales ~ Edinburgh - Stirling

20/7/2010

After a long journey the day before, we were expecting a late start to Stirling but luckily the kids woke up at 7.30 a.m. We got ready and left for Stirling at 9 a.m. The only reason I wanted to go to Stirling was because of the National Wallace Monument - thanks to my English History lessons during A-Levels and the power of Hollywood by portraying this legendary man in the movie Braveheart starring Mel Gibson.

A little bit of history: Over 700 years ago, Scotland was ruled by England whereby tyranny and terror dominated. Occupied and oppressed, the Scots sought a hero to challenge the cruelty of King Edward I. When the two countries faced each other in the Battle of Stirling in 1297, Scotland was led to victory by William Wallace, one of Scotland's greatest national heroes. William Wallace fought for Scotland's independence up till his death. During his fight for independence, Wallace was betrayed by a Scottish knight in service to the English king, and arrested near Glasgow. He was taken to London and denied the status of a captured soldier. He was tried for the wartime murder of civilians (he allegedly spared "neither age nor sex, monk nor nun"). He was condemned as a traitor to the king even though, as he correctly maintained, he had never sworn allegiance to Edward and was executed. During his time, the punishment for the crime of treason was that the convicted traitor was dragged to the place of execution, hanged by the neck (but not until he was dead), and disembowelled (or drawn) while still alive. His entrails were burned before his eyes, he was decapitated and his body was divided into four parts (or quartered). Accordingly, this was Wallace's fate. His head was impaled on a spike and displayed at London Bridge, his right arm on the bridge at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, his left arm at Berwick, his right leg at Perth, and the left leg at Aberdeen. Several hundred years later in the 19^th century, statues commemorating Sir William Wallace were erected overlooking the River Tweed and in Lanark. In 1869, the 220-foot high National Wallace Monument was completed on a hill near Stirling. This huge tower now dominates the area where the Scots fought their most decisive battles against the English in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries at Stirling Bridge and Bannockburn.

When we reached Stirling, the Monument was already visible as it was on top of a hill. It reminded me of Mordor in Lord of the Rings trilogy. We parked our car at the designated carpark, thinking that we couldn't drive up. There was actually a coaster service which we didn't know about so it was a good exercise climbing up the woodpath pushing two strollers. When we arrived on top of Abbey Craig, the view was simply breathtaking. All I could utter was, "Subhanallah". The fact that the Monument was still standing after 700 years was also surreal!

The National Wallace Monument greeting us from afar

Semput weyyy!

The National Wallace Monument

Running around while waiting for Babah

As we couldn't all go at the same time, Rafiq went up the tower first. He spent about 1/2 hour up there and was gushing about how amazing it was. When I wanted to go up, Faiq wanted to follow me. At first I was reluctant as I obviously wouldn't have the energy to carry him up so I just prayed that he would walk up and down all the way.

There were about 4 sections to the monument. The first floor was dedicated to Sir William Wallace, where his remarkable story to free Scotland was told. The sword he used in the Battle of Stirling was also on exhibit. On the second floor, there was a tribute to all the other Scottish National Heroes from Robert the Bruce to Adam Smith. The third floor was dedicated to the history behind the construction of the Monument ~ when it was commissioned, the controversies surrounding it until its completion in 1869. After 246 narrow, spiraled steps, you'll reach the top of the Monument with a 360 degrees panoramic view of Stirling town.

The walk up and down

The sword used in the Battle of Stirling

The Hall of Heroes

Reaching the top

The Monument's Crown Rooftop

The view of Stirling Town from the Monument

I've conquered you National Wallace Monument

Initially Faiq gave up at the first floor and wanted to come down but I insisted that he climbed up till the end. It was worth it! It was truly a humbling experience to know what people did to fight for their country. When we came down, we went to the souvenir shop and bought ourselves the certificate which states that "We have climbed the 246 steps of the National Wallace Monument".

Tour guide in kilt

When we were up there, we got this brochure about an outlet factory in Stirling so we decided to go there for an unplanned shopping spree. On the way there, we took pictures of the Stirling Castle, the Church of Holyrude and the Old Town Jail. We arrived back in Edinburgh at about 6 p.m.

Stirling Castle from an old cemetery

Closer view of Stirling Castle

Stirling Old Town

Sherlock Holmes?

Old Town Jail

Rowers Club

Church of Holyrude

Stirling Mills

Layan diri sementara tunggu Babah shopping

After performing our prayers, we went sightseeing near our hotel. We walked along the Royal Mile, where we got a glimpse of the Edinburgh Castle. Walking along the Parliament Square, we passed several statues of Scotland's past rulers, St. Giles Cathedral and the Law Courts. We later went for dinner at the Holi Spice Restaurant which served Indian cuisine. It was 9 p.m. when we reached the hotel so while the kids slept, Rafiq and I packed for our journey the following day.