EU trip - Day 13 - Wet Scotland

Note: Alright, Picasaweb updated... 2 more posts and I'm done for the year :D

Boy, did it get cold in the morning here in Edinburgh.  I'm telling you, it wasn't easy to come out from underneath the comforter once you got yourself all comfortable and warmed up. I jumped back under the comforter after my Subuh prayers and continued to sleep for another hour or so. But since I slept on the sofa bed, I shouldn't continue my slumber when the kids were getting ready for school :)

It has been raining since the wee hours of the morning and didn't seem to be letting up any time soon. So Faizi and I didn't even have to say a word to forego the idea of doing the Inverness and Loch Ness tour. I bet we'd be miserable during the long coach ride to Inverness, with all the rain and stuff.

As an alternative, Faizi brought me to Stirling to visit the Stirling Castle and Wallace Monument. I wasn't expecting any snow, but I was having some sort of reservation about Scotland's weather. When it rained, I was pretty okay with it, as you can tell from the pictures below. Besides, it wasn't like in Malaysia, where it pours when the sky opens up.

We were about to reach Stirling Castle

In front of "King Robert the Bruce" statue

You could somewhat see the Wallace Monument in the distance

Okay, maybe just 1 thumb up because of the rain.  hehehe.  But I didn't mind it at all

After snapping a few photos in the carpark at Stirling Castle, we drove to Wallace Monument. It was really an amazing tower, so we couldn't just pass up the chance to go up.

We climbed up and came to this one room. We were like, Hey we've been had! This is what we paid for? And what view did the 2 ladies behind the counter talk about? What did they mean by 246 steps?  We hardly climbed 10.  Then we realized that the spiral staircase had more steps and it was just one of the 3 floors before one reached the top. Oops... *rofl*

I just love the tower

A short incline to get to the tower from the carpark

The rain has subsided a bit

It has to be William Wallace

The monument from the other side

A replica of the sword used by William Wallace

In one of the exhibition rooms.

Faizi's "I climbed the 246 steps" victory pose :)

*Sengih*

A bit dark because I didn't turn on the flash.

Going down the spiral staircase

The view would definitely be better on a sunny day, but the fog has its own charm.

(I watched the short video clip I took at the top.  I just remembered that it was cold up there.  The wind didn't help one bit)

Our final stop of the day was the Falkirk Wheel. It's a "rotating boat lift connecting the Forth and Union Canal with the Union Canal." These 2 canals are about 8-storeys apart, vertically. It's pretty cool.... and no, we didn't pay to sit in the boat to experience it.

The Wheel at half-way around mark

The boat has reached the bottom canal

It's quite high up...  8-storey high

Then it was time to head back to Edinburgh to pick up the girls from school.

In the late afternoon, I tried to continue reading my book [which was taking me ages to complete. My excuse - I got distracted so many times :)] I got to a couple of pages before I succumbed to the cold weather and dozed off, curled up in fetal position. Haha. What was I doing taking naps during my holiday? Tak boleh tahan (Can't resist it).

Night time came and we didn't do anything else other than hanging out.  And I wouldn't have it any other way.  When Faizi offered to let me crash at his place, I was a bit hesitant at first.  True, all 3 of us were once schoolmates, but I didn't want to be a burden.

They welcomed me with open arms and made sure I was being taken care of. Ijan even went through the trouble of preparing meals and desserts.  If we had banana cake yesterday, it was bread and butter pudding today.  I can't thank them enough.  Faizi said, in return he only expects me to treat them nasi Arab (Arab food) when they are back for the holidays.  Bisa diatur! (Consider it done buddy) :)

And oh, I also got to know of several new stories from school.  Hahaha.