Scotland - Day 5

Day 22 - Scotland - Day 5 (September 20)

Once again we woke to another nice day, but still cold enough for jeans, a long sleeve shirt and sweater. After showers and packing we went downstairs for our last breakfast at the Albannach B&B. After settling our bill we got the car packed and set out for Stirling Castle. We followed Main Street north out of Alexandria to Balloch where we got on A811 for the 35 mile drive through the countryside.

It was beautiful drive with the sun peaking through the clouds now and then to paint the hills surrounding us as we drove past small hamlets, cattle and sheep pastures and fields recently harvested. Our average speed was somewhere around 35 as we wound around through the hills finally coming to the flat lands around the town of Stirling, where we could see the castle high on a hill above the town.

Winding our way through the narrow cobble streets of Stirling we finally found the correct street and headed up the hill finally topping out at the car park next to the castle. We paid for parking and made our way to the postern gate and enterd the castle grounds. Stirling Castle http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/stirling/stirlingcastle/ was even more enjoyable than our visit to Edinburg Castle. Since it was early there were fewer people and we could wander around checking out pretty much anything we wanted to see except for the Royal Palace which was closed for restoration. We spent about two hours to see everything including a long walk along the ramparts surrounding the old bailey. It was a real enjoyable stop.

Finally we returned to the car and wound our way around the town to the plains below where we got on the M9 for Perth. After a couple of roundabouts we finally reached a double lane freeway where we could move along at 70 mph for the 36 mile drive. Pulling into Perth we found our way into the center of town and parked next to the Visitor Center. We got some information on lodgings and walked over to the Jarvis Ramada where we booked a room for the night, got our bags from the car and walked back into town for lunch.

We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around town just enjoying the sights. Perth is a lovely town with a ring road circling the heart of the old town and a pedestrian only shopping street running through the center. Eventually we returned to our room to rest up, work on the blog, upload photos and get ready for dinner. We finally went out to a small Itallian restaurant and had a nice simple dinner then returned to our hotel for the evening.

To see all our photos:

http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdolanski