It’s still sunny! The car windows are frosted and there is a bit of fog early in the morning, but the sky is blue and cloudless. Still pretty cold, with just a little wind, really enjoyable weather. So far we’ve been really lucky with the weather.. We drive to the Falkirk Wheel, a 21st century feat of engineering, lifting boats more than 30 meters from one canal to another. I’m not sure it’s used for cargo since the container being moved is pretty small.. The lift rotates twice while we’re watching, carrying no boats at all, so at least part of the point must be attracting tourists. You can see most of the parts that make this wheel work, it’s just fascinating to see it move, especially once you find out it uses very little energy and is able to transport 600 tons. I could watch it for ages.. I take lots of pictures until they drag me away.
We drive further north to look for Campbell Castle. We can see it from pretty far away as it’s situated on a slope overlooking the valley. Some of us take the risk of driving to the small upper car park, others walk from the lower car park but as it’s a nice sunny day and a beautiful landscape we don’t mind waiting and they don’t minnd walking. This was the Lowlands residence of the Campbell family: not very big but definitely luxurious for its time. We climb up the big tower to see the view and then down to the gardens. There are some early blooming flowers growing against the garden walls, it’s the perfect spot for a few group pictures.
We hike a short way up into the hills to see some of the Dollar Glen waterfalls, it’s a charming path following a gorge cut into the slope. The others then take the picturesque walking path down while I drive the car – my knees and ankles need the break. On the way back to Stirling we stop by the Wallace monument. Again it’s a bit of a hike so I stay behind with a book, the others hike up to walk around the monument itself, even though the exhibition is currently closed for renovations. Then grocery shopping, board games/cooking (with the right sort of food this can be combined without problems) and a late dinner.
Febe writes 