The Wallace Monument

 This morning we finally visited the Wallace Monument. I'm not sure how we have avoided it this long to be honest, as it has to be the most famous thing in/near Stirling after the castle and you certainly can't miss it when you're driving round the area. It's visible for miles. To be fair we did try going a few weeks ago but it was Sunday, it was still the school holidays ,and it was a fine day. Small wonder then that the car park was full and, like Wallace's enemies, we were forced to retreat. 

We were luckier this morning. The place was still busy and there weren't lots of spaces in the car park, but there were some. We spurned the shuttle bus which takes you from the car park up to the monument itself, opting instead to walk. It. Was. Steep. I am however quite proud of myself because I only stopped to rest once and I didn't moan. It's not an easy walk though. 

Once we were up at the top we opted not to go into the monument itself as this has a 246 step spiral staircase leading up to the very top. Apart from being quite worn out by the path up Abbey Crag it was very blustery just at the top of that; the thought of what the wind must be like at the top of the tower itself didn't bear thinking about. We will go another time and take the shuttle bus up so that we have the energy for the spiral stairs. 

There are lots of lovely wood carvings on the path; not sure if they are to encourage you to keep going. here's my favourite - Scotland's invaders

Even at the base of the monument the views are spectacular

and here's The Door We Did Not Enter

The OH was feeling a bit off by this point, presumably due to lowering blood sugar levels, so we hopped on the shuttle bus to go back down to the car park where we had a cup of coffee and a biscuit. Son No 2 had a banoffee tart

but was rather discombobulated by having to share it some of the time with a wasp. Fun morning.