Day 9 - better late than never

Yes, I'm well aware that is has now been almost 6 months since our trip and I am only just now finally getting around to finishing things off, but...life has been busy and there have been many things to do in the meanwhile. I'm sure your vast appetite for Frazier family touring blog has only grown in the time away...right?

We started the morning with a drive west to Stirling to visit the castle that many consider one of the finest in all of Scotland.

As you can see, it was a bit foggy upon our arrival (which may have assisted in the wrong turns along the way...or maybe not). But, the clouds soon parted and Stirling did not disappoint.

In addition to being beautifully preserved and affording amazing views, we got to experience a musical demonstration of the hurdy gurdy, Margaret got to chat for a bit with a Mary Guise (mother of Mary Queen of Scots), we played some period games on the courtyard, saw a very early carving that predicted the arrival of Starbucks 700 years later, and paid a short visit to my king, Robert Bruce I of Scotland.

We also enjoyed lunch at Stirling before heading back east toward Glenrothes. Along the way, we had found a smaller and far less touristed-up castle that we wanted to visit. Above the town of Dollar was Castle Campbell. After ascending a quite steep and somewhat unpaved road we parked in the lot and then hiked our way up to the castle. The view along the hike was quite tantalizing!

Once we got to the castle itself, we were sad to learn that there was a significant power outage which made it unsafe to visit the interior. So, we did a decent length hike down the Dollar Glen and enjoyed some beautiful views along the way.

Once back in Glenrothes, we headed back to the Fettykil Fox for a second night of delicious food and drink. And, sadly, our last night in the UK. The next morning was a relatively early wake-up call and drive to the airport in Edinburgh to return our car and begin the trip back home. An amazing visit to be sure. Hopefully it won't be another 6 months before the Pub post that I have promised!