“They may take our lives, but they’ll never take our freedom!”
“Aye, fight and you may die. Run and you’ll live — at least a while. And, dying in your beds many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for one chance, just one chance, to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they’ll never take our freedom!”
Anybody know which movie this was from? Haha – yup….Braveheart. Braveheart is a fictional movie based upon a true story of the famous 13th century Scottish hero William Wallace (played by Mel Gibson). Wallace was a warrior that led an outnumbered Scottish army to victory at Stirling Bridge (near Stirling Castle) in the First War of Scottish Independence against King Edward I of England. The battle and the legends that developed about Wallace inspired Scots to continue their battle and ultimately achieve their goal of Scottish independence (for a brief time). While the movie may not have been fully accurate historically, we both loved it and it made us interested in checking out Stirling and it’s surrounding area.
Sterling is a city that has always held a certain amount of importance for Scotland as the city, which separates the Highlands from the Lowlands of Scotland and England. Stirling Castle is one of the largest and most important castles in Scotland. Similar to Edinburgh Castle, it sits atop a dramatic crag (or rock). It is surrounded on 3 sides by shear cliffs. Upon entering the castle, we joined a free tour where the guide walked us around the castle and discussed the significance it has played over the years. There are records of an establishment here from the year 1110 however, the majority of the grounds date from the 15th and 16th centuries. Several Scottish Kings and Queens have been crowned there including Mary the Queen of Scots in 1542. There weren’t many tourists here and the place felt pretty empty – like we had it to ourselves. It was really relaxed exploring all of the buildings and attractions the castle had to offer.
The castle has been constantly under sieges over the years. The tour guide spoke of at least 8 important sieges, the last one taking place in 1746. You could feel why this place was so important as we walked from building to building and looked out over the vast lands from the various different viewpoints. You could see the Highlands to the north and the Lowlands to the south. We really were overwhelmed by all of the history that this place has.
After our visit to Stirling Castle, we made our way to another incredibly important castle nearby, Doune Castle. This was a medieval stronghold near the village of Doune and is considered one of the best-preserved medieval castles in the world. It was a mere 8 miles north of Stirling. Doune dates all the way back to the 13th century and is still intact today.
Because Doune Castle is so well preserved it has acted as a film set for multiple TV shows and movies. First, Monty Python and the Holy Grail recorded several scenes here in 1975. The castle was also used for filming in the HBO series, Game of Thrones, as Winterfell. Marissa and I love the show and watch it religiously at home so it was cool to see in person! Currently it’s being used for filming the TV series, Outlander. Doune was chosen as the main outdoor location for the show, standing in for the fictional Castle Leoch at the time of the Jacobite Rebellion. Marissa’s entire family has read this series of books and I know are really loving watching the show on Starz as the first season has just started. Marissa has really missed not being able to watch it on the trip and will have to catch up on it when we return home.
After ‘castle overload’ the past several days, we decided it was time to hit the mountains! We picked up ANOTHER manual transmission rental car and headed toward the Loch Lomond area on the left side of the road (again – good thing I prepped for this in Ireland). On our way out of town, we stopped at the National Wallace Monument. We could see the monument from Stirling Castle and were curious to see what it was about. It sits up on a hill in the valley and can be seen from everywhere. It serves as a tribute to the people of the heroic efforts of William Wallace. We didn’t go inside the monument due to our backpacker budget but enjoyed the hike up the hill to the monument and the views from the top.
After stopping at the monument, we were out in the land of a million sheep. We drove through miles and miles of country farms until we entered the Loch Lomond area in the Central Highlands. Loch Lomond is the largest inland lake (by surface area) in Great Britain and was beautiful this time of year. It really felt like fall with everything changing colors and showing it’s vibrant green, yellow and reds.
We decided to do the famous Ben Lomond hike near the east side of the lake’s shore. The 8-mile round trip hike was one of the best hikes that we’ve ever done. Hikes can often be tree covered with views only coming once you reach the top of the mountain, but not this one. We were rewarded the entire way with spectacular views of the lake, surrounding hills to the north and the Trossaches to the east.
It wasn’t an easy hike because it was straight uphill. In addition to the elevation change, it was pretty rough terrain and was often muddy due to all the recent rain. The toughest part of the hike though was the weather. It was probably 40 degrees and the wind was INTENSE! There were miles of the hike that you literally had to lean forward in order to continue to press on upwards. It really made things interesting but every step was worth it with the views. The view from the top felt like a fairy tale. When I think of Scotland, this is exactly what I thought it would be. The colors were electric and the 360-degree views were expansive. Definitely a highlight of the trip and one of the best hikes that we’ve ever done!
Sterling and the Loch Lomond area is drenched in historical importance in Scottish history and a hikers paradise. It was one of the most beautiful places that we have been on this trip.
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