There was a lot we wanted to see while we were in Scotland, some were weather permitted, but I don’t know if I mentioned in my last post, it only rained 1/7 days, which I would definitely say was lucky. We decided to visit The Kelpies that day and then if we saw anything on the way or the way back, we would take a mental note and if we had time, we would visit. We were going to plan what we were doing each day, but decided that we would just decide to do whatever we felt like doing on the day.
Sculpted by Andy Scott, The Kelpies name actually reflected the mythological transforming beasts possessing the strength and endurance of 10 horses. The two horse sculptures are impressive just looking at other people’s pictures, but when you see them in real life, they are something else! We spent the whole morning here taking them and their eye opening structure in, and you could see how popular they were, by the amount of people who were also visiting the 30 meters tall structures. You can find a lot about The Kelpies there, including the material that was used to build them, the background of them and the idea itself by taking a tour for a small price. However apart from the car park fee, you don’t actually have to pay to go and see them, which I was shocked about, as I would expect too, with how impressive they are. There is also a visitor center and cafe, not to mention a lovely route to walk around when the sun is shining.
After The Kelpies, we were on our way to see Castle Doune, when we saw a monument. We decided to go back and have a look at what it represented, and I am so glad we did because it was a memorial for the founder of the SAS. His name is Sir David Stirling, and saw active service in the second world war. He was actually training to climb Mount Everest when the second world war broke out. There was some information about him there, and his story is extraordinary and what an incredible man, to be a founder of such thing. If your in the Dunblane area, it’s definitely worth a look at and an interesting read, I’m certainly glad we stopped.
We then arrived at Castle Doune built as the home of Regent Albany, Scotland’s uncrowned king. Not only can you walk in the footsteps of rulers, but this castle is also a popular filming location for scenes in things such as; Monty Python, Holy Grail, Outlander and Game Of Thrones. There is actually a Game Of Thrones sign that you can have your picture with, I think this is one of the reason as to why it was so busy. Included in your entry is entry in to the castle and also a free audio tour, narrated by Terry Jones. I did enjoy walking around the castle, but I felt looks can be deceiving, and was expecting there to be more rooms to look around. Obviously with a castle though there’s going to be a lot of ruins, and although I still enjoyed looking around Doune Castle, I did visit other castles on this trip that I enjoyed more, none the less its still worth a visit, just for the history and the things that were filmed there.
After a fun packed day, we decided to call it a day and go back to the cabin, where we made use of the sauna and hot tub, cooked some food and watched a few films. Day 2 was a success, and I can’t wait to show you what day 3 brings, in my next post, one of my favourite days from when we were there!
(This picture is not my own and is taken from the BBC)
I just wanted to mention something, I live in Lincolnshire, and some of you may have seen Wainfleet on the news a lot recently. I’m so lucky and grateful that where I live wasn’t really affected by the flooding, but there is a lot of people who are affected. Wainfleet actually isn’t far at all away from me, about 15 mins, and whilst we were away, Lincolnshire got a lot of rain and most of Wainfleet was completely under water, as of lots of other places in Lincolnshire, and in the UK. It’s so sad, as so many homes have been damaged in some way which is why I’m trying to do my part by sharing these Just Giving links with you as I know it would mean so much to them.
- https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/lincswildlifefloodrelief – This one is to improve the water systems around the park. It’s for the Parrot Zoo, and they have many animals there, which they went to great lengths in to protecting when all this happened. Unfortunately they have a lot of cleaning up to do, which will not only cost time but as you can imagine, money.
- https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/donna-marshall-5 – This is for the poor people who have lost a lot of belongings, and who are facing a big clean up. Most people were evacuated from their homes and are only just returning, I can’t even begin to imagine what they are facing right now.
If you did want to donate, these are the links above, no matter how big or small, even if its just how much you pay for a coffee in the morning, it will still help and make a difference.
Thank you.
A x
littlemissminor 