The Rest of Scotland...

The Myers in Scotland

On our second day in Scotland, Dan and I had arranged to take a 12 hour tour with a company, Rabbies, around the country- through Stirling, up to Loch Ness, and through the Highlands. We figured if we were going to be in Scotland for three days we might as well see everything there is to see.

Elvis in Scotland

So on Tuesday we set out at 7:45 am with a group of 14 other people and our excellent tour guide, Pete. We traveled by small coach- the kind thats a van/bus mixture...with no bathroom- from town to town with Pete on the microphone telling us stories of movies filmed in the area, historical facts and figures and other funny anecdotes.

Stirling Castle

Since we knew we would be going through Stirling, Glen Coe and Loch Leven beforehand, Dan made sure we watched Braveheart over the weekend leading up to our trip. Actually, it was a great movie- I had never seen it- and I am really glad I saw it since there were a bunch of funny stories regarding Mel Gibson, the moving being filmed in Scotland, and the truth vs. Hollywood.

Wallace Monument in the distance

Possibly our favorite story is one about a tour guide named Arthur  that encountered the Mel when the star came to Stirling to do research on the movie. Mel told this older gentleman, who was anxious to go on his assigned coffee break after answering all of the questions, that he was in town doing research on the movie. Arthur asked who they have slated to play William Wallace and Mel replied, well, me. Arthur laughed (not knowing who Mel Gibson was) and supposedly said, "William Wallace was 7 feet tall. You are not. He was probably able to consume the English with fireballs from his eyes and bolts of lightening from his arse."

Scottish Candy that is INSANE

Well, Mel liked this line so much so that he incorporated it into the movie. When Braveheart premiered in Scotland, Arthur was Mel's guest at the show and treated like a king. And since Mel Gibson is not a tall man by nature, he was probably entertained that this old man was so honest and blunt with him.

Hamish the Hairy Coo (cow). He's famous!

After the movie had all of it's success, a sculptor was commissioned to make a statue to honor William Wallace. Apparently at the unveiling they had lots of media coverage and were broadcasting the event all over TV in real time. When the artist unveiled the statue, it looked exactly like Mel Gibson as William Wallace and not as Wallace himself. The people of Scotland were mortified and it was often vandalized. After a few years they placed a cage like structure around the statue to try to keep the vandals out but still play to the tourists. When that didn't work, the statue was removed in 2008 and given back to the artist who made it.

Loch Ness

Ok, enough about Braveheart. We also saw some other cool things. Pete showed us where they filmed parts of Harry Potter- we saw the field where Hagrid's house was and the Forbidden Forrest. We also went to Loch Ness and searched for Nessie. No luck in finding her, but we had a great afternoon. We stopped at many mountain bases and saw gorgeous scenery. Lastly, we stopped at a whiskey shop and sampled their fine work.

Loch Ness

All in all it was a very very god day. A very very long day, but a good one. We were so happy we were able to see all different sides of Scotland. It was gorgeous weather the three days we were there- in the mid 70's and sunny each day! That is unheard of in the UK. Dan was saying when we were at Loch Ness, we expected it to be gloomy and have this ominous feeling in the air, but it was the perfect spring/summer day!

Searching for Nessie

Hope everyone had a great Memorial Day Weekend! Thank you to all those who have served and are serving the great USA.

Haggis

We are gearing up for the big weekend ahead here in England- the Queen's Jubilee Celebration weekend. Should be interesting and busy around here at the end of the week. We shall see...