From the highlands to the lowlands (3 August)

I know I say this pretty much every day, but running really is the highlight of my day and the best way to see the territory: I started out with an AMAZING run. It was actually one of my very favorites from the past 7 weeks. Our hostel was in the sticks to begin with, and then I kept running down the road further into the valley. I can’t adequately describe the beauty here, but it’s a very rich, forest green (where as Ireland is a bright, gem green). There are clouds lingering in the foothills and the tallest mountain in the UK (Ben Nevis) looming above. Only one car passed me on the road for an entire hour. The road was hilly enough for a good up-and-down workout without tiring me out too much. I ran past some of the Highland Coos and they made me very happy. I turned around once I got to a waterfall, deep in the valley. The waterfall was beautiful—it had carved deep into the rock and was creating a small canyon.

We drove south toward Stirling Castle. Along the drive I had to be sure to keep watching out the window or else I’d miss some of the most beautiful scenery of my life. Stirling Castle was a good stop, but honestly, by now I’m all “castled-out.” It’s kind of like in Jerusalem when we’d go to tel after tel after tel and they all pretty much look the same: mounds of dirt. Or we’d tour cistern after cistern. Tels and cisterns eventually became the butt of our jokes. Castles are getting there for me. But, this was a very important castle because it was at the junction between the highlands and the lowlands. Basically, whoever held Stirling also held Scotland. Plus, the castle mound put us in a great position to look out at the scenery: to the north we could see the highland hills and mountains and to the south, the lowland plains.

Scenic highlands

Just thought I'd try a new pose

If you can't tell which is mine, you're not my friend anymore.

View from Stirling Castle. The stuff in the foreground is part of the castle.

Wallace Monument from the bus.

We stopped briefly at the William Wallace Monument. William Wallace lived in the 1200s and led the Scots to battle agains the English. The Scottish won and so he’s a hero, even though the English resurged shortly thereafter and won it back. I guess “Braveheart” is the story of William Wallace, although I’ve never seen it. Apparently he’s a pretty big lad because they have his broad sword at the monument and it’s about 5.5 feet long.

After another drive we arrived back in Edinburgh where we checked into our hostel. It was a different hostel than last time. These ones used to be university housing, so it’s like a flat where we all have our own rooms and we share a kitchen with about five others. It’s kinda nice.