Glasgow to Stirling (Thursday, Sept. 3)

September 3 has been a busy day! Our rental car, a Nissan Qashqai, is a small SUV-type car, well suited for Scotland's narrow roads, especially since it has Eyesight and a forward facing and rear-facing camera. We are accustomed to our Suburu telling us whenever we stray over into the adjacent lane, and this car does that too! Sweet!

So with the help of our Qashqai, driving today has been OK, especially once we made it out of Glasgow. I admit that we took some interesting turns, and our GPS "recalculated" quite a few times, but once we were driving through the rural areas, we were much more relaxed. It didn't hurt that the weather today was glorious!

Smoky got some incredible shots today. Some I'll integrate with the blog; others will be at the end.

View from Queen's View.

We made a quick stop at Queen's View on A809 toward Aberfoyle. At this pull-off, the hilltop was being repopulated with trees and other native vegetation. The view from near the top over the valley was so peaceful; the blue sky with scattered clouds added to the beauty. Along the trail were many wildflowers, and Smoky has some lovely photos of them.

Elaine captains the small
boat to Inchmahome Priory.

Next stop was the Inchmahome Priory, on an island in the Lake of Menteith. A small boat ferries 12 passengers at a time out to the island. You can walk around the island, explore the remains of the Priory, and learn about the Augustinian canons who settled there in the 1200s. Though the Priory is in ruins today, there is still enough of it standing to enable visitors to have a good idea of what it was like in its prime. I can hardly imagine how a place as large as this could have been built in the 1200s on an island!

Main section of Inchmahome where
visitors and canons worshipped.

Inner courtyard at Inchmahome.

Windows in section of Inchmahome
Chapter House, converted to a
mausoleum. 

Lovely ferns find footing
in stone at Inchmahome.

The Flanders Moss National Nature Reserve (NNR), near Kippen, was our next stop. This is a quietly exciting place to visit. You'll find a car park, a picnic table, and a simple path that leads to a tower overlooking the bog. We climbed the tower first, just to get an idea of what this NNR encompasses. From the tower we could see the boardwalk path around and through the bog. The heather was in full bloom! 

Down on the path, we noticed a number of small wild flowers growing among the heather, and in one section several examples of a lovely species of butterfly appeared. This is what is known as a "raised bog" and is one of the last fragile remains of the bogs that covered much of Scotland. You can read more at this website. 

Flanders Moss Nature Reserve from tower.

Reluctantly, we left Flanders Moss and headed for Stirling, where we are spending two nights at the Victoria Square Guest House. The classic 1880's Victorian building has been recently remodeled to bring out the amazing original features of the house. As we walked along the street facing Victoria Square, we noticed many other large homes built in the same period. It was easy to "step back in time" and imagine oneself living a simpler life!

Peacock butterfly at Flanders Moss.

We walked to dinner at Brea Bistro on Baker Street, just a short distance from Stirling Castle. Kari, our Guest House host, recommended Brea, and the food was amazing. I had a carrot and cumin soup that was incredible, followed by a sweet pea and asparagus risotto that made my taste buds sing songs of delight. Smoky had the sea bass, beautifully presented and very tasty. We were impressed with this meal. 

Afterwards, we walked back to the Guest House along a different street, noting slightly different architecture and feeling the presence of the Castle just above us. Tomorrow we explore that castle!

Street scene near Stirling Castle.

We loved the chimneys against the night sky in Stirling.

--Shann