Home -> Europe -> Scotland -> Travelogue 2001 -> Wednesday 26 September

Tomb of Rob Roy, Wallace-monument and back home

When we wake up, we see immediately the weather won't be nice today. A thick layer of clouds hangs over the land and every now and then some rain falls. But we have been quite lucky until now. We have seen a lot of clouds, but almost no rain, except for an hour of two some drizzle. We haven't met the 'real' rainy Scotland yet...

In the village Balquhidder, a bit north west of Strahyre, Rob Roy lies buried. He is the romanticized hero in the book of Sir Walter Scott (beginning 19th century) and the film 'Rob Roy', made in 1995. Probably, he was an opportunistic cattle thief, who got a lot of sympathy from the common people because of his rebellious attitude towards the lords. In 1734, he died and was buried in Balquhidder where he had lived the last few years of his life.

Near Stirling stands the Wallace monument. More about Wallace and his time on the history page. At the end of the 13th century he was a hero of the resistance movement in the war against England, and one of its leaders. Once, in 1297, at Stirling, he defeated a vast English army with a small, untrained army.

You can climb the tower (246 stairs, but we didn't count them ourselves), and the view from it must be beautiful, but it was very busy with tourists and we have not much money left, so we vote unanimously against it. Besides, the view will probably be disappointing with this bad weather.

We still have time left, so we drive into Edinburgh, but to walk around in this weather (it has started to rain) is not much fun, so we leave for the airport. But, while we are waiting inside, the weather changes and it becomes sunny again. They should have arranged that the other way around... After spending the last of our Scottish money, there comes an announcement the aeroplane has a delay of an hour and a half.

It doesn't do us much good, but at least we have the feeling we stay in Scotland a bit longer. We have seen a lot of this wonderful country again on this journey and enjoyed it very much. 1,700 miles (amply 2,700 kilometers) we have made in our little car and still we haven't seen much... well, at least not enough.

Unfortunately, we are home before we know, with view on our own 'public garden' with pond. And on the windowsill souvenirs from our travels: palm trees from Cyprus, Portugal and Spain, and recently some growing vegetation from the Inverewe Gardens. In Dutch we have a saying: oost west, thuis best. Liberally translated this means: Wherever you go, to the east or to the west, to be at home is best. Well, we think it's time to plan our next journey.....

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with Elisabeth and Teije