Before leaving Stirling we stopped at the Church of the Holy Rude, the site of the coronation of King James VI of Scotland at age 17 months. When Queen Elizabeth I died, James VI also became King James of England, and the one who commissioned the King James Bible.
The church dates from the 1400s including an original hammerbeam roof.
It also had some spectacular stained glass windows.
Due to conflicts in the leadership of the church, a wall was erected in the middle of the church to divide it in two around 1660. The church remained divided for 280 years until they finally united and took down the wall in 1935.
From the church cemetery, we could see Stirling Castle. There was a crow hopping around willing to be photographed.
Our next stop was the Falkirk Wheel, the only rotating lift lock in the world. Apparently, it requires electricity the equivalent of only 8 tea kettles to rotate once. It was pretty fun to watch it work.
The Falkirk Wheel replaced 11 traditional lift locks when it was built.
We also walked to an old Roman fort location. It was all covered in grass, but it was fascinating to think that they know the name of the commander of the fort when it was in operation 1800 years ago. This was a far north as the Romans got.
We made one more stop before driving into Edinburgh. I had seen picture of the Kelpies and was keen to see them in person. The two 30-metre tall horses stand on either side of a traditional lift lock, but a park has been created around them.
We finally drove into Edinburgh, arriving at our flat around 4:30. After bringing our bags up, we drove the car to the parking lot where we had been instructed to leave it, and walked to dinner. Our flat is just off the Royal Mile, so we walked down it on the way home.
Tomorrow, we plan to see Edinburgh Castle.
The Reid family 