Day 14 Stirling to Falkirk to Edinburgh

Started the day driving to a few sights in Stirling that we wanted to see:  the Stirling Bridge where William Wallace defeated the English in 1257, the statue of Rob Roy McGregor, and a view of the castle that shows how it dominates the landscape.

From Stirling we moved on to "The Kelpies",  the world's largest equine statues; two steel horse heads that are over 30 meters tall.  They were very impressive and were located in a recently completed park that includes the Glasgow-Edinburgh canal, and a variety of walking paths and other family activities.

hand operated locks

 Leaving "The Kelpies", we had a short drive to the Wheel of Falkirk, which is an engineering marvel; a rotating boat lift that replaces 11 locks along the canal that connects Glasgow with Edinburgh.  It too was impressive.

Leaving Falkirk we drove straight to a French restaurant in Leith, just outside of Edinburgh, as appears to be the working port of Edinburgh.   The food was delicious, very authentic French classic dishes.  Joni had crepes and I moules/frites (mussels and fries).

We then we walked to the Royal Britannia, which is docked in Leith.  The Britannia served Queen Elizabeth from 1953 to 1997.  It is now open for the public and it was a fascinating look at the personal living space of the Queen and the life she lives.  By many decorating standards, the interior spaces of the ship used by the royal family were very modest, certainly not what you would think world's richest woman might choose. The ship is over 400 feet long, required a crew of 240, and served as the honeymoon yacht for most of the Queen's family.  There were hundreds of family photos spread throughout the ship, clearly emphasizing the importance of family to her.

The Queen's Bedroom

State Dining Room with places for 57

Family sitting room where they would gather before dinner

The Queen's Rolls Royce which was carried to every port.

The Queen's Land Rover which was carried to every port.

The Royal Barge, the boat used to ferry the Queen off the Britannia and into port.

"23 Mayfield", our B&B for the next 3 nights