12.20: Stirling Castle and Kinross, and some driving miscellany

The young man from Thrifty arrived a bit early with my Hyundai Sonata and was very conscientious about making sure I knew where the petrol cap was and to use unleaded petrol (marked with a green handle at the pumps, like home--and that surprised him). After I loaded up the car, I did a few laps of the parking lot at the hotel before venturing on the road. I stayed in the left lane for a long time until I got more comfortable driving from the right side of the car but on the left side of the road. And got a wee more comfortable driving the roundabouts and figuring out the signposts and exits. The Scottish, by the way, are very aggressive drivers.

The narrow streets in the villages and towns were a bit disconcerting, especially with cars parked on both sides of the road. So the drivers dive in between parked cars to yield to an oncoming driver and there's some sort of agreement about who yields when if cars are parked on both sides forcing single track driving. There was the random car parallel parked (and I use that loosely because it often looked as though the driver had simply dived into the parking place) facing the wrong way, which caused me occasional panic until I got used to it. The driving situation got really challenging when there were trucks and tight curves in the road. And when the Scottish Executive Council puts up street signs that tell you to slow down and that the turn is really tight, believe the signs.

Lots of "bendy roads" in Scotland with not much shoulder except on the main roads--the bigger M or A carriageways. Because there are so many roundabouts to control and direct traffic, signals were rare except at construction sites or in the bigger cities, such as Aberdeen. But the signals amused me because they go from red to amber for a few seconds before going to green as well as from green to amber to red. I liked that sort of forewarning. There were many occasions in the countryside when there were no numbers on the signposts though a map may have shown a number. So you really need to know where you're going or the towns through which you might travel, though the numberless signposts were often for what we might call backroads.

The tour of Stirling Castle itself was quite wonderful. There's an imposing view of the Wallace Monument from the esplanade. One of the best parts of the tour was the visit to the chapel and the explanation of the tapestries that once hung there. There were two re-created tapestries in the chapel, two of the original seven. Each took about two years to weave. The public is allowed to go to the tapestry studio to read more about the tapestries and to watch the weavers, but there are no photos allowed. The work is incredibly manually intensive and it was amazing to watch a weaver in action.

After a scone and tea, I drove by the Wallace Monument and then moseyed to Kinross to The Green Hotel. It is a lovely place with a leisure complex (as opposed to fitness center, or centre). In addition to a "smart" restaurant, there is also Jocks, which is named in honor of the Black Watch Regiment which recruited a lot from the Kinross area.

There is a curling club attached to The Green, so after my dinner and a quick trip to the grocery store, I went to watch the curling. I noticed a sign in the club that stated the Kinross Curling Club was established in 1668! I'd been told earlier I'd have to check with the ice master to see if I could play. Yea, not so much. When I went to the viewing area to watch, there were three sheets of women and one of men. The women ranged in age from about mid-30s to much older; I'd guess even early 80s. There was a couple up in the viewing area, both dressed up but they might have been joining the groups after the curling for their Christmas parties, and they were giving a running commentary on the action on two of the sheets. I learned a lot from watching and listening. Those folks take their curling seriously, but also have a lot of fun.