"Everything That Has A Beginning Has An End", so it was said in a famous movie a few years ago. Our Tour in Scotland is no exception. Stirling represents the final stage of our ‘Scottish On the Road’.

After two days in Loch Lomond we head to the city of Stirling, theatre in the past of important historical events and ancient crossroads toward the northern part of Scotland as the largest city in the region. The city is bounded on the west by the beautiful glacial valley of Loch Lomond and the natural barrier of river Forth till to the point where it flows into the sea.

Stirling is at the heart of the area where the Highlands meet the Lowlands. This region is the land of William Wallace (Braveheart - whose imposing monument dominates the skyline of Stirling) and was the scene of some bloody battles in the XIV century in the fight for independence of Scotland. As already mentioned lands north of Stirling are the area of Trossachs characterized by lakes, mountains and moorland and theatre of controversial raids of outlaw Rob Roy MacGregor.

Aware of all its historical past we decide to visit the Stirling castle, one of the most important strongholds of Scotland. To ascend to the castle, we suggest you to walk through the Castle Wynd, a tortuous road full of important buildings. The manor is certainly very suggestive, even if the overdose of castles to which we have being submitted during our holiday reduces a little its impact.

We also visited the famous Wallace Monument that apart from the (horrible) statue of Mel Gibson at the entrance, is still worth a visit even though reaching the top of the tower through its narrow stairs is particularly expensive (12 GBP per head) and not recommended (the view of Stirling is wonderful, but adds nothing to what has already been observed from the castle).

After the excursion on the tower we go back to our car and say goodbye to Scotland: our next stop is Italy, where we arrive the following morning after one night at the Ramada close to Glasgow.

Here ends our summer holiday 2006, see you next year in Peru!!