Edinburgh to Stirling

Our first driving day was a long day even though the actual driving time was less than an hour. We had heard some stories about the Hertz rental at Edinburgh airport and our hour long wait in the queue confirmed some of them. Luckily we weren't in a hurry. We got a pleasant surprise to find our Kia Ceed had turned into a Toyota hybrid. It took a little while to figure out how to start the thing and Peter is still turning on the windscreen wipers instead of the blinkers but we were soon on the road. Our first stop was Linlithgow Palace, the birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots.

Next stop was to tick off something from Claire's bucket list, the Falkirk Wheel. It is the only rotating boat lift in the world. It moves boats from the Forth and Clyde Canal to the Union Canal, allowing travel from Edinburgh to Glasgow. You can take a 50 minute boat ride from the lower point to the upper and back again. It was great.

Falkirk to Stirling was an interesting drive. Maps.me has proved its worth already (Thank you Julie and Mal). Our hotel in Stirling is just down the road from Stirling Castle so we checked in before walking up to the Castle. The free guided tour was excellent.

The tapestries in the Queen's chambers are wonderful.

After such a busy day we decided to eat at the hotel and had one of the best meals we have had so far. Slow cooked Scottish beef with a bacon and mushroom sauce and lemon tart for dessert. Yum.