Technology marvels

Another lovely sunny day - the forecast says rain, but the blue sky certainly doesn't agree. We stayed in Stirling last night, about a five minute walk from the old town, and maybe fifteen to the castle (all uphill, of course!) We walked into town last night and again this morning, just to enjoy the weather. Stirling is a lovely town, and the castle is fabulous. When we were here ten years ago, they were restoring the "great hall" in the courtyard, it was finally opened about two years later. it was interesting to see the finished product now, ten years on. It's really spectacular - and they are tackling the "royal apartment" now, to make them look and feel like they would have in the 16th century. We couldn't get in to see the work in progress, of course, but it was a great trip this morning.

We drove the Tower Trail in Stirlingshire and finally headed down to the Falkirk Wheel -- the huge rotating boat lift - -raising boats from the Forth and Clyde canal up over a hundred feet to the Union Canal. It's quite a balancing act, with counter-rotating barge "bins" that are rotated around a huge axle, like a giant ferris wheel. Quite cool!

Visited a few roman remains, and a few crumbly tower houses ("oooh! Look! a crumbly one!" was the sign to STOP NOW so i could hike out to take pictures. ) We usually end up walking a half mile or so out to some of the ruins, usualy without really knowing if they are there or not. It's always an adventure!

We're going to follow the Antonine wall (really, the Antonine Ditch, nowadays) a bit tomorrow, and may decide to go stay in Glasgow for a while. For the moment, the rain -- which arrived at dinner time -- has driven us indoors and we're going to crash. More Dots tomorrow!