More Castles and Beaches

The family went to Stirling yesterday to check out the castle there. It's a mini-Edinburgh Castle, in that it is likewise built on a basalt outcrop in the middle of the city and an important location. I guess kings and queens lived in this one too. There are tons of other castles every 10 miles or so apart around here, but they mostly just housed lesser folk, you know Earls and Dukes, riffraff really. The old town of Sterling is really quaint and nicely preserved. It's only about 50 miles away, so we will definitely go back to check out the city a bit more. After walking around the castle, we thought about visiting the nearby Wallace Monument (a.k.a Braveheart) but we were getting tired. The last battle scene depicted in the movie took place on the hill just outside Sterling, hence the monument.

Today we decided to take a trip east to the beach. We went to John Muir Country Park outside of the city of Dunbar. John Muir was actually born in Dunbar, Scotland, so there are lots of parks and things named after him here. The beach was cold in my opinion. I had forgotten Marius's hat, shoes, and sweater so I was reluctant to even walk around. Simon game me his fleece to wrap around myself and the boy so then we walked to the beach. Along the way I saw a little girl walking barefoot in a dress coming back from the beach, then we saw two little boys going into the ocean in their undies! So, apparently my opinion of cold does not quite mean the same thing to the people here.... I tried to tell Simon that "my people" weren't supposed to live in cold places like this, but then he reminded me that half of "my people" came from northern Europe. I guess perhaps I just need some more practice with the cold so my blood will thicken up a bit. Anyhow, the beach was really nice to see, even if it was gray, cold and windy.
Oh, and did I mention that I DROVE!!! It was my first real outing behind the wheel (on the wrong side of the car) and we are still living to tell the tale. It really wasn't that bad. I think I am getting much more confident about it. The only parts that are hard are the roundabouts, which are everywhere. I drove through the Music Circle roundabout twice everyday in Nashville, so I am a bit more used to them than the average American, but here it's a little more crazy. Plus people actually know how to drive on them, so they double up and it's harder to get out of the inner lane. But I haven't yet pulled a Chevy Chase, Vacation move and kept circling endlessly! The other hard part about driving here, is just the fact that our little car doesn't have power steering. So, manoeuvring in tight curves or parking is hard if I'm not moving quickly. Thank God the clutch and gas are in the same position. Changing gears is surprisingly not as hard as I had thought it would be with my left hand. Although I always put the car in 1st gear when I'm trying to up shift into third... And the reverse was impossible to figure out until Simon told me the trick. We have to push up the gear shifter then move it into Reverse, which is located where first gear normally is. A little weird, but not too bad once you get the hang of it.
I really can't complain about the car, since it was free! A fellow professor here left for the year to go on sabbatical in Colorado, so he let us use the car while he's gone. It's been a godsend because cars here are twice as expensive as the US. That's right. If I wanted to buy a brand new Toyota Civic, it would cost me in pounds as much as a brand new Lexus would cost me in US dollars back home.... Crazy! And the funny thing is there are no beater cars on the roads here. You'd think that people would salvage super old clunkers and keep them running, but they don't. Our little 1998 Vauxhall Corsa is just about the oldest thing I've ever seen on the road here! Apparently it has something to do with strict air quality checks or something like that.