Sunday, June 21-Michelle Cunningham

Today we went to Stirling. At noon we hopped a train which took us to our destination. On the train I met two women, one from London and the other, her friend from Atlanta. The woman from Atlanta graduated with a business degree four years ago and was traveling with her job. She just finished her work and came to London to visit her friend. The two of them were also going to Stirling to visit the castle. Miss Atlanta shares a love, bordering fanatic, of Harry Potter with me and I was able to direct her to the birthplace of the books. Hopefully, she will visit during her stay in Scotland. As we were talking she asked if we were here for school. (She had overheard us talking about our reading assignments.) When we confirmed that her suspicions were correct, she told us that not doing a study abroad trip was the one thing she regretted in her life. She said that although she travels for her career, she wanted the opportunity to go somewhere without the pressures of everyday work on her back. Having studied abroad more than once I believe it is an opportunity that should not be missed as well.

Once we arrived in Stirling, we walked to a café where we read a little about William Wallace and Robert the Bruce, two very influential Scots who fought for freedom from English rule. Wallace was a commoner who lived in the Highlands of Scotland and was tired of the tyranny of the English. He and his group of men tried to remove the English soldiers who were in his land. They fought against them so hard that eventually his wife was killed and that set Wallace on his movement. Wallace banded together his men and fought against the English and won Stirling for Scotland. Although Wallace’s other endeavors against the English were not as successful, he remained (and still remains) a hero for the Scottish people.

Robert the Bruce, who came to be king of Scotland through less than reputable measures, enjoyed Wallace’s work. Bruce killed off the threat to his crown and had himself crowned as King of the Scots. Eventually he was recognized by the Pope and England as the King but not before the people of Scotland endorsed him, saying that if he were not still working toward a common goal for the people then he would be removed by the people.

After our reading, we walked up the hill to Stirling Castle. The view was amazing. The skyline looked like a painting with rolling hills and green fields, off in the distance to the left were some wind turbines, Stirling was spread in front of us and behind us was a the Castle that was a strategic point for control of Scotland. Stirling is a much smaller town than Edinburgh and is more of what I expected Scotland to be like, quaint, green and spread out. From the Castle, we could see the William Wallace National Monument, from the distance it looked small, it was much bigger up close. We took a guided tour of the castle that was very interesting. The buildings have been used for many things besides housing the king and queen. The military have used it as a base and now the great hall is used as a venue for different things like weddings and parties; tonight the Scotland Fashion Awards were held there.

After the tour, two of us, Xuan and myself, went over to see the Wallace Monument which is located on the opposite side of the town. We had to hike up a crazy steep hill to get there but the view from the top was breathtaking. We had full view of the town and the castle was easier to see from there. A Polish man was at the top he didn’t speak English but he understood when we asked him to take a picture of the two of us. He began to speak to us excitedly even though we could not understand him until he said, “Richard,” pointed to himself, and looked at each of us and waited. Xuan offered her name and he repeated it back, when I told him my name was Michelle he exclaimed “Michelle Obama?!” and guffawed as he gave me a thumbs up and walked over to a man I think was his son. I have been in Scotland for three days and I love the diversity here. I have met people from all over Europe and the United States and I am excited to continue to do more of the same. The history here is extremely interesting, and I learned that my family name is Scottish. What will I uncover next? =)