William Wallace Monument and Pony Trekking - Spring Break 2017

The second thing Jared really wanted to add to see in Scotland was the William Wallace Monument. Sir William Wallace is known as the Guardian of Scotland and as Scotland's first national hero because he led Scotland to victory against the English at the Battle of Stirling Bridge 700 years ago.  I'm not sure where Jared developed an interest in William Wallace but he's always had a love for patriots who fight for their countries.

I think they have a future in historical reenacting
It was a bit of a walk up the hill to the monument from the visitor's center and by the time we finally made it to the base of the monument I wished we'd taken the shuttle bus instead. We still had to climb 246 steps to make it to the top of the monument. Climbing up a stone, spiral set of stairs isn't so bad until you meet someone on the stairs going the opposite way. They're just so narrow!


The top of the monument, called The Crown, had some pretty amazing views of the surrounding area.   Honestly, we didn't' spend a ton of time at the top of the monument because it was cold and insanely windy. So windy I wasn't super comfortable with Natalie getting too close to the edge because our little bird-boned baby just might get blown over the edge.




You can kind of see how windy it was in this picture by the way our hair is getting blown behind us....
but you can really see it in this one!
The monument is more than just a tower with a viewing area at the top.  There are three levels below the Crown  - the Hall of Arms, the Hall of Heroes, and the Royal Chamber. In our haste to make it to the top, we ignored them entirely on the way up.  On the way down we stopped and spent some time at each level.  I think we all liked the Royal Chamber the most because it had a big model of the monument to build and an enormous floor puzzle to complete and you're never too old to play games.

Emily with the completed Wallace Monument
We had a little friendly competition to see who could correctly count the number of steps in the tower. Samantha was our winner and was awarded an item of her choice from the gift shop. I think she chose a ring and I also think she's lost it already. How quickly they move on to the next shiny thing.

On our drive to Stirling that morning, we found a little farm that offered pony rides through the countryside. Our plan for the day was Wallace Monument and Stirling Castle but plans quickly changed because who doesn't want to go on a pony ride? Well, mostly I don't want to but we can't let my lack of adventure ruin all the fun for everyone else. Jared stopped in and talked with the nice people at Castle Rednock Trekking Centre and we made a reservation for that afternoon. We were all looking forward to it!

We arrived and were given our riding helmets and some brief instructions before we set off. Having never ridden a horse before, and being pretty much a non-athlete, and not a huge animal lover, I was super nervous. Especially because these did not look like ponies to me; they were enormous animals. Technically, they were Highland Ponies which I've since learned are the largest and strongest of the British ponies and are great pack ponies as they can carry up to 200 pounds of dead weight (a.k.a. me and my family members!)

We had three guides who rode with us and we set up with me and my pony, Max, in the lead. I didn't love being in front but maybe because I told them I had no idea what I was doing and was feeling nervous they wanted to keep a close eye on me? After me, there was a mom and her two kids and then the rest of our family. It was a kind of solitary hour for me since I wasn't near any of my family members and was feeling too scared to do much talking with the guides. Mostly I just hung on and trusted that I didn't need to know what I was doing because surely my trusty steed could tell that he was really the one in charge? 

We stopped about halfway through the ride for pictures. I'm not sharing any of the ones of me because I look so obviously uncomfortable and out of my element. Luckily, the other members of our family were able to relax and enjoy the experience a little more than I did. At the end of our adventure, they let us kick things up a notch and trot with our ponies instead of just walking them. One of our guides was really impressed with Jared's trotting, especially after she learned that he hadn't ridden a horse before. That's Jared - good at all forms of sport.

Emily's with her horse LB, short for Lover Boy
Abigail rode on Mitch
Jared's just surveying his kingdom 
Samatha rode an actual pony-sized pony, the lovely Porka
And finally, Natalie with her pony Missy

What a fun day and another reminder that it's always more fun to go and do something than it is to go and see something.  

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