Fun at Bannockburn

Today has been our last day of summer. This is because tomorrow (a) life will be back to 'normal' with the return of Mummy hazelh to Edinburgh after her summer visits to my sisters, and (b) the fine weather of the past few days is due to disappear. 

We made the most of our final hours of freedom with a trip to Bannockburn followed by a pootle on our bikes around Stirling. On our way to the National Trust for Scotland site we prepared ourselves for our history lesson by listening to the episode of In our time about the battle.

The site tour was excellent, with a great in-person guide and impressive AV displays. (The stale scones in the café, however, were pretty awful, even when the staff warmed them up after I queried their freshness. Nobody should be expected to eat a stale, day-old scone. That said, the rest of the catering was fine. In fact, the soup at lunchtime was delicious.) 

Our cycle route included crossing the River Forth a couple of times, a stop-off at Cambuskenneth Abbey, views of the Wallace Monument and a standing stone, lots of different cycling terrain from narrow woodland tracks to brand new cycle paths, a first-time visit to the campus of the University of Stirling, and losing one another for five minutes near a dodgy underpass. 

Coffee/tea and rocky road in town set us up for the journey home again. In the car we listened to another episode of In our time, this time on the Davidian revolution. I had looked up King David I at the weekend when a Dutch couple at our hotel asked how the abbeys in the Borders were established and funded. Mention of King David I at the visitor centre this morning reminded me that I wanted to find out more. It's been a very educational day overall.

My blip shows Mr hazelh enjoying himself wearing a knight's helmet in the Bannockburn visitor centre. I think that he was aiming for a 'friendly scary' look.

Exercise today: 30 minutes on the exercise bike; 17 mile bike ride; walking (11,524 steps).