A Wander in Stirling

After leaving Dundee, my next stop on this Scottish adventure is Stirling. I arrived a little before lunchtime, so, after dropping my luggage at my hotel, finding a nice-looking cafe and partaking in a repast was the next order of the day. After that, it was time for a little exploring.
I’m saving the principal attraction in Stirling for tomorrow morning. My guidebook recommended buying a ticket online a day or two in advance for that, as it can sell out. I bought one while on the train this morning. I don’t think that was necessary at this time of year because, despite tomorrow being Saturday, each time slot showed at least a couple hundred tickets available. But, as the ubiquitous they say so often as to be tedious, better safe than sorry.
Today, I mostly did a walkabout and took in a couple of sights.
Before I get into that, I feel compelled to issue a warning so you can brace yourself. In the photos below, I included something that appears in few, if any of the pictures from this trip so far: blue skies. Prepare to be bedazzled.
What’s more, although it’s difficult to discern from the pictures, it warmed up today. Up until now, despite still being summer, I needed long-sleeved shirts and a light jacket to feel cozy. And sometimes, an additional light layer likely would have been a bit more comfortable. In contrast, I walked around in a short-sleeved shirt and bare forearms today, pleased that I have a right to bare* arms. Except when I managed to be in the shade as a breeze picked up, I was quite warm, sometimes even uncomfortably so.
(* My spell checker is thoroughly convinced that the word I want above is “bear,” not “bare.” No, no, no, dear spell checker, why the heck would I want that right? Are you insane?)
Stirling Old Bridge

After lunch, I headed out to view the Stirling Old Bridge. I didn’t time it, but Google tells me it’s about an 18-minute walk away from my hotel.
The Stirling Old Bridge is an old bridge in Stirling. You probably didn’t need me to tell you that. If I’m boring you, feel free to leave.
The exquisitely scenic Stirling Old Bridge, a pedestrian and cyclist bridge, crosses the River Forth. On one side of the bridge, on either side of the river, small parks afford a spectacular view of the bridge.
Oh, the River Forth? That’s the same River Forth that widens out into the First of Forth estuary by Edinburgh. So, I could have jumped into the river and swum downstream to Edinburgh. If I did, I’m certain that it wouldn’t take long at all before I’d be physically restrained in a mental health institution, confined there after being deemed a danger to myself because what kind of fool does that?

But never mind that.
The River Forth meanders as it passes by Stirling. Although, “meanders” is a gross exaggeration. It follows the path of a thoroughly disoriented, disorderly drunkard trudging through an open field. It reminds me of the Brisbane River. (Truth be told, it reminded me only that I once wrote somewhere in this journal that another river followed a path that looked like it was designed by a drunkard. For the life of me, I couldn’t remember which river it was and in which city it was. I had to use the search facility of this journal to find the entry where I used “drunk” and “river” in the same post.)
At the top of this post, I included a map of the River Forth as it passes by Stirling. (I placed it up there instead of putting a picture there because I needed to warn you about the blue skies before I dazed you with them.) Take a look at the map and tell me I’m wrong about the course of the river. No, I mean tell me with a straight face, wisecracker. You can’t, can you?
Walking Along the River Forth in Stirling

After leaving the Stirling Old Bridge, I walked along a path beside the serpentine River Forth. It’s a peaceful river, with mirror-flat water and beautiful scenery beyond the opposite bank from central Stirling. I didn’t follow the river all of the way along its banks to its point closest to the central part of town. At a point where the river loops, the path ends at the base of the loop and a road provides a shortcut to the other side of the loop. Like I said, drunken river.
There is a low fence along the path between it and the river. On the other side of the fence, on the bank of the river, vegetation often reduces or fully blocks the view of the River Forth. But that too is attractive.
Central Stirling is a piece back from the river. I’m guessing about a ten-minute walk at its closest point. When I got near central Stirling, I left the riverside, and headed into town and my hotel. I hadn’t checked in because my room wasn’t ready when I arrived. I did that and then headed out again and went to the Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum.
Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum

The Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum is a small facility. It contains three one-room galleries. There’s also a café, but it was closed when I was there. (There’s a universal law which requires that all tourist attractions must either shut completely or close some portion of the facility when I’m there. Some attractions disobey that law, but not many. I hope facilities caught remaining entirely open aren’t punished too severely.)
The first gallery houses a few embroideries. The next is a small art gallery. I didn’t do an inventory, but I’d guess about half of the paintings in that gallery are by Thomas Stuart Smith, a Scottish artist and philanthropist who lived from 1815 to 1869.
The museum was established from a bequest by Thomas Stuart Smith on land supplied by the Burgh of Stirling.
The final gallery in the museum provides a history of Stirling from the Stone Age to the 20th Century. It’s not a huge room. So there’s not a lot of detail for each era. The gallery focuses primarily on the last few centuries.

There is a Stone Age artifact and a couple of Bronze Age artifacts, but most of the museum’s artifacts are much more recent. Considering how small it is, the Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum has a sizeable collection of pewter.
Serendipitously, I’ve been to several small, sometimes quirky, specialty museums on this trip and especially on my previous journey, to Norway. I find I generally quite enjoy them. That probably has a lot to do with them being small and quirky, particularly the small part.

Wandering in Stirling

After leaving the museum, I walked to and through central Stirling. It’s not big, but it’s quite pleasant, warm and friendly, with shops and restaurants occupying the ground floor of lowrise buildings. One of the shopping streets is fully pedestrianized for a couple of blocks
So far, I enjoy this town very much.
The hotel I’m in is not part of a chain. As a reward for booking directly with the hotel, they gave me a free bottle of wine for my room. I’ve already had a large glass of it. That might have something to do with why I enjoy Stirling, but I think that explains only a bit of my sentiment.
As I mentioned above, I’ll visit the star attraction of Stirling tomorrow morning. I’m eager to see if it lives up to my guidebooks’ very positive reviews.

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Firth of all, er first of all, I assure you that I followed your posts from Dundee and St. Andrew quite assiduously, enjoying the overcast skies, ruined cathedral, reduced castle, and so forth. Old tech at this end prevented me from chiming in, all charmed and brogue-y. The Firth of Forth runs lispingly off the tongue, to my great satisfaction, thank you. Firthside photos and reportage prompt me to include “firthside” here, and to muse on trans-North Atlantic ties. Scotland and Norway. Gaels and Vikings? Firths and fjords. Jute, er, just lovely. (Hurrah for small, quirky museums.)
I catch up with your post from Stirling today as I sit at a more communicative device. I’ll ooh and aah, bedazzled by the blue sky and its reflection in the mirror-still water of the meandering Forth. The pedestrian/bike bridge is exceedingly picturesque.
I’m glad you’re along for the ride
Yes, I always enjoy saying Firth of Forth for some reason. As you say, it does roll off the tongue lispingly. That might be it.
I’ve come to believe that small, quirky museums are the best museums. The world needs more of them. Or maybe the world has more of them but I’ve overlooked them because they’re small and easily overlooked. Whatever, more power to them.
I don’t know, but I think I would get along well with a drunken river. My beloved daughter reminds me of how often I list when I walk. And just watch me if I try something silly like walk, breathe, and attend to my phone at the same time. I’d never do that alone with a drunken river beside me, or I’d be in the drink. But then again, you were into the drink and survived the Forth! A really lovely bridge, a charming museum and the cautious promise of a starred attraction for the next blog. I can’t wait for what comes next. Here’s hoping for clear skies.
I hope you don’t chew gum while you’re walking. That can be so distracting. But maybe that’s just me.
I hadn’t yet opened the wine when I walked along the Forth. That may be why I survived it.
Tomorrow is another day. Well, actually, it’s now today, but I only just got up so I’m not sure how it will turn out yet. (The forecast is for another sunny and mild day, but I’ve learned to not trust the forecasts here.)