Stirling and a Ceilidh

Saturday I went on a day trip with the international society to the town of Stirling, known as the "gateway to Scotland". Stirling is where the Wallace monument was built in the late 1800s to commemorate the national hero William Wallace. (Familiar with Braveheart?) I don't think I have ever experienced more wind than I did that day. There was a small child at the top of the monument and I was afraid he was going to be blown off the tower. We also toured the castle, which was quite cool as castles go, but again the wind was so strong in some places it was all I could to to not be blown off the wall. Since I went with the international society it was cheaper and we just bused out early in the morning and made it back in the evening which meant we were limited on time, so I didn't get to walk around the town much.

That night I went to my first ceilidh (I kept missing the others!). A ceilidh is a traditional Scottish dance. Dress was very casual, girls were in trousers or skirts, and men were in trousers or kilts, depending on how dressed up one wanted to get. The band was called Clachan Yell (you can find them on MySpace) and the lead would give instructions on the routine before each song. He was very difficult to understand though, and I mostly just had to watch the people near the stage to figure out what to do. Most of the dances were done in groups of four couples and was like square dancing. I ending up being in groups with a lot of fellow foreigners who didn't quite get the steps right, but no one cared and we just danced the best we could. It was so much fun -I can't wait to go to the next one. :)