I’ve traveled solo a few times, but this past summer was my first experience going across the pond by my onesy. I flew to London. Then I trained to Glasgow, Falkirk, and Edinburgh. From Edinburgh I took a 5 day bus tour all around the Scottish Highlands, including Oban, Isle of Skye, and Fort Augustus. Yes—I definitely saw Nessie. When that “Wild and Sexy” (that’s Haggis tours slogan) adventure was over I went back to Edinburgh, then over to Glasgow and eventually—after a short Canadian road trip—arrived home to begin working again the next day.
When you are traveling solo you have to have a sense of humour. I left behind a camera, two pairs of sunglasses, some makeup, a pair of (broken) shoes, and a bag of souvenirs. I also got lost. At that time my phone provider charged the equivalent of a first born to use any kind of data out of country, so I didn’t have any internet access other than wifi. Wifi is accessible in a lot of places, but you have to essentially throw your personal information into the internet and hope nobody steals your identity. That being said, internet access is not exactly a priority in the small town of Falkirk.
Falkirk is in the central lowlands of Scotland. It is sort of halfway between Glasgow and Edinburgh. For a long time, the city of Falkirk was not a hot tourist destination. As I understand it, most of this area of Scotland was labeled as the industrial sector. It does have an interesting history if we consider our friend William Wallace (BUT YOU CANNA TAKE OUR FREEDOM) but the Wallace monument is located in Stirling, along with a few castles. So poor Falkirk had nobody visiting. The town was like HEY WE ARE COOL TOO EVEN IF WE DON’T HAVE A FAMOUS CASTLE! And so they built the Falkirk Wheel and the Helix, which included a park and The Kelpies. I’m not so interested in rotating boat lifts, so I skipped the Wheel. I was, however, really passionate about seeing the Kelpies.
Here they are in all their equestrian glory. Taken with my iPhone SE because I had lost my point and shoot by this moment. Also, my entry for the architectural photography contest.
The kelpie is a mythological horse creature that lures unsuspecting victims into riding it. They are just so beautiful that people are like “oh, what a pretty horsey, I’ll ride it, thanks” and then the kelpie is like “ha-ha” and starts walking into a nearby loch. You try to escape but the Kelpie is like “no, I’m hungry” and then it feeds on your soul as you suffer in a watery grave.
Falkirkians (I just made this up, I’m not sure what they call themselves) were like “dang, this killer horse really represents us,” with fairly sound reasoning. The industry of the area relied heavily on work horses, and the kelpie has the strength of 100 horses.
Built in 2013, The Kelpies are the largest equine sculptures in the world. Designed by Andy Scott, they rise out of a pool of water that connects two important canals. 300 tonnes! 30 metres high! Built in 90 days! GO FALKIRK GO!
That horse is giving blue steel
Super impressive, and something I really wanted to witness on my trip. But my quest for The Kelpies was not exactly an easy one. You see, I’m directionally challenged. I know how to follow signs, and I’m pretty good at catching the right train, but finding a public bus stop without wifi was a challenging one. I never once got lost in Glasgow or Edinburgh, but I did get pretty turned around in the bustling town of Falkirk. Thankfully, I found a Fairy Godmother in the form of an elderly Scottish woman to help me. When I got on the bus I had to count my change (don’t get me started on the sheer lunacy of the 2 pence piece) and again, relied on the help of strangers to tell me when to get off. For some reason, there was no bus stop beside the sculptures. Instead, the bus dropped me off at the Falkirk stadium, a good two and a half kilometres away from The Kelpies. I had my whole life on my back, but I was determined.
A nice couple who spoke very little English took this for me. They were very impressed I was by myself.
Luckily, Helix Park is beautiful. It was also sunny, and despite this meaning I was sweating the whole journey, it made me happy. I remember the exact feeling of accomplishment as I climbed a tiny hill and saw the sculptures. I was so independent! I made it!
I spent 20 minutes looking at the horses, bought a few things in the gift shop, and then repeated the journey back to the station, and caught a train to Edinburgh where I proceeded to see 2 Fringe shows and stay up way too late.
Basically, the whole thing took three hours of my life, but it FELT worth it.
Worth it.
After my time in Edinburgh, I started my 5 day Highland tour with Haggis Adventures. I hopped on the bus ready to make friends and see new things. I settled into my seat and wondered what we will see first! The tour guide, a nice Scottish lad named Sandy, came over the speaker and said “Hello everyone, today our first stop will be something that is new to the Central Lowlands!”
“Oh, no.” I said.
“It’s the largest equestrian sculpture in the world!”
“Are you kidding me!” I said.
“The Kelpies!”
“Of course this happens to me.” I said.
AND the tour bus pulled up right beside the sculptures. We spent 15 minutes walking around, got back on the bus and headed to the William Wallace Monument.
I think I made a lot of friends that day, simply because I kept running around yelling I’VE ALREADY BEEN HERE, THIS WASN’T ON THE ITINERARY, IT TOOK ME THREE HOURS, MY LIIIIIIIIFE!
I’ve always had a flair for the dramatics. Which is maybe why I love these sculptures. They’ve definitely got some drama to them. Especially that one on the right: