Day two and we went somewhere we all had never been, Falkirk. Only fairly recently these two massive statues were completed, an ode to the horses that drove the canal boats, but named after a Scottish myth of a deadly horse that first haunts and then drowns you. Not exactly the welcome you were expecting according to our taxi driver. Whether you like the connection with the myth or not the Kelpies were larger than you would imagine possible, and it certainly makes an impression. There was also a tour to go round and go inside at least the one of them, but we opted just to wander around it ourselves. And spent a good wee while just staring upwards.
Hopefully next time I see them they will have completed the visitors centre but other than that you couldn't really ask for more from them.
From the Kelpies we walked to the Falkirk Wheel, when we started we should have anticipated rain as you can see from the atmospheric clouds on the horizon, but we didn't and we walked for about two thirds of the hour and a half journey in the rain. It is pretty amazing how good the footpath was all the way along the canal to and from each point, it was just a bit long to do in the rain without a proper jacket. But even if we were a bit cold and grumpy, the Falkirk wheel was really interesting and I will have to go back to go on it. We just missed the last trip around, but got to see it make its way around. It joins the much higher and lower canals, while only using the same amount of power as a light bulb. Not to mention they also have their own tiny version of the Kelpies just there so after seeing the originals you could feel a bit like a giant.
