I am so so so torn. I love, and I do mean LOVE Fife. I just love the area, the name, the history, the people, the bridges, the Firth of Forth, and I love saying words like "Inverkeithing" and "Dunfermline" you know. It makes me happy. I would and I could live happily forever and ever in the Kingdom of Fife if it wasn't for one thing; Stirling.
I am so so so torn!! I love Stirling as well. It's an incredibly historical area in the history of the Celts, the Picts, the everyone who ever walked on the ground that is Scotland. Stirling has Robert the Bruce, William Wallace, Rob Roy, and Holy Rude! It has so much history, love, hate, war, marriage, witches, trials, churches, and yes, really cool dead people. You just can't get more cool than Stirling really when it comes to really cool dead people, and what makes them really cool, is their gravestones. I wouldn't know who they were if I could see the gravestones and read their names and a little about their lives. It's just so fantastic. You have to go.
Stirling is among the Top 10 safest areas to live in the country of Scotland as well. It is typically mentioned rather fast when you rattle off the names. There are some areas mind you, over by the university, that may or may not be as safe, but over by the monuments, and a bit west and south are some of the most well-kept and mysterious woods and forestlands I've seen. It's just too gorgeous for words. I'm not really a water person as much as I am a woodland person. Give me a moor any day, someone else can sail the seas. I'm not all that picky either as long as the moor is in the land of the wild thistles; I'm good.
I've seen them both firsthand, even if I didn't get an opportunity to stay in either overnight. I want to. Fife offers family, community, history, good shopping, dining, and affordable prices. Stirling offers all that and a bit more actually. The trains run to both Edinburgh and Glasgow and the time it takes to get to Edinburgh (and of course Glasgow because of geographical location) is 10 minutes faster than Fife. The buses are a bit cheaper as well. The housing seems to be a wee bit better in Stirling. I don't know why that is, but it does seem to pan out to be true. I'm routinely looking on Rightmove and find that the "Two-Up Two-Down" terraced homes in Stirling run maybe 5% less than they do in Dunfermline. It is what it is, but if I can save $5000-8000 on a home and get the same thing with more history, I think I may edge my way to the west.
A "Two-Up Two-Down" house is a terraced or row house that has two main rooms upstairs and two main rooms downstairs. The bathroom or shower room will be in one or the other. I won't live in a house without a tub and I won't live in a house without a toilet on the same floor as my bed. I don't want to find myself falling down a flight of stairs in the middle of the night when I need to pee. Nope. Not this girl. If I have to add a toilet in my closet upstairs that's the plan. I will not be without a toilet at 3:13 a.m. Also, if I do have two butts in the house (ever) I will need two toilets. There's really nothing worse than needing to go when you can't because someone else is on the throne. That's right. Spoiled American!! Two butts, two toilets. There's no sense in discussing it. It is what it is.
Stirling has something else that Edinburgh nor Fife have, and really, it's a good thing that there aren't many of these things hanging about, but they have a monument to the area and space, the actual place, where people were beheaded. It's literally called "The Beheading Stone". It's a mostly flat rock on top of another rock bed, and it has been caged so that no one can take it. It is undoubtedly listed as a precious historical landmark, and it is therefore protected. It's not as if I will visit the stone often, but I will in fact see it again from time to time. I go to pray actually. I feel a need to go, and even a pull to go. Too many innocent folks were subjected to cruel and harsh treatment and I feel them. I pray for their survivors and for the communities now to learn from and understand their ways of the past were harmful even if they were in the frame of mind that what they were doing was the right thing to do. It was just too barbaric.
Several battles were fought, lost, and won in the area(s) surrounding Stirling, and the great university there is another good reason to call Stirling my home. I can possibly lecture and if I can't do that, I know I can study there. I will go. I will be a part of that awesomeness. There is no doubt. Even if I lived in Fife I would travel 15-20 miles to make that happen. Scotland is by far (far) smaller than a lot of people realize. Two entire Scotlands will fit in Oklahoma. I have no problem traveling all over my home state in my car, so taking the bus or train in and around Scotland will be an easy task. I would even consider owning a car in Stirling or in Fife, but I won't drive it into the E.C.C., or Edinburgh City Centre. I would no doubt simply take a bus or train while visiting, and call it safe for myself and everyone else on the road!
All in all, side by side, "all things equal", I think I will have to lean towards Stirling if the opportunity arises. I asked my good friends David and James Stewart (brothers) about my choice because they are far more familiar with the areas than I am. David suggested I join a few Facebook groups and ask questions of folks who live in the two areas. Great idea. James agreed with David that Stirling has more history, and he added it was a bit busier with things to do. He's right. I can keep myself busy no doubt. I am just really happy to know that if I wanted to, I could buy a car and drive up from Stirling and over to the east to Dunfermline and all around the back areas without having to dip into the City Centre and chance of being THAT American who can't remember the rules of the road. I'll learn. It will happen.
Stirling has a castle too! Yep. Some say it's more interesting than Edinburgh's castle because it's more about families who lived there and therefore more personal than Edinburgh Castle, as it is not really military. Many great stories surround both. Too very very interesting, and I must find more to read and know about each. Sigh...it's a tough choice, it really is. I think I'll have to spend time in each to make my final decision, but I think from a monetary and historical angle I'm really going to lean toward Stirling and just say "Firth of Forth" every chance I get. It makes me happy. (C'mon, buying ballpoint pens makes me happy, OK. It's not that hard to make this girl happy.)
A two-up two-down terrace home. (Note: no screens on the windows!)
Photo Credit: Rightmove.co.uk
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