Doune and Callander

In contrast to Stirling Castle, the center for art and culture in the 16th century, Doune is the oldest medieval castle in Scotland and dates back to 13-14th century. It is also famous for being so photogenic as in Monty Python and the Holy Grail  and The Outlanders.  The audio tour is narrated by Terry Gilliam, one of the original Pythons.

of Monty Python fame

Malindi worked with a friend Andrew at Sugarloaf and when she told him we were going to Scotland he said we simply must go to Callander. "It's beautiful and his parents run The Old Bank restaurant. " So we did go visit!  We did not see Andrew's parents but we did ask the waitress, Shona Jackie and she said yes, she knows Andrew Sibbald. She said she hears a lot of customers say they know Andrew.  Indeed, there is a fantastic view of Ben 'An (Ben=Mountain) right in the middle of the main street. The first night we ate at Waverley House. Judd had steak pie and I has Scottish salmon.  The tonic water measures calories as "energy in kJoules."  We also tried two different Scotch:  10year old Aberlow Highland (with a sherry finish) and 10 year old Tobermoroy (Isle of Mull) with a smokey finish.