Scotland 2008

Sheep of Scotland

2009-05-28T07:35:00.000-07:00

On Tuesdqay, April 29, 2008, we woke up in Dalkeith and drove north. We drove about 250 miles that day, beginning in Dalkeith, near Edinburgh, and drove north up the east coast, through Aberdeen and then northwest through Inverness and beyond.

I made it a point to stop frequently and snap a few pics of sheep along the way. As was usual with our luck, it rained while we were driving and stopped while we were stretching our legs. It was a great day and a lot of fun driving through this beautiful country.

Note: we started at 'B' and drove to 'A'.

Sheep of Scotland

On Monday, May 2, 2008

We drove from Loch Lomond to Edinburgh, nearly another hundred miles that day. These are some sheep that enjoy central Scotland.

Scotland Part 6 Southern Highlands

2008-06-04T15:19:00.000-07:00

Don't worry, I'll consolidate all the sheep pics into one Posting, but this one's my favorite!

This place was awesome! After 7 or 8 days of changing rooms every night and the mad rush and excitement of not even having a room, this little B&B was a welcome paradise. I can imagine reserving this for a full week and actually relaxing and enjoying a vacation. Nobody ever really wants to relax on their vacations though, it seems. Always in a rush to get something done we've never done before. Here's some free advertising for you Lenny, The Baroney House Rocks!

Taking the Golf back was a little heartbreaking for me. It was only halfway through my journey, but my parents were heading home the next day and and I was continuing on to Dublin. We had a lot of good times in that car. I would seriously consider buying one back home. We put about 800 miles on the "correct side of the road" as they like to put it, and it was a big part of our trip. But what was probably the most valuable material item was my Garmin Nuvi. Oh what would we have done without that machine?
The Gatwick Express into Victoria Station.

The Palace

zzzzzzzzzz...zzzz...zzzz

The walk through the park to find the last hotel.

Safe journey home!

Scotland Part 5 (Northern Ireland)

2008-06-04T15:07:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Ireland!

Scotland Part 4 Northern Highlands

2008-06-04T12:54:00.000-07:00

From Dunnottar Castle we head north, to Aberdeen, "The Granite City" where almost

Scotland Part 3 Dunnottar Castle

2008-06-04T12:14:00.000-07:00

The Family Castle

banished from home

but, first, we had to stop on our way up from Edinburgh, in this love town and have breakfast.

"Breakfast" it's all you had to say, there is only one Breakfast in all the UK, (except vegetarian, and that's just a version of the same thing)

supplies for our picnic down the road

This is Dunnottar Castle, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunnottar_Castle

Love that little car, 45mpg (although the 10$ a gallon was hard to swallow)

My understanding was that this temple was built to satisfy the Romans, after they destroyed a temple to build the castle, but my Dad says it was built to satisfy a woman... either way: Romans, Women,... I guess you have to build stuff to satisfy them.

Well, this is the only way out and we have a long way left to go.

Scotland Part 2 Edinburgh, April 2008

2008-06-04T11:43:00.000-07:00

Edinburgh April - Mom, Dad, & Me

Hard Rock Edinburgh

a rainy day above Princes street

do I hear "Christmas Card"?

Tour Buses, these were great! We took all four Tours in 24 hour period and it was Touriffic! It was a great place to get in out of the rain.

Proof, there we are on the Royal Mile.

The Entrance to Edinburgh Castle

One of the few place we didn't pay to get into, by the way, but remarkable enough from the outside.

Do I hear, "backup Christmas card"? - ah, maybe not.

Bussing around.

Arthur's Seat, at the foot of the Royal Mile, across from Holyrood House.

Scotland Part 1 Ancestral Highlands Adventure

2008-05-17T07:02:00.000-07:00

"Seriously, I would love to go to Scotland with you!" sometime in late 2007

Wheels and plans began to turn and churn, and change and solidify. Sometimes you really do have to experience something to understand it. So the goal was set, the milestones were planned and achieved and on April 24th, 2008, a little after 8PM,

we left the earth behind and climbed high, above the US, Canada, Greenland... We were over land a lot more than I thought a trans-Atlantic flight would take us. Mom and Dad and I touched down at Heathrow, Terminal 4, and caught a bus to Gatwick,

where our Hotel was that night (much closer to our flight the following morning.

It was a great neighborhood and we found a wonderful, casual restaurant "The Ole Six Bells"
that served perfectly fire charred fare,

and rather large Fish & Chips.

We also found our first roundabout, our first graveyard,

and our first church,...

many, many of each to follow. The same path took us the next morning to Horley Towne Center, and we found the first breakfast place open and sat outside while the town began to wake up and the streets began to fill. It was Saturday morning, and shops and shoppers began their dance. The neighborhood street market filled with fresh fruit and veg stands, and plants and other swap meet type tables.

The beautiful green lined streets were backed with Bed & Breakfasts, one after another, all the way back to the hotel.

Our flight to Edinburgh was about an hour and we took a 2008 Volkswagan Golf, Deisel, for a training spin on the "correct" side of the road.

Fortunately, it comes easier than my building anxiety had led me to believe, almost natural after a couple of hours, really, and the roundabouts became easily navigatable.
Why don't we have them at home?
The traffic just flows right through.
We had three nights booked at a Travelodge
8 miles from downtown Edinburgh, and decided to drive on into the mix and see what we could see. This was the first real test of driving in the UK, as it was a pretty busy city, Capital of Scotland, and a huge tourist attraction, what with the Royal Mile and Holyrood house. Being a Saturday, the downtown parking was free on the side of the road, so I GPS marked the spot and we following the trails of people up into the center of the activity, carefully soaking in the atmosphere and excitement of the streets.

That cool mountain/hill next to our hotel:

a Dale Keith in Dalkeith:

This church is in Dalkeith:

This little rock wall is behind the hotel in the woods, these things are everywhere :

and this little fellow was scampering along the Dalkeith walkway, a gorgeous nature path that we only got a little way into before we met Lenny.

Edinburgh itself is a magical place.

running through Gatwick to get there:

This tower has been featured on TV, a freind of Lenny's converted this old water tower into a five story home, fine if you don't minde one room per floor. :

Deacon Brodies Tavern, an ancester of that Lenny guy we met in the park:

This is a map we lifted from a public domain. Hunter's Tryst is a ver nice neighborhood out on the fringes of Edinburgh suburbs. This is the furthest point that the city bus starts from and it was just about a hundred yards from our hotel. The bus was clean and easy to ride:

the roof of an old building in Edinburgh, should probably do some research on this stuff, but anyway, cool pics: