Scotland, a Christmas present from my husband. A trip for just the two of us. No kids only Andrew and I. I honestly wasn’t sure how to write this blog about Scotland. I was going to do it day by day then I decided to write what I could remember in no particular order. So here we go!
Normally when we take a trip overseas we rent a car. This time was no different with one exception. We figured since it was the two of us we would rent a car my husband always wanted to drive, a Jaguar convertible. It was definitely a nice car and rather comfortable. It also didn’t take much for that thing to go fast. We had one nice day where we could put the top down so we took advantage of that nice weather and enjoyed that experience. My husband had me drive for a bit one day. I was completely nervous, but I did it. You can watch a tiny video of me driving it at the end of this blog.
We stayed in Edinburgh for a couple of days where we enjoyed walking up and down The Royal Mile. We did some shopping. Mostly gifts for our kids with a couple of things for ourselves one of which was a nice Harris tweed sports coat my husband has been wanting for a while now. We took a tour of Edinburgh Castle. We did a free walking tour around the city. The guy was funny and he spoke fast, so he kept my attention.
Besides for Edinburgh Castle we toured as many other castles as we could. Stirling Castles was okay to me. Not as impressive as the other medieval castles were. What can I say, I have this thing for medieval Castles and their history. I always have. I love getting to walk around them and touch them. I find them absolutely fascinating. Right next to one of these medieval castles was Loch Ness and no we didn’t see any sea monsters.
While in Scotland we drove through Glencoe. We accidentally got to see the bridge the train drives on in Harry Potter. That was pretty cool. The mountains were rather stunning and the Scottish Country side is pretty to say that least. We spent some time in the Isle of Sky. Sadly it rained that entire day.
During our time in Scotland we stayed in a couple of places. Our first night there we stayed at The Witchery by the Castle. A very nice hotel right near Edinburgh Castle. When I say nice I mean I was completely wowed. We stayed in a suite that made us feel like royalty. It also felt like we were on our second honeymoon. Very nice indeed! We also stayed in a cute cottage and a bed and breakfast. Both were nice. Lastly we spent two nights in a nice hotel.
My husband and I did lots and lots of walking. In total for the week we walked 40 miles. Rain or shine we walked. OH, My Husband was also kind enough to take me to a couple of places where the show Outlander was filmed! Which reminds me we took a tour of the Culloden Battlefield. That was a much larger field then I realized. We also saw some of the clan stones.
After walking along The Royal Mile and Victoria Street we can see where the author got her inspiration for the famous Harry Potter books. If you ever get the chance to walk along these streets you will be able to understand too.
Kathleen Smith is an author and blogger among her books you can read about her city and county living in Good-bye Brooklyn Hello Upstate