Scottish Chronicles

We looooovvvveee the UK. I think I could live there actually. Love England, love Wales, love Ireland. But we had never adventured up to Scotland. A must. We really had the best time and talk about a gorgeous part of the world!

We flew into Edinburgh and spent the night at a hotel. First thing the next morning, we made a stop at Marks and Spencer (a fav grocery store stop in the UK) to get our snacks and chocolate milk. Did y'all know that Marks and Spencer has the world's best chocolate milk? Yum!

We made our way up to Inverness, the very northern part of Scotland. My dear friend, Louise and her husband Ian, as well as Louise's 6 kids, live up there. When I studied abroad in London, I went with my friend Lindsay to stay with Louise when they lived in Yorkshire. 8 Years later, I got to see them again! We met up with them in one of Scotland's National Parks. Talk about gorgeous! Very foresty with lakes and sandy beach stretches. And it was so good to see this family. The kids are huge now, obviously, but it was so fun to get to know them--all over again it seemed. They are teenagers! Weird. We had a lovely time on the beach and grilled hot dogs and ate snacks. We then made our way to their home, which is a beautiful farmhouse. They are right in the countryside, and their surroundings are so lovely. We just spent a few days just catching up, having some yummy meals, going to their ward with them, and checking out the waterfront of Inverness with Anya (the oldest of the kids)A highlight for us was going to the Culloden Battlefield, where the final battle of the 1745 Jacobite Rising and the last battle on British soil were held.  This interested Andy especially. His previous boss is Scottish and gets very emotional when he talks about this battle. It is now a historical sight, and kind of invokes the same reverence as the Normandy Beaches. We had a nice walk through the moors with Louise, Nathan, Anya and Ava. So glad they showed us this!

One thing we had to do was make cinnamon rolls. When I came to visit these guys 8 years ago, they really wanted to learn how to make these. I guess it is their favorite American treat! It was so fun to make these with them years ago, so we needed a repeat! We got started rather late in the evening, so it was me, Anya, Libby and Loren. We had a great time jamming to music in the kitchen and getting messy!

The next morning, it was time to say our goodbyes. I love this family! So happy we got to see them!

The River Ness

On a walk with Anya and our little bumblebee:)

These girls were so sweet with him

Cinnamon Roll time! Fun with Loren, Anya and Libby

Our first time meeting this sweetie. Louise was pregnant with Ava when I visited last! She was so cute with Bennett.

After saying goodbye, we got in our car and made our way south. We had to check out Loch Ness! We were told that Urquhart Castle was worth seeing. Urquhart Castle is now ruins, but it dates back to the 1500's. And is is right on Loch Ness, so it is pretty stunning everywhere you look.

Had to get a pic with Nessy!

Urquhart Castle! Lovely eh?

My cuties!

Yes, their was a bagpiper! Ahhhhh.

Doesn't get more Scotch than this!

climbing some of the ruins

Got a smile out of this goober

wasn't liking it by the end though:(

 We kept making our way down the country, seeing more Lochs along the way. We came across some really neat bridges and rivers, and had to get out and take some pics.

Beautiful Bridge, yes?

This was cool to watch

 After passing the Lochs and rivers, we drove through what we remember as Princess Bride Land. Seriously, it looks like those hills Buttercup and Wesley rolled down. We didn't stay here long, but it was a kodak moment!

Princess Bride Land!

The fog adds a nice effect

One of our favorite pics of B from the trip;)

Perth was our destination for the day. It was a good hub between our two next stops. We saw beautiful villages along the way, and even got some yummy Indian food for dinner!

lovely homes 

We would love to live right here!

 We woke up to sunshine the next day! Yay! Next stop--St. Andrew's! This has been on Andy's bucket list forever, St. Andrew's being the birthplace of golf. Once again, a beautiful drive! St. Andrew's is right on the coast, so once again--great views! I could live in this country:)

St. Andrew's, home to University of St. Andrew's, is definitely a college town. Not very big, but very quaint and beautiful. We walked around the cathedral ruins for a bit, and then walked along a trail that hugged the coastline.

Cathedral and Cemetery 

cheeseball

Shhhhhh

Our little fam

can you imagine living in these houses?

More ruins

Sorry, definitely went camera crazy. Can you blame?

bottle break:)

After walking along the coast a bit, we went to the British Golf Museum. You have to! Especially when you are married to Andy. It was actually pretty fascinating, even for the non-golfer. It went into the history of the sport, and then they had the equipment through the decades/centuries on display. Pretty cool! Now, time to see the courses!

I wish I golfed! I wanted Andy to be able to golf these courses so badly! Didn't quite make sense with our timetable and having B in tow, but we did take a nice walk on the paths and saw all the courses. Such a beautiful place to play the sport!

Cutie Pies. And beautiful architecture behind!

courses on both sides

After walking the courses, we went to the beach. It was rather windy, and we had a little fun seeing where the wind took Bennett's stroller;)

Boardwalks going down to the beach

After walking around the beach and seeing more of the town, we got back in the car and went for a beautiful drive down the Fife Coastal Trail. I loved this drive! Views of the sea, billowing fields, lovely churches and structures. Once again, can we live here?!?

Probably my favorite pic from our drive

I guess this is a secret bunker? It was closed when we got to it, but Andy was excited.

Found a lookout point of the sea. Mmmmmm.

My love

We loved the drive, but were pretty hungry at this point. We couldn't really find anything on our way back to Perth, but as soon as we got close to our hotel, we found a restaurant that kind of felt like an Applebees. Hit the spot, we were starving!

The next day, we set off to Edinburgh! This was a fun day. Edinburgh is such a lively city with so much to see. We started off with Edinburgh Castle, which was awesome! It was very crowded, but we loved learning about the history. B was a trooper through the crowds and the rain. We hadn't realized that it was the Fringe Festival, which is their big film festival. So.....lots of visitors!

The castle in the background

After seeing the castle, we took a walk down the main road, did some window shopping and eating lunch as we made our way down to our next tourist stop--Holyroodhouse Castle--famous home to Mary, Queen of Scots, where apparently a murder took place. Hmmmm. Also the residence of Queen Elizabeth II when she comes to Scotland. It was really cool!

Audioguide Nerds

just nerds

Outside of the castle

We walked back up the main road, and I bought myself some real Scottish sheep's wool mittens. We walked around more of Edinburgh. We had to stop at another favorite restaurant of mine--Wagamama's. I know, it's a chain, but I was craving myself some noodles! After a yummy dinner, we waved farewell to Edinburgh and went back to the hotel.

Loved Scotland!