Edinburgh (RTW) - Month 6ish

Ok it has been a looong time since my last update so here goes what have we been doing for the last 6 weeks.

Blair Athol

Blair Athol Castle

So 6 weeks ago we had a friend come and stay with us and we decided to go up to Blair Athol for the day and have a quick sqiz around. We first went to Blair Athol castle which is this beautiful white castle and has some beautiful gardens and peacocks. The weather was beautiful and balmy getting up to about 17! We then went on a walk up to some lower falls and climbed around the rocks and had a ball.

Morar and Isle of Skye

Highland Coo

A week later Katherine’s parent come over for a visit so we decided to take them up to Morar and across to the Isle of Skye for the day which was amazing. We drove for about 4-5 hours to get up to Morar and we were staying in this lovely new B&B but if you glanced away for a second you would have missed the turn off to this place on the B road. We didn’t have any mobile reception which mad things difficult considering P&M were coming up after us. We were getting a bit worried when they hadn’t showed up at 11 and it was dark so you couldn’t see the turn off. I just happen to be driving up the drive-way as they were coming around the corner of the B road so it was amazing that that happened. Anyway the next day we drove over to the Isle of Skye and drove up to Dunvegan castle up the north up the Isle of Skye. On our way up to the castle we were lucky enough to see some Highland Cattle right next to the road and got some great photos of them. The gardens in Dunvegan castle were amazing and very very lovely. Dunvegan castle is owned by the MacCloud clan and still is today what people actually live there. On the way back to Morar we climbed up to Dun Beag Broch which is a really old Scottish fortress. Some Brochs day as far back as 100BC! The next day we went to Loch Morar and it is one of the most beautiful Loch’s I have seen and also the beach with sand! We had a great time climbing up to a rocky handland 1/3 of the way up the lock which is huge! On the way back to we went to Edradour distillery which is the smallest distillery in Scotland and it is a very very cute distillery and also one of the only distilleries in Scotland that doesn’t use peat in the malting process so doesn’t have that smoky flavour.

Loch Morar

Balmacara

Elien Donan Castle

The next weekend Katherine and I went up to Balmacara which is just before your get the bridge across to the Isle of Skye opposed to Morar which is where you get the ferry. We stayed at a lovely B&B and had a great time. On the sat we decided to go up to Applecross which is a tiny wee village and you have to go through this massive mountain pass to get to it with switchbacks and one lane roads. We saw our fist deer and they were so close to the road. In the afternoon we went back over to sky and went to the Talisker distillery and had a look around. It was very cool and the most commercial distillery we have been to. On the way back to Edinburgh on the Sunday we stopped off at Elien Donon castle which is probably the most photographed castle in Scotland. You have probably seen it as it has been in such movies as Highlander, The World Is Not Enough and Elizabeth: The Golden Age to name a few. We also had to go through some of the wonderful highlands where there is nothing for about 1hr drive which was quite worrying as we had not a lot of fuel left, but we made it home.

Doe a deer, a female deer

Kirtcudbright

Threave Castle

Ok try saying this place! We went her on Nab and Nat’s 2^nd last weekend in the UK before they flew back to Oz. We decided to go to the Dumfries as it was half way for both of us. The Dumfries is in the South West of Scotland and it is a beautiful place in Scotland and there are some wonderful castles around here and some lovely towns. We were staying in a lovely B&B called Marks farm and the first bit of the farmhouse was built in the 14^th century. On the Saturday we drove along the Queensway and also through the forest along the little goat track which was recommended to us by the local tourist info girl and she also said we would might get a flat…..guess what we did. Along the Queensway we climbed up to Murray’s monument and also up to a waterfall. We also saw some Wild goats and some Red Deer which are the largest mammal in the UK. On the Sunday we went to Threave castle which is on a island in the middle of a river and you have to get a tinny across to it. It was really really pretty. We then went to Caerlaverock castle which is the first castle we have been to which has water in the moat. It was so cool to see this fairytale fortress castle.

Caerlaverock castle

Edinburgh – free weekend

Well we had a free weekend so we decided to do some shopping for Christmas and all and also I happen to get an early Christmas and Birthday present. I got a new PRS 513 guitar and a Vox Valvetronics VTX amp. It was too good of a deal to pass up with 5 years of free service and 12 sets of strings for the next 5 years.

London

St Paul's Cathedral

Ok so last weekend we went down to London which was really amazing. Our flight was 2 hours late to begin with which wasn’t a great start and we got to our dinky room about 12:30. This was the dinkiest little place we have ever stayed the corridor was as wide as a person and the room could only just fit a bed, basin and wardrobe and that was it literally. There was a toilet and shower on the floor which was shared with the other guests. So on the Saturday we went to the Tower of London which was really amazing seeing all the different towers and artefacts that they have there. They still have the actual axe that was used on Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII 2^nd wife. Due to 3 of the tube lines begin down we walked all day. We went from the Tower of London to St. Pauls cathedral where went to the Eucharist and down to the Crypts. It was so big and ornate with gold of the roof etc. We then walked across the Millennium Bridge to the Globe theatre then we walked past the London eye, Big Ben, Westminster, Buckingham Palace and finally to Harrods. That night we went and saw Wicked which was amazing but I would thoroughly recommend seeing the Wizard of Oz movie before going to remind you of some of the stuff in the movie. On the Sunday we went to Madam Tussaud’s which was a lot better then I expected and had a nice relaxing day going there and also the Camdon markets before heading home.

The Gerkin

Next weekend we are off back to London to go to the Farnborough airshow and also to Lego so keep in touch. I will try to keep this updated more regually but we will see how we go. I hope you are all enjoying the winter (Scottish summer, temps about the same) and will talk to you a bit later.

Cheers,

Dan