Scotland

Hi all,
We just had a great weekend in Scotland. We left Cardiff on Friday evening and arrived in Edinburgh about an hour later. It was amazing that everything run like clockwork and within 30 minutes of landing we had picked up our hire car and were at our accommodation in the city centre. We stayed at the Glenora Guest House, about 1 mile from the Edinburgh Castle, and would recommend it to anyone. The family room was enormous and without a doubt the best family room we have stayed in all year, I double bed and 3 singles. the breakfast the next morning was also superb, 10 out of 10!! In fact the accommodation in Scotland for all three nights was very good and surpassed most of our (hotel) accommodation in any other country this year.

On Friday night we went into the city centre and had a look at Edinburgh Castle all lit up and near the Scott Monument, there was a "Winter Wonderland" (most Uk cities have one at this time of year, rides, ferris wheels, ice skating etc..). Next to the "rides" was a German Market, where we had our dinner and our first mulled wine of the season.

Saturday morning, after a great Full Organic Scottish Breakfast, we visited the Edinburgh Castle and walked the Royal Mile down to Holyrood Palace (The Queen's official Edinburgh residence). We did a little bit of shopping and Kristin had another mulled wine (11 a.m.!!) before we left Edinburgh. I think, if time permitted, we could have spent several days in Edinburgh.

We left Edinburgh and headed over the Firth of Froth on the Froth Road Bridge (about 1.5 km long and running parallel to it a magnificent railway bridge) on the way to the Home of Golf, St. Andrews. At St. Andrews we first drove through the main street, down to ruins of the Priory and Castle. Next step was the Golf Course, and if you have ever watched the British Open at the Royal and Ancient, it was exactly how you imagined it to be!  The Old Course was open to the public to walk around and was great to make the visit (next time? will need to play a round!). From St. Andrews we headed to Inverness, via Dundee and Perth. As we got into the Highlands, plenty of the mountains were covered in snow (does this count as a White Christmas?).

We stayed at the Columba Hotel in Inverness which is right on the river Ness in the heart of the town. Inverness (Scotland's third largest city) was nothing spectacular did have a lovely castle and I'm sure in the warmer months the riverside would be bustling and a great place to be. Sunday morning, we went to the Culloden Battlefields before heading down Loch Ness. The drive along Loch Ness was brilliant, and we were very lucky to a bright sunshiny day. We stopped at Drumnadrachit and did the Loch Ness Centre (it seems to me that this was another classic con job to improve tourism to the area in the 1930's, but then again I'm a cynic!) and then the ruins of Urqhart Castle.

The next stop was Glenfinnan, near Fort William, was has the Glennfinnan Monument (to Bonnie Prince Charles and the Jacobites) and the Glenfinnan Viaduct (the railway bridge made famous by the Harry Potter movies). We had lunch in Fort William, whcich sits on the base of Ben Nevis (UK's highest point).

The journey then continued through lots of snow covered mountains near Glencoe and further south we drove along Loch Lomand. Unfortunately the skies opened up at this stage and it was starting to get dark and late in the afternoon we arrived in Glasgow. Sunday night and Monday morning we walked around Glasgow, along the River Clyde, the Cathedral and the town centre. At about lunchtime we headed back to Edinburgh to catch a flight home to Cardiff.

A very enjoyable few days! We have a week and a half of school left (last Tuesday 22nd), then we move to London for a couple of days before we head off home! All the photos are available on the Web Albums.

Cya soon!

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