Scotland Sightseeing

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Remember that trip we took to Scotland & London around New Year's? Me neither, hardly! And I kept promising photos, but we only did York and Aberfeldy (wordful and wordless). I've still got to post about Edinburgh and London...

And we got just the incentive to do it, since Christina at Christina's Home and Travel Adventures is celebrating her 100th post with a sightseeing tour and fabulous giveaway!

And it just so coincides with IHeartFaces' Telling My Story: Vacation Edition on Monday! So let's get their little button in here so we can join that party, too!

Step into that time travel machine thingy with me, folks, and go back to January 3rd, 2009. Is that really me? What happened to all my hair?

That's the day we made the trek from Aberfeldy to Leeds via Edinburgh and Glasgow. Sound like a lot of driving? It was. Especially at the rate I drive.

So in order to get anywhere, I had to let someone else drive and then entertain myself in the back seat by trying to get my whole foot in my mouth.

And sucking on my dummy when I got bored with the bare trees whizzing by. I NEVER do that anymore. Bare my trees, that is.

We made a detour to Perth the night before. Hooray for Facebook! It let us connect with friends from South Africa now living in Scotland.

Here I am lying low with my new buddy Joshua.

Then on to Edinburgh. First the famous bridge...

And proof that I was there. See that bridge through the guardrails of OUR bridge? We were not worthy to go on the other bridge, you understand.

This is just an ordinary school. Imagine going to school in a building that fancy. It could be rather distracting.

We stopped at St. Paul's Cathedral. What a grand place! Think of the time it took to build, let alone to keep it maintained?

Here's the inside...

Mommy's always intrigued by the organs.

And here's Sir Walter Scott's pew.

More church stuff. There are loads of beautiful old churches to see, and the stained glass effect was gorgeous on this sunny day.

Here we are touring the cemeteries, which are also everywhere.

Here's imposing Edinbugh Castle, which dominates everything...

And a couple of other skyline shots...

The ferris wheel I never got to ride...

Ahh! Now I see the big attraction - the REAL Edinburgh Castle! Never mind that big castle-like thing up on the hill behind it.

My very favorite part of the whole trip...

Kilts for Father's Day, anyone? If Dad likes it, I'll take all the credit.

On to Glasgow for lunch and to visit some other friends from South Africa. Yeah for Facebook! Here's the guy who MC'd Mommy and Pappa's wedding - in front of his church plant.

And daughter Meghan, sharing grapes, or not...

Checking out the shoes!

Group hug before we leave - including her big brother...

Then the long drive to Leeds and the hospitality of Ms. Ruth and Mr. Aidan.

Yeah, we did it! Check off Edinburgh. Now we've only got the London episode left (unless you count Pappa's squash game in Leeds, which I won't).
There's not that much to see in London, so it can't be too difficult, right? 'Til next time...

Wordful Wednesday - Aberfeldy

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OK - now for the wordy part of our Aberfeldy experience! Yep, we got more photos for you (remember, we had to weed down from 20 zillion), and in this post, we're gonna talk about them!

First of all, here is the condo where we stayed at the Moness Country Club.
Here is the view out in front of our condo.


Here are the ducks or whatever kind of birds these are at the duck pond on the way to the front desk.

At the entry building, there was a play room just for kids my age! This was a great place to be when it was really cold outside and I didn't feel like riding in the car to go sightseeing.

Here is the center of Aberfeldy, the town where we stayed. Not a lot going on in the evenings, but then, it fits the peaceful tranquil environment, right?

And this was one of the highlights of my trip - discovering a black kitkat under the Christmas tree! If you look hard, you can see its shiny collar.

At Blair Castle, we took a very very long walk to get from the entry gate to the castle.

Almost there!

But it's all locked up and we can't get inside... One of the downsides of visiting Scotland in the winter instead of the summer. But we did get to tour the grounds. Here I am checking out a red deer.

And here's a family portrait of us on a bridge near the castle.

Here are Mommy and I at Lawers Pass.

And Pappa and I getting to ford a really big stream. It was SCARY!

In case you were wondering, this is what the band looks like at Aberfeldy center on New Year's Eve...
Oh, I also spent a lot of time cracking up in the back of the car...

And sucking on my toes when I wasn't taking pictures of my beautiful feet...
One of the cool things about Scotland is its access rights - people have non-motorized access to most of the outdoors, as long as they don't interfere with certain things like privacy and livelihood of land owners. It is definitely a great place to visit!

And don't think we're done going through the photos yet. We still have to get through Edinburgh and finally London...

For more Wordful Wednesday posts, visit:

Wordless Wednesday - Aberfeldy

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Miscellaneous photos of Scotland, mostly around Aberfeldy, taken December 29, 2008 - January 3, 2009. Most photos courtesy of Mr. Lynn B., our traveling companion and helper of carrying our zillion pieces of luggage...