Scottish Adventure: 3rd Installment.

On Sunday we got up and had a delicious breakfast. Then we got ready and headed off to Edinburgh, for our last day in Scotland.

the b&b

April signing the guest book

i look like a fat drunk but i posted it for the memories.

Initially we has planned on making a stop in Glasgow, but no one, not even the Scots recommended that we stop there. So, we went ahead and cruised straight on through. 

The two things we wanted to do in Edinburgh were number one, get Taylor a kilt and number two, go to the Edinburgh Castle.

UNFORTUNATELY, we didn't get him kilt. But we did go to the castle.

the entrance to the castle.

the view from one of  the castle overlooks.

SWORDS

they were awesome.

my twin

all of those headstones are for DOGS. sad. but cute.

being naughty. don't look at my hair.

a park. but i'm not sure of the name.

the paparazzi after us again.

Kilts are actually, really expensive. 

So the castle was awesome, but really overwhelming because it was SO HUGE. After we were done (they were closed) we went into this Kilt weaving shop and it was pretty cool, Taylor bought a tie, so even though a kilt wasn't in the cards for us, we still got something. Then we had to head back down into England, where a hotel in Leeming Bar was awaiting our arrival. 

But we did get some cool cloudy coastal views on our drive.

So I suppose that concludes our Scottish adventure, but not necessarily our vacation (we stopped in York on Monday).

Someday we will definitely go back.

Scottish Adventure: 2nd Installment.

So before I jump right back into day 2. I thought I should give a general idea of our trip. We basically made a very crooked loop around the UK.

It was a lot of driving but because of mine and Taylor's planning skills, we stopped enough places that it actually didn't seem that bad.

So anyway, we got up on Saturday morning, stopped for breakfast and headed over to Caerlaverock castle (which we STILL don't know how to pronounce). The drive was a short 45 minutes away and it gave us a chance to really take in the landscape of the countryside. It was a gray and drizzly day, but we felt like it added to the experience. 

A church and graveyard outside of Gretna Green.

So we arrived at Caerlaverock and I was super stoked for this castle because it had a real moat, with actual water in it. No alligators though. :( 

If you're wondering, yes, I fell on my face after this.

I started this new trend of jumping up the chimneys. stay tuned for another.

So after, we explored the castle for a little bit, we headed over to:

THAT'S RIGHT! THREAVE! I was really amused but this name. If you haven't seen the SNL Jeopardy skit, click here. (you can skip to 5:00 to get to the threeve part.)

The cool part about Threave castle is that it's on an island, and you have to take a boat to get to it! So we did.

you have to take a ten minute walk on a trail to get there.

there were like 12 of these little guys inside the tower.

another chimney shot. they work a lot better for taller people.

this was a really big ordeal...

just to get this shot.

the boat ride

a slug.

So then after that adventure, my shoes were soggy and I was starvin. But to my dismay Taylor and April wanted to go see the Threave estate gardens across the road. and fortunately we were able to see the reception of a Scottish wedding. Kilts and all.

So finally we drove through the Galloway forest and headed to the coastal town of Ayr. It was about a 1.5 hour drive. We checked in at the B&B which was absolutely lovely:

Then we went into town and got dinner at a place called Vito's. On the menu they had a dish called Chicken Valdostana. Which blew Taylor and April's minds since they are from Valdosta, Georgia. So naturally Taylor ordered that dish to pay homage to his hometown. He said he wasn't disappointed.

After dinner we went back to the B&B to rest and watch/listen to the second session conference on April's iPod. It was real weird listening to it live at 8:30pm. But as always, it did not disappoint.

So, that was our Saturday. I'll write about Sunday tomorrow.

Scottish Adventure: 1st Installment.

This weekend, Taylor took off Monday at work and we ventured up north to Scotland.

Scotland is the red part. ;)

I've decided that since, we saw and did quite a lot of things that I would go ahead and break up the posts and give it to you day by day.

I absolutely LOVED Scotland. I thought it was so beautiful, and the Scots are so friendly. I love the kilts and the bagpipes and the castles and the landscape. I dare say, I loved it a little more than England. Something about the vibe there, it feels like a strong and rugged (but beautiful) kind of country.

I really wish that we could have traveled up into the highlands to Loch Ness and such, but alas, we were short on time and driving 11 hours to get somewhere to stay for one day, is a little much. BUT, I loved what we were able to see.

The first day, was nothing but driving. We were able to fully experience the extent of the horrible traffic that the Brits so often complain about. Taylor went to work early to get off at 2pm so we could make the 4.5 hour drive to our hotel in Gretna Green. To our dismay, the second we pulled onto the A34 we were stuck in a horrible traffic jam, that we later discovered was caused by a fender bender. It took it us ONE HOUR to drive 5 miles. That was quite the setback, and between the other pockets of congestion and stopping for dinner and potty breaks, we arrived at the Days INN 7.5 hours after we left.

There's not much to be said about the details of our road trip. However, there was a moment of "oh, that's why we're soul mates" when we stopped at a services exit [it's a type of rest stop off the motorways with stores, restaurants, gambling machines, and toilets]. April and I went into the girl toilets and Taylor to the boy toilets. He got done first so he was standing there waiting for us. There are no doors to the restrooms, they just have a long hallway sorta thing (kind of like at airports). Anyway, at the end of the hallway, they have some gumball type machines that have tampons, condoms, tic tacs, whatever. There was this one that I was staring at after I was finished, that had this weird/creepy chewable toothbrush, and it was only 20 pence, so I was like, MUST TRY. Well, low and behold Taylor was standing there waiting for us and saw me start to search my purse for change and knew what I was up to. He yelled my name and I turned around and he held up the little capsule and was like, "I already got you one, I knew you would want to try it."
It made me laugh.

Anyway, tune in tomorrow for the second installment of our Scottish adventure. And fret not, my tomorrow starts sooner than your tomorrow so it will be posted in no time. (Note how I am pretending that people read my blog. I'm cool.)

Here's a sensual picture of Taylor on the bed at the Days Inn to tide you over: