Thursday, July 21, 2011

First 2 Days in Scotland: Cars and Castles!

So we arrived in Scotland, took a taxi to pick up our car...and despite our attempts to pack lightly, we didn't pack our bags in the right shape to fit in the "boot" of our car. So...we borrowed a Bentley instead!

We arrived at our beautiful hotel, the Dalmahoy, and it looks like a small castle, complete with a view of the putting greens out the window and a chandelier in our room!



We spent the rest of the day walking around Edinburgh: Andy tried STRONG coffee at a local cafe, we visited the Surgeons Hall Museum (depicts the history of various surgical methods...crazy stuff!), and of course, Edinburgh Castle.


Day 2:
We were able to trade out the Bentley for the Jag! And then off to a day of driving around the Scottish countryside...absolutely beautiful. We visited Stirling Castle which had beautiful views and then drove through the Trossachs National Park. We ran into a 'wee bit of rain' (and sometimes a LOT) on and off around Loch Lomond so we had to put the 'hood' up. Andy had to now look through the windshield instead of over it! We braved the major highways through Glasgow and finished the loop back to our hotel where we're resting up to prepare for another day of driving tomorrow!

Here is a picture of picking up the E-Type. Matt, the guy who taught me how to drive this 56 year old vehicle, said people must have been shorter in the 60's. I would DEFINITELY agree with that. Cramped is an understatement.

The car is MUCH more comfortable with the hood down. Just watch out for bugs.

Brienne loves this picture, she is still getting used to seeing a ring on my finger. So am I actually.







Just for reference, the Jag's window is so small they needed to add a third wiper. The individual blades are no more than 12 or 14 inches long, probably less....and they STILL are what I would call barely adequate in a mild rain. This car was most definitely not built for Scotland.





Loch Lomond was and is beautiful. Tomorrow, if the weather holds, we will be off to St. Andrews (no I won't be playing golf there), Aberdeen and Aviemore. Should be fun!!

4 comments:

  1. looks like y'all are having a great time...i'm jealous for driving bentleys and jags! miss you guys already, and looking forward to the next visit to nh.

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  2. Scotland looks beautiful. Thanks for taking the time to post pics and updates! Enjoy the rest of your trip.
    --Deborah

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  3. Looks like you're having a good time! Daddy is jealous of the jag!!

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  4. The girls' love the pictures. We have practiced saying Edinburgh the "right" way as we researched videos of the city on line. Mike freaked out over the car (that is an understatement) and was literally petting the screen. The girls like the castles too and after looking at some of the pictures from Edinburgh castle they wanted to make sure that you didn't get stuck in the prisoner's room. Sounds like you are having a wonderful time. Thanks for sharing your experiences and pictures!

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