After three years of marriage, Ben and I have finally been to the third nation on the island of Great Britain together!
A few weeks ago, I would have told you that this was my first ever trip to Scotland. My elder sister, Charly, dispelled this build-up-to-mass-hysteria quite well by telling me that I have, in fact, visited Scotland before aged about two years. My bubble was burst, though she has yet to produce photographic evidence so really it's a matter of trusting her or my own (lack of) memory. So I've chosen to dub this my Second First Trip to Scotland.
On our way up we made it to the Preston Temple. We try and go to the temple every anniversary to take part in sealing ordinances on behalf of our ancestors - we stand proxy so they can have the same marriage covenant that we have. It's our way of paying it forward for the blessing of another year of marriage. It was wonderful to go up there and as my sister and her husband live in Chorley we had a great opportunity to see them (at least for a little bit!).
After that it was a quick drive up the M6/A74 and, after a momentary stop off at Gretna Green, we reached Perth. (Not Australia). We'd had the foresight to order our shopping for the week (and we took our slow cooker - AMAZING!) so we picked that up and then went in search of the flat. Having booked on airbnb for the first time, I had no idea how this was going to go. All I knew was that the instructions for getting the key sounded a lot like the instructions a spy might be given when trying to find the right person at a meeting place. Ben had been practicing "the owls are flying in daylight" and other such likely statements that might provoke someone to hand us a key. Fortunately it turned out to be much more straightforward - who knew people were so trusting? Right time, right place - no code word required. Sorted.
We dropped off our stuff, had something to eat and went to explore Perth.
Perth is Scotland's seventh city and is on the banks of the River Tay. It's small and quaint and full of churches and interesting buildings - an ideal candidate for an evening stroll. After church the following day we ventured a bit further - across the river and up Kinnoul Hill for views like these:
One of the things we enjoyed most about Scotland is that while I was marveling at these things, Ben could be getting equal joy from looking at something like this:
Consequently, I kept singing "Pave the World" (similar to Michael Jackson's "Heal the World") in loving mockery. I think he appreciated the unspoiled beauty that we got to see too... as long as he had internet access.
For the day of our anniversary (three years n.o.!) we went into Edinburgh. As I hadn't been to Edinburgh before Ben took full control over the events and planning of this day. I'm usually the person who wants to know what's happening every minute but I knew Ben had it all under control and it made the day so much fun.
Being my first time in Edinburgh, we had to visit the castle.
Some of which felt a little like work:
Then, of course, there were all of these tributes to William Wallace. All of Scotland's National heroes are people who were successful in fending off English attacks. I say successful... I guess anyone who has seen the end of Braveheart can here have their own little reflection on what success means. Either way, I see wonderful depictions like this and feel the same way as I feel when I see Jean D'Arc on French national monuments. "Yeah... uh... well... sorry about that!"
We decided to go and see a comedy stand-up act. The great thing about it was being able to pick the rating of what we saw - I worry about live comedy! The Fringe website was helpful in selecting something child-friendly so I was able to take Ben. Haha!
On the way to that, we stopped by to see The rammed-full-of-american-tourists Elephant House. It's hard to imagine Harry Potter being written there now. Unless the back room was entirely sound-proofed. And the person writing had waited the hours it took to get in the door. Business was certainly booming - we stayed outside!
Our next intention was to climb Arthur's Seat. Having neither the correct footwear or really the inclination to think about it too thoroughly, it wasn't too surprising to either of us when we realised that we had, instead, climbed the foothill in front of it. We now claim that the views are better - who even wants to go to Arthur's actual Seat anyway? We had a genuinely great hour overlooking the city from our slightly-less-elevated view point.
Note that Ben was wearing a t-shirt and was still smiling at this point:
It didn't last!
Fortunately Ben saved the day by taking us on driving tour of the Cairngorms National Park. Which was out-of-this-world beautiful. Again - plenty for him and plenty for me. So while he marveled at roads and ski-resorts and navigated around sheep; I got to see hills, rivers and stone bridges. A happy way to spend a soggy afternoon!
We dropped off our stuff, had something to eat and went to explore Perth.
Perth is Scotland's seventh city and is on the banks of the River Tay. It's small and quaint and full of churches and interesting buildings - an ideal candidate for an evening stroll. After church the following day we ventured a bit further - across the river and up Kinnoul Hill for views like these:
One of the things we enjoyed most about Scotland is that while I was marveling at these things, Ben could be getting equal joy from looking at something like this:
Consequently, I kept singing "Pave the World" (similar to Michael Jackson's "Heal the World") in loving mockery. I think he appreciated the unspoiled beauty that we got to see too... as long as he had internet access.
For the day of our anniversary (three years n.o.!) we went into Edinburgh. As I hadn't been to Edinburgh before Ben took full control over the events and planning of this day. I'm usually the person who wants to know what's happening every minute but I knew Ben had it all under control and it made the day so much fun.
Being my first time in Edinburgh, we had to visit the castle.
Some of which felt a little like work:
Then, of course, there were all of these tributes to William Wallace. All of Scotland's National heroes are people who were successful in fending off English attacks. I say successful... I guess anyone who has seen the end of Braveheart can here have their own little reflection on what success means. Either way, I see wonderful depictions like this and feel the same way as I feel when I see Jean D'Arc on French national monuments. "Yeah... uh... well... sorry about that!"
Walking down the Royal Mile at this time of year is a 'unique' experience. To be frank, it's full of freaks and weirdos. No doubt, lots of very talented people were contributing to the general hubbub but overall it was just a bit of an eclectic mix - from pompous Edwardians extending an invitation to partake in their revelry ("classy crap, anyone?") to genuinely terrifying deranged zombies shocking people into submission.
We decided to go and see a comedy stand-up act. The great thing about it was being able to pick the rating of what we saw - I worry about live comedy! The Fringe website was helpful in selecting something child-friendly so I was able to take Ben. Haha!
On the way to that, we stopped by to see The rammed-full-of-american-tourists Elephant House. It's hard to imagine Harry Potter being written there now. Unless the back room was entirely sound-proofed. And the person writing had waited the hours it took to get in the door. Business was certainly booming - we stayed outside!
Our next intention was to climb Arthur's Seat. Having neither the correct footwear or really the inclination to think about it too thoroughly, it wasn't too surprising to either of us when we realised that we had, instead, climbed the foothill in front of it. We now claim that the views are better - who even wants to go to Arthur's actual Seat anyway? We had a genuinely great hour overlooking the city from our slightly-less-elevated view point.
Scotland's weather kept us constantly on our toes. On Tuesday morning we woke up to a reasonably nice day and decided to go out for a short work at The Hermitage. It was so pretty and nice!
Note that Ben was wearing a t-shirt and was still smiling at this point:
Fortunately Ben saved the day by taking us on driving tour of the Cairngorms National Park. Which was out-of-this-world beautiful. Again - plenty for him and plenty for me. So while he marveled at roads and ski-resorts and navigated around sheep; I got to see hills, rivers and stone bridges. A happy way to spend a soggy afternoon!
It was deliciously bleak!
The weather the next day did almost exactly the same thing - when we were at Stirling Castle in the morning it was glorious.
At Loch Lomond (after visiting The Hill House - I love Mackintosh!) in the afternoon, it was a different story. We believe there is a loch there somewhere but saw no evidence of it.
The weather the next day did almost exactly the same thing - when we were at Stirling Castle in the morning it was glorious.
At Loch Lomond (after visiting The Hill House - I love Mackintosh!) in the afternoon, it was a different story. We believe there is a loch there somewhere but saw no evidence of it.
We, again, took a driving tour. That became sort of the theme of the week.
Thursday stayed mainly dry for us so we were able to see fish jump at Pitlochry, enjoy another walk near Blair Atholl and then went off to see Bruar Falls and Queen's View.
Thursday stayed mainly dry for us so we were able to see fish jump at Pitlochry, enjoy another walk near Blair Atholl and then went off to see Bruar Falls and Queen's View.
Our final full day in Scotland was the day that Ben was most excited about. Ben is an avid fan of just about every sport under the sun. He talks knowledgeably about teams and games as well as excitedly being able to talk about just about any place where sporting feats are accomplished all over the world. I was trying to understand just exactly what it was about St Andrews that was so appealing to him but apparently it had something to do with men hitting a little white ball with a stick into a hole a long way away. (shrug!) Again, we both enjoyed the place but probably for different reasons!
St Andrews is a beautiful place! Definitely would plan on going back there at some point.
That concludes our tales from our Scottish adventure. It was a lovely, restful week full of conversations and fun. Exactly what the doctor ordered!
