Our UK Adventure

Although this blog is really about the kids, I thought that our recent vacation was worth a post even if there are no pictures of Jake and Allie anywhere to be found!

After the long flight we found our hotel in the Notting Hill area and I got to chill out while Alex had a couple of business meetings with London prospects. After that we had our mandatory first fish-n-chips and a pint before heading out to visit with Alex's Aunt Helen.

She made a lovely shabbat dinner and we had a great night with her. The only bad thing is that we had such a good time that we forgot to take any pictures. 

Saturday was our big tourist day in London.

Yes, chocolate crepes for breakfast!

We couldn't resist these superhero signs for our little superheros bedroom wall!

Alex got nostalgic when he saw the classic toy soldiers that his dad used to collect. We got a whole history lesson about the different eras of soldiers we saw.

Something else Alex always heard about from his dad's childhood in London, cricket player cards. 

After the market we made our way to Hamleys Toy Shop. I think Alex has visited on every trip he's ever taken to London so he wasn't going to miss out especially with little ones to buy for and he would have bought the whole store out if I'd have let him or we had the suitcase space! The "Finest Toy Shop in the World" has been around for over 250 years and was pretty impressive and well worth the stop!

Hamleys amazing lego creations! Iron man was specifically taken for Jake!

2012 was the 50th anniversary of James Bond so they (still) had a huge display celebrating Bond, James Bond. 

Even though Hamley's had history we headed to The British Museum for a bit more (and older) history.

The main foyer of the museum is impressive!

Ramessess II

The old London phone booths are still around although no one really uses them to make calls. However, you can add time to your phone card or connect to the internet inside the booth.

We booked the champagne excursion for the London Eye because it sounded nice and romantic but really because it meant that we didn't have to stand in line! 

And we even made a friend...those of you "Days of our Lives" or "The Biggest Loser" fans may recognize Alison Sweeney in the white shirt and red pants.

And have I mentioned the view? Impressive. 

After we saw Harrod's (Meh) we had dinner and a long but lovely walk back to our hotel through Hyde Park. 

Sunday we headed to Scotland via the train. It was a lovely ride aided by wi-fi and a bottle of wine. 

Once we got to Edinburgh and we checked in to our hotel we explored the old city of Edinburgh and walked the Royal Mile. 

Alex says this is just like our house at home!

We couldn't resist!

The next day we headed out for our 3-day tour of the Isle of Skye with Rabbies Tours. It was a small group of 16 plus our driver.
  

Day 1
The first day of our tour started off with seeing Doune Castle, near the village of Doune, built in the 13th century. 

After lunch in Fort Williams and a wee coffee (we had a lot of those) we headed to Killen. Killen is a village on Loch Tay (by the way there is something like 30,000 Lochs aka lakes in Scotland) and is homes to the Falls of Dochart. 

We got our first glimpse of the Ben Nevis Mountains and some absolutely amazing scenery. 

Despite the wet weather it was amazing being there and seeing the lush greens and the mountains. This area is near where they filmed quite a bit of the Harry Potter films and also the end of Skyfall! 

We stayed in Portree in a little B&B right on Loch Portree. Portree is the largest town on the Isle of Skye. 

Our view 

That night we explored the town and the harbor before finding dinner. 

We had dinner at the Bosville Hotel, the white buildings above closest to the water. Love the plaid and the stacked wood behind me. Very cozy spot!

The view from our room at 11:30 pm! It was crazy how late it stayed light!

Day 2
Our second day of the tour was by far our favorite. Lots of different stops and the cranky Norwegians decided to do their own thing so everyone on the bus was happy to be there. 

The weather was beautiful so we spent lots of time out of the van and hiking around. We started out heading north of Portree to the Trotternish ridge which is famous for its spectacular cliffs and rock formations including --the Old Man of Storr, the sea cliffs and Kilt Rock and the mountain pass of the Quiraing. The scenery was amazing! 

I can't remember for the life of me what this is but I loved it so much!

I love this one!

We spent some time in the area known as Staffin or An Taobh Sear in Gaelic which translates to "the East Side" and is on the northeast coast of Skye. It is also the previous home to quite a few dinosaurs (I got really excited about this with all my dinosaur knowledge thanks to Jake!) probably small ornithopods. 

Amazingly we also found some dawgs in Staffin! I don't know why I'm surprised, dawgs find Alex everywhere!

This is Kilt Rock one of the many rock formations in the area. 

The coast line did remind me a bit of the Oregon coast with the dramatic rocks and the water was equally as cold!

Next we went towards Dunvegan and stopped to see the ruins St. Mary's Church. Part of the reason we stopped here was that one of the guys on the trip was able to trace his ancestors to this area and to this cemetery. 

View of St. Mary's 

There is quite a bit of mythology in Scottish history including much about fairies. The fairy pools of Glenbrittle are part of that lore. They're supposed to almost light up with color and in the fall the trees bloom purple. However we didn't see it that way, maybe the fairies were also on vacation. 

Just a few more amazing shots (not necessarily identifiable) from day 2.

 

That night we went with another couple from the tour to what our tour guide told us was a beer garden but was more like a nice garden with a pretty amazing view the mountains.

The gardens at Marmalade Hotel & Restaurant 

Day 3 We were fairly done by day 3 and were ready to get back to Edinburgh. That said, we did see a few of our favorite things on day 3. 

I loved visiting the Eilean Donnen Castle. It's situated on a wooded island where three lochs meet it is one of the most visited attractions in the highlands. The first fortified castle was built in the mid 13th century and since then, at least four different versions of the castle have been built and re-built. Alex was also very excited to know that the castle was the set of the movie Highlander. 

No pictures inside the castle but I managed to get this one.

We visited Loch Ness (nope, we didn't see Nessie) and the town of Fort Augustus for lunch. I was actually quite surprised at how nice it was. I was expecting neon everywhere saying "buy tourist crap here" but it was super cute. 

Loch Ness

Alex's favorite of the day was definitely an impromptu visit to the Dawlwinnie Distillery.

See how happy he is!

Thursday was our Edinburgh tourist day. We started with the Edinburgh Castle which is not just one building but more of a city. We took a quick tour of the castle and then explored a bit more on our own. In addition seeing different rooms in the castle there are a number of individual museums celebrating more Scottish history and honoring branches of the military. 

After the castle we headed to the Scotch Whiskey Experience, which hopes to be a Disneyland-type ride through the whiskey making process. After a barrel ride led by a hologram distillery ghost we went through a tasting and some additional history. 

The highlight, besides actually kind of liking what I tasted, was the museums collection of over 3,500 individual bottles of Scotch Whiskey, the largest collection in the world. 

The collection came from a South American man who donated his collection to the museum, so it could return "home." Some of the bottles were absolutely amazing!

After some lunch we took a bus tour around town to learn a bit more about Edinburgh and its history. We ended up with a wonderful guide and really loved the tour. 

Below our tour guide tells us about King Arthur's seat in Hollyrod Park. 

Views of the Edinburgh Castle from lower ground and more of both old and new Edinburgh. 

The coffee shop, The Elephant's House, where J.K. Rowland wrote most of the first Harry Potter book. 

We found an adorable little hidden street that looked like it was always in the middle of some kind of festival and a fun dinner there. We probably could have spent another couple of days in Edinburgh but we were ready to head to St. Andrews for the real purpose of our trip. 

We took the train to just outside of St. Andrews that morning and Gordon was nice enough to pick us up and take us to the Fairmont where we were staying. The Fairmont was beautiful and after some of the very small rooms we had had (especially in London) this felt like quite a treat. We checked into our lovely room and walked over to the clubhouse on the beautiful and world famous golf course for lunch.

The view of the Fairmont from the club house. This picture doesn't even do it justice.

We headed into St. Andrews for the wedding rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. Alex was signing the marriage certificate (think ketubah) as one of their witnesses and that takes place during the actual service. Together with some family friends from Austin, Melissa and Gordon rented the most adorable little cottage (is a 5 bedroom house a cottage?) right across the street from the church. 

The happy couple!

The rehearsal dinner was very nice with mostly just the wedding party and Gordon's parents best friends who were all so nice.

With the bride-to-be 

After we got kicked out by Gordon's mum, we went for a few drinks at Gordon's old hangouts. After that we headed back to the Fairmont with Gordon's lovely best man, Iain and his girlfriend Danielle for more fun! Meeting and getting to know them really was one of my favorite parts!

Saturday was Gordon & Melissa's big day! We spent the morning enjoying the Fairmont before getting ready and a pre-wedding drink with Danielle. 

The wedding ceremony was held at the beautiful St. Salvator's Chapel on the campus of the University of St. Andrews. 

Alex looked so handsome but I'd love to see him wearing a kilt!

The wedding party

Gordon gives his toast

They brought the American photo booth to Scotland

One of the most amazing things about the wedding was the traditional Ceilidh dancing. In my opinion, it puts the hora to shame. I'd say I kept up but I can't say much beyond that. 

I was also impressed with how long the wedding went. The ceremony started at 3 (I believe) and we didn't get back to the Fairmont (bar, not room) until after midnight. Back at the Fairmont we were able to celebrate a bit more with Mr. & Mrs. Kennedy and their wonderful friends! 

The next day we saw a bit of St. Andrews and then headed back to Edinburgh with Iain & Danielle who were kind enough to take us back. And then we headed to the airport the next day to come back to Austin.

We had such a wonderful trip and are thankful for the time together just the two of us! We're also so glad that Melissa & Gordon decided to get married in Scotland and incredibly grateful to Mimi and Bubba for coming to stay with the kids! And I'm especially thankful for Alex who was insistent that we take this trip and was a wonderful traveling companion!