Honeymooning in Scotland

This was such an amazing trip! We stayed in Edinburgh for a few days and walked an average of 8 miles each day (using this guide book). We stayed in a quirky hotel...our room was in the basement and we have to go up, down, and across this huge house to get to it. It was the smallest room I've ever stayed in!

But the breakfasts there were good. And Edinburgh was gorgeous. You can feel its history when you're there.

Then we went to Stirling by train for a couple of days. This is an old industrial city that gets a huge kick from tourism...especially since Braveheart came out! It was so funny...we heard about Mel Gibson from just about every tour guide there...and then we got home and he was all over the news here too! Couldn't escape him.

Our hotel was lovely in Stirling...big and en suite with wonderful windows. It used to be an boys' school and the building was so pretty.

Then we took a long train ride northwest to the Isle of Skye, which is so pure and feels so untouched. There's not a lot to do, which was fine by us...we spent a lot of time outside in the fresh air. We visited the Serpentarium, ate the freshest fish and chips, visited a yarn store and a used book store, took a (very scary) bus ride to a neighboring town and hiked through a beautiful forest, got rained on more often than not, spent time looking for shells and otters, and took many, many walks from our B&B to the center of Broadford.

By the end of our time in Skye, we were ready to be home, with our own kitchen and our boys.

We took the train back down to Edinburgh, ate some pizza, bought some books (Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince for me), and spent our last night in this amazing, vaulted ceiling hotel room.

When we landed back in New Jersey, the flight attendant said the local temperature was 99 degrees...and I swear to you, we almost didn't get off the plane. We were actually cold at some points in Scotland, especially up in Skye. We prefer rainy, cool summers over heat any day!

The people in Scotland were all very nice and connected with their history and their country. And we thought about our families a lot. The food, the history, the scenery...everything reminded us of the people we love. So now, when we win the lottery, we'll take a big group trip to Scotland!

I've peppered some pictures throughout the post, but have the rest on Flickr (along with stories/descriptions...I tried to get everything down, but it's still a work in progress, so bear with me!) This is my first experience with Flickr, so I hope it works out...if you have any trouble seeing the pictures or if you have any questions, let me know. I'm linking to the Scotland collection, which is a collection of 8 sets.

Love, T.