Ferry crossing to Orkney and ancient places

The ferry crossing from Gills Bay to St. Margaret's Hope was perfectly timed with the sunset.

Ring of Brodgar, older than Stonehenge and far fewer tourists. We were all alone at sunrise!

Standing Stones of Stenness

Blue skies and puffy clouds!

Italian Chapel built by WWII Italian POWs. Very moving.

White, sandy beaches, anyone?

5,000-year-old Skara Brae.

View from inside Skaill House, built in early 1600s.

Fabulous library in the house.

There's this thing called the Brogh of Birsay, which is accessible by foot at low tide! We walked out a bit but didn't go all the way. 

All of this will be under water!

Next up, ferry back to the mainland and Loch Ness!

Culloden, Glenmorangie Distillery, and Dunrobin Castle

Greetings, from the Isle of Skye! Wifi is rather difficult to find, so thankfully our lunch spot has free (and fast!) access. 

We checked out of our Inverness B&B and stopped at Culloden Battlefield, where the Scottish Jacobite forces were crushed by the English. It's a solemn place, with the clan mass grave markings.

We were greeted by some hairy coos getting their breakfast.

For all you Outlander fans... 

Next up: Glenmorangie Distillery tour and tasting!

A wee dram of The Original. 

Because it's a working distillery with a lot of alcohol floating in the air, no photography was allowed. No electronics period were allowed to be on in order to not spark any flames. This is the closest I could get for pics of the stills!

Dunrobin Castle was aaaaaamazing!! 

Lee being swallowed by the dinosaur salad.

Next up, ferry crossing to the Orkneys!

Interim post!

Hi guys! Been busy busy busy and now our cottage on the west has no wifi. :( Checking in during lunch (yay for wi-fi fair use!).

No pictures right now, sorry!

St. Andrews & Inverness

Hi! Come along with Lee and me on our Epic Scotland Adventure.  Our travel day, Tuesday, couldn't have gone any more smoothly than it did. We were right on schedule, if not early, the entire day. We flew Aer Lingus from Chicago to Dublin, then hopped a puddle-jumper for the last leg to Edinburgh. We absolutely adored hearing the flight attendants' Irish accents. "Tanks a million." :) The in-flight meals were yummy, too! Unfortunately, the man in front of Lee pushed his seat back allll the way back for almost the entire flight, which was not very comfortable for Lee. 

Upon arrival in Edinburg, we waited for what seemed like 8 hours in the line at Hertz to get our car and then found out it would cost us an additional £120 (!) to have two drivers!! So, Lee lucked out and I'm the official driver. :) 

We escaped Hertz and Edinburg traffic and safely made our way to St. Andrews, exclaiming the entire time: "OH MY GOSH EVERYTHING IS SO PRETTY!!" We really couldn't have asked for better weather for our first day. Blue skies with puffy clouds, plenty of sunshine, & a light breeze.

I think I'd be happy calling this corner tower home...

First up: St. Andrews Castle! 

The sea was so lovely to listen to.  This staircase was a bit steep but with a nice sturdy guard rail at the bottom to halt any headlong falls to the rocky beach below.

Inside the ruins there were lots of signs saying "this may have been..." and "this was possibly used for..."

At the top of one wall, I couldn't pass up a picture with the sea in the background!  I had anticipated much cooler weather, not warm sunshine! 

Beautiful and ornate headstones, going back many centuries.

St. Andrews Cathedral is a ruin, clearly. Its size is staggering as it stands now, I can't imagine what it must have been like in its heyday. 

Seagull! Love them.

Exterior courtyard. 

We left the cathedral and found this little arched doorway along the sidewalk. Lee says Hi!

We stopped for a late lunch and some (hard) cider, sat outside, and had a nice chat with a Scottish couple who were visiting for the day. Nearly everyone we've encountered so far has been so friendly and chatty! 

Next we headed to Inverness to check in to our B&B, Ardentorrie Guesthouse. Very nice accommodations and more friendly, welcoming folks.  Dinner was at The Castle Tavern - lasagna and a pint of Guinness!  Afterward, we strolled along the River Ness to stretch our legs. 

Inverness Castle

Don't remember what his church is, aside from being prettily lit. :)

Good night from Inverness!

Countdown to Epic Scotland Trip

It's officially soon.  Very soon.  Check back over the next few weeks for new posts chronicling my adventures with Lee as we explore all that Scotland has to offer!