Yello!

The family just returned from 11 days in Scotland. I think we may have found the most beautiful place on earth…but then, I just thought that until I saw the next most beautiful place…so now I’m not sure. Anyway, we did enjoy the sights of Scotland. We spent a week at Delgatie, an ancient castle associated with the Hay clan near the small town of Turriff in Aberdeenshire, northeast Scotland. We ventured away from the castle each day testing our driving skills and seeing such sights as Loch Ness, Scotland’s coast along the North Sea, the Scottish Highlands and Balmoral (the Queen’s vacation home), The Glenlivet whisky distillery, and the cities of Aberdeen and Inverness. The kids were pretty pumped that we got to see the new Simpsons movie on opening day in Aberdeen (six hours before their friends back home even!). After our week’s stay, we took in the Highland Games at Dufftown before staying one night at Fort Augustus just south of Loch Ness. We drove over to the beautiful Isle of Skye on the western coast of Scotland before heading southeast to Edinburgh. There we spent a day shopping and catching a glimpse of the imposing Edinburgh castle, the Royal Mile, and the nearby monument at Stirling in honor of Scottish hero William Wallace, as portrayed in Braveheart. A few things we learned included how many twists and turns there are on the roads in Scotland and exactly how efficient round-abouts are. We also found out that most restaurants and public toilets close at 5 pm in small Scottish towns. I loved the beautiful wild flowers, expecially the purple thistles which are a national symbol of Scotland. The people were especially friendly and we had a great time. What a trip!