Today we left in the 9’oclock hour (9:58, not counting when I went back in to get the charger)… We went to the Quiraing and mostly avoided a down pour.
After the Quiraing we went to the Fairy Glen, which is notorious because they filmed the Teletubbies here. The Fairy Glen was pretty cool, but after this morning the pictures bar is set so high.
After dinner we walked around Portree and it’s a beautiful little town.
The day only got better from there. Next was Dunvegan castle.
The gardens at Dunvegan castle were amazing, but I am limiting my pics or this would get ridiculous. Next on the bucket list was the Old man of Storr.
Uhm, I’m so late today, but it was an amazing day and I was too tired to post yesterday. We started off the morning with a run through Inverness before we picked up our rental car. We got to ride a double decker to the airport
After picking up the rental car, we drove past loch Ness. We did get a great shot of the monster, but I’m not going to share it because it will ruin the mystery for you. George drove us to the ilse of sky. We stopped at Eilean Doran, a beautiful castle where 3 lochs meet, then we went straight to the fairy pools.
We started heading home and the day just got more and more beautiful. T we stopped at Sligachan old Bridge and took a short walk up the John Muir trail.
We started our day with a quick jaunt up to loch Morlich with Tim. I saw a reindeer as well, but it was not the one that ran over grandma on Christmas Eve (at least as far as I know).
After the biking trip and a quick shower we let Scotrail take us to Inverness
After dropping out bags we got pizza at Black Isle brewery.
Today was the last long day for biking. It was almost a false start, but Scott from Scotland (shout out to Ravenscraig of Aviemore) really saved the day by dropping the biking shoes after the ‘oh shit, I forgot my shoes’ moment. He raced up the hill , a good 15 minute trek to deliver the goods. After that, all was well.
We stopped in Granton on Spey for lunch. And then road across the Spey Bridge outside Grantown on Spey
Next we stopped for a beverage in Boat of Garten and another highland coo before our delicious dinner with the girls. I was starving.
Started today with better than expected weather. And the rainy weather we had, was short and came with a whisky shots from locals. (More on those nice Scots later).
George woke up at 3:15 because the light was shining in the window and we both wondered,when does the sun rise (maybe it never really sets in Scotland on the summer solstice). I fought through the sunlight and managed to sleep again till 830. We had more eggs and local salmon/ lox for breakfast. After bfast we wandered through town and started day three of the cycling tour around 10:30.
At this point in our trip, I needed to pee and ventured off to look at the bridge and find a nice quiet spot while George and Tim (our riding companion) went ahead.
I turned on the turbo to catch up. But Tim was waiting for me in the road and said we were taking a pit stop for the rain. Wherein the 90 year old Scottish local not only gave us shelter from the rain, but also whisky.
The rain subsided and we ventured towards kingussie for lunch stopping at the ruthven barracks and pics of more highland coos.
Today we almost slept through bfast. The sun goes to sleep late and gets up early. You have to get it dark to sleep and if you get it dark you might just continue sleeping. We made it to bfast with 2 minutes to spare, then packed up our gear for a great bike ride. We are in the Cairngorm national park. All these pictures following are from around Aviemore.
At this point we were hungry and thirsty and the girls saved us a spot while we got showered. I had my first sticky toffee pudding.
Mostly a travel day, but we did get a great first rainy ride in. The train ride was about 3 hours through the Scottish Highlands. We arrived a we bit early, but grabbed a pint got some lunch and went for a beautiful ride.
After check in we got outfitted for a ride and took one. Look at this beautiful scenery (in the rain no less).
Today we got up early and went for a walk before meeting the girls at the castle. There were crazy people racing the 7 hills of Edinburgh.
We left the castle looking for fish and chips, but got turned down for a seat but our replacement Sammy lunch was fantastic. I got a smoked trout sandwich. Yummy! George ate haggis and black pudding. Ewe but he gets points for trying it.
Next we hiked Arthur’s seat which is right outside Edinburgh. It was great and I even got a 15 minute power nap at the top.
At this point we were very thirsty, but first stop was procuring chocolate cake. After cake we grabbed a beer at this cleverly named pub. (Can you see the noose?)
The fourth attempt at fish and chips today was successful.
Our last stop was at a costumed tour about the buried city called Mary kings close. A close is just a tiny alley street. Several got buried in around 1600 to build the royal exchange. Now, they give tours and you leave glad that you weren’t alive in the 1500s. Plagues and more different plagues which puts COVID into perspective. You can’t take pictures so here’s a link.
Joined to with Sadira, Cora and Helena today
We met up with Helena at the airport. We didn’t realize that there were 2 international terminals and the anticipated reunion was even more climatic. Since our flight was delayed our fish and chips lunch happened after 2 pm.
We also found the beautiful park that used to be a lake until it was drained in the 1700s. Then we grabbed a beer and met up with a bridal party who apparently are going to name their first born after Cora. We recommended some absolute tunes and the mother of the bride did a wee bit of Scottish translation for us.
It’s about the Journey….
spending all my money in all the best ways
Roll On
Roll On
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