11th May – Blair’s – St Andrews – Edinburgh
We travelled south
through the lush countryside of Aberdeenshire to visit Glamis castle (the
legendary setting of Macbeth) the childhood home of the late queen mother. It was impressive as we drove the long driveway. The volunteer guides showed us around the castle & once again you were not allowed to take photos. So far this is the most ornate castle with so many treasures & so much history.
|
Outside of the castle |
|
Highland cattle calf |
This time I have photos of the Highland Cattle up close & personal in the grounds of Glamis Castle. This big guy was very friendly & came right up to me. I could see eyelashes that most of us can only dream of, but I still felt like I wanted to cut his fringe.
|
The old kitchen now the cafe |
The only place we could take photos inside was the cafe so here is one of the old stoves & implements used to cook for the occupants which could be over 100 at times with all the servants.
|
Glamis castle |
Driving across the modern Tay Bridge was exciting it is a rather weird looking bridge with a lot of water to cross. The bus was caught in traffic so we had a good look. Pauline our tour guide surprised us with some rather mighty music from star wars perfectly timed to build momentum as we drove across.
The
highlight of the Scottish trip for me – “St Andrews the Home of Golf”. We visited the famous Royal and ancient
clubhouse, the Museum of Golf and the old course then Sharon and I bought some lunch and took off
across the path through the golf course in the rain to settle under a shelter
and have our lunch and view the crazy golfers teeing off in the pouring
rain. We got some fabulous photos on the
famous bridge where Jack Nicolas finished his great golfing career.
|
King of Golf |
|
I dream one day of being good enough to hold the cup any cup |
|
I am never going to be as crazy as these people & play in this weather |
|
Crossing the driving range yes Johnny did get a ball in the foot lucky not the head |
|
The famous Bridge at St Andrews |
From here we drove south into Edinburgh –
Scotland’s capital city. The weather was very wet, cold & windy as we were shown around the town by bus.
That evening we took
a tour of Edinburgh’s hidden gems before sitting down to some wholesome Italian
food at the waterside restaurant in Leith where we danced and had a few cool
drinks listening to a local Ceilidh band.
We retired to the Macdonald Holyrood hotel for the night
|
The beautiful lights at the ceilidh |
|
More wine all that dancing makes you thirsty |
|
Our two canadian friends |
|
Leaving for the night wearing the new cardigan it was so cold |