Two Travelers, a Girl and a Lad: Scotland!

Scotland was our next leg of the journey.

Day 1 of Scotland (mostly getting there)

From Stranraer (Stranroar), we trained from what seemed like a deserted train station (until 5 min before the train when about 20 people showed up). The birds were nesting everywhere and it was eerie hearing their claws all over the building. The train showed up on time and we happily hopped on!

We trained over to the Falkirk wheel (see two above photos),

then up to Edinburgh (Edin-burra) and spent four nights in the same hostel. That was a fun way to see the city and not have packs.

***trip highlight: hiking to the top of Holyrood Park and overlooking Edinburgh city. Such a different view of the city than staying on the Royal Mile. ***

The pic below is Elinor in a cave in Holyrood Park.

Day 2 of Scotland (Edinburgh)

we walked around the Royal Mile, did some tourist things, played at playgrounds, went thrift (charity) shopping, saw some Cathedrals and Museums and gardens.

At some point we hiked up to Holyrood Park.

There is a neat "castle" ruins up at the top. St Anthony's chapel... so Elinor didn't count it in the castle count she is keeping.

Day 3 of Scotland

Edinburgh Zoo

Bernard's choice was to see the Edinburgh Zoo. So we spent the day looking, searching and seeing animals. some where hard to spot (and never saw them), some were findable and some where easy. It was a great zoo, since it allowed the animals to do that. I get that it made people bummed but it let the animal have its space. I don't know if all zoos do that.

***Trip highlight: spotting our first highland coo***

Elinor's goal for the trip was to see Highland Cows. Beautifully the Edinburgh Zoo had two! our first sighting.

Bernard really wanted to see Pallas's Cat Akiko . We went twice and missed him both times. One of the times a worker said he's actually quite hard to spot and when Akiko sees humans he freezes and then hides. edinburghzoo.org.uk/animals/animal-inhabitants/pallass-cat

King Penguin Sir Olav Nils. .. only knighted penguin in the world... going thru a molt and looking shabby.

***trip highlight for Bernard: seeing the penguins***

Day 4 of Scotland: Edinburgh Castle day!

Bernard's goal was to see the One-oclock gun at the Edinburgh Castle. We got to watch it blast! BOOM!

More of Edinburgh Castle in the following photos. (we took over 150 on just Nicole's phone, so it was hard to pick just the best ones but here are some)

Mary Queen of Scots immortalized in a stained glass window of a private prayer chapel

Happy 14th birthday Elinor!

Day 5 of Scotland

We left Edinburgh and trained to Dundee for a museum, and Perth for a meal. then Inverness.

Dinner at Hootenany

New base camp AirBnB. trip highlight! a clothes washing machine!

Day 6 of Scotland

We spent the day training "west" to the Isle of Skye. The train ride was once again beautiful countryside. End destination was Kyle of Lochalsh.

This area had more mountains (short ones), and as we got closer to the coast started to feel a LITTLE like coastal Alaska. Not quite the same but a little. When we arrived in Kyle of Lochalsh, it was rainy and windy. whump wump.

So we paid for a taxi to drive us to the trailhead of Castle Moil ruins. So worth it.

The hike was fun. the castle was fun. the views were fun. the wind was even fun. (thankfully it stopped raining at some point). We allowed ourselves the time and space to have a little wilderness freedom. And we SOAKED our shoes!

***trip highlight: hiding from the blasting wind while sitting next to castle ruins***

Day 7 of Scotland

This day we attempted to sleep in, and ate a breakfast we made at the AirBnB. Then we packed our day bag for an adventure day. We:

hiked to the lochs. and got to see them in action!

went to the Inverness Botanical Garden (and took this fun family photo)

played at a huge playground

walked along River Ness and to the Ness Islands

passed distilleries, and stores

saw a fun Highland Coo statue

***trip highlight for Elinor: finally finding the right color and thickness of tweed***

Day 8 of Scotland

We trained north to Thurso and Wick. Thurso is the Northern most train station in Scotland! We passed so much highland countryside. It was beautiful. and a long train ride to be honest. (longer really on the way back).

Sooo many lambs! There are 6 million sheep in Scotland (And only 5 million people)

In Wick, we walked to the edge of town to find the Castle of Old Wick!

Turns out Wick castle is ruins on a cliffside. still so pretty!

This is the cliffside of the castle.

After we had our time with Wick Castle ruins, we toured the town, caught a distillery, found the gunness book of workld records shortest street, snagged some bakery goods, then trained back to Thurso.

In Thurso, we did a small jaunt to THIS castle ruins. Turns out they are privately owned but beach access is allowed, so we spent a little time seaside.

Back at the trainstation just in time so we didn't miss the last train outta there!

Goodbye Thurso, you were a cute town. We didn't spend enough time, but we got to be there if for a moment.

We saw some colorful countryside on the way back through the Highlands.

What else?

hmm

yes! We caught a sleeper train from Inverness to London Euston! That was a fun experience. Once in a lifetime really- which is fun since they've already emailed me asking for feedback and wondering if I'd do the train again. Which made me wonder how many customers are one time- just a funny thing to think about.