Another rainy day - even the locals say they have never had such a cold rainy summer. Nigel provided us with a delicious breakfeast feast this morning - black pudding, mealy pudding, sausages, baked beans eggs and potato scones. So with this fortifying breakfeast under our belts we all headed out for a day of sightseeing and scotch tasting about 1.5 hours north of Edinburgh in a town called Pitlochry. This is the home of our favourite distillery Edradour. We aslo had a fabulous lunch at the Auld Smitty where we have eaten several times before and were happy to introduce Lori & Nigel to their delicious menu. After some shopping in this quaint little town we headed several miles down the road to Stanley Mills an old mill house that had a collection of cotton ... read more

Because of our high speed race back from the cottage we were slightly late arriving at the airport for our flight to Scotland. We made it by 7:15 only to be greeted by a huge line-up (probably over 100 people) already lined up for check-in. Luckily I had spent $50 per person for Elite + upgrade which allowed us to line up in the upgrade lineup and there was no one in front of us. We checked in and made it through our gate in 15 mins. So by 7:30 pm we were seated in the restaurant having a leisurely dinner. Boarded our flight at 9:15 and took off at 10:15 with a strong tailwind that got us to Glasgow in 6 1/2 hrs. It was drizzly and 12 degrees when we landed, - quite a ... read more

Caribb.110411 St. Thomas rainy day today.. and yep it finally happened... snorkelling trip was cancelled because of weather and was replaced with a tour to Coral world and a butterfly farm. We tried to go swimming with the sea lions but did not have a reservation so just wandered about taking pictures... Then moved on to the butterfly farm and the highlight was Havensight Cafe that featured chicken roti & peas & rice with Carib beer. Back onto the boat for an afternoon beside the pool. Tomorrow back to San Juan and into the airplane home... ... read more

Carib.110211 Antigua Late start today to go to the Prickly pear island for some snorkelling. A short boat ride brings us to a very small island at which our goupr of 15 are the only ones here. Open bar with rum punch and mixed drinks, beach chairs and snorkle gear. Operated by Miguel and his family this small operation is a hot spot for the tour groups. Went snorkelling and saw some damsel fish, yellow tails some gar and different types of coral. We have pictures of some brain coral but those will ahev to wait till we get back for the developing. OUr lunch had some BBQ chicken red beans and rice some curry and a piec of cod fish. Soon we have to leave way to early. Gonna have to come back here for ... read more

Barbados Ship docked at Bridgeport and today's tour headed for a mohagany carving gallery, a rum distillery and a plantation house. We met Reggie Medford, the owner of the carving gallery who is a natinal institution here in Barbados. He uses the reclaimeed trunks of mohagany trees that are being removed from construction sites. We then moved on to the Four Square rum distillery. Highest rated spice rumbeating out Captain Morgan. The tasting was the best part... of course... Purchased a 12 year old rum... tastings to follow at home... Also bought a rum liquer. Off for lunch and tour at a 300 year old sugar plantation mansion. The Sandbury plantation. Lunch was good but we had to ask for hot sauce. I guess the locals figured us North Americans couldn't handle the Bajan hot sauce... ... read more