Today's travels are courtesy of the EX- hurricane Ganzalo. Another new phrase from the UK. Extreme high winds with rain, sleet and hail. Temps dropped from 17 down to 4. Very unusual for this area. After a breakfast of poached eggs & haggis we left the Morangie area and went to look for The Old Nigg Church. I had found this on the Historic Scotland website. It is signifigant because of it's Pictish stone which dates back to 700 AD. When St. Columba brought Christianity to the area he was converting the Pictish inhabitants. The stone shows their original beliefs on one side & Christian beliefs on the other. The graveyard had another interesting stone. The Cholera Stone. It was believed that Cholera was caused by bad Miasma's (air that came from decaying bodies). When one ... read more

This blog is written tonight under the influence of 15 yr Dalmore. Starting off leaving Peterhead we visited as many small fishing villages as we could. The winding narrow streets were a treat to drive. Some villages claim to be 16th or 17th century. We stopped when we heard the bells ringing in Fraserburgh where the minister asked us to come in for the service but we begged off and headed back onto the road. Next stop was Duff House. A manor house donated to the National Trust. We just had to have a lunch of cullen skink & tea in the tea room. This place has the best town names... Buckie, Lossiemouth, Duffus, etc... and we drove thru all of them. Stopping at the Elgin cathedral ruins. 2 of the main towers are still intact ... read more

Loooonnnggg flight. Air Transat has modeled their business platform after those successful sardine canning companies. The flight was smooth but we were packed in tight. A little bumpiness but other wise very smooth. We were wondering if the pilots had made a wrong turn over Greenland because after landing in Glasgow there was a slight sprinkle & then the clouds cleared out and we had blue skies over Edinburgh. Check the map...we are in Scotland right? The first stop was at the Falkirk Wheel. Nope it is not a tire swing in a farmers field. It is an engineering marvel. Designed to connect the canal system between Glasgow & Edinburgh it raises and lowers boats over 35 meters. Extremely quiet and very smooth. Elke was in the gift shop and didn't see it run the first ... read more

Got up early and met with Lori & Nigel and headed off to the town of Balloch for their famous Highland Games. OOOOOOOPPPPPssss someone forgot to update their website and tell the rest of the world that they had cancelled their Games! Rescheduled for Sept if you are interested. At visitor info we learned that there was another Highland Games 1 hour up the road in Alva. Away we go! Found a central seat and enjoyed simultaneaously... the heavies (caber tossing, Hammer throw etc), Highland dancing, races both foot & cycling, pipe bands and the high point was the hill climbing race. Now pictures this - a cross country race, thru the mud around the track across the golf course and up the hill. Hill!!! are you kidding me thats not a hill its a mountain. ... read more

Sorry guys - no blog tonight - we will double up tomorrow.. Got in real late.... scotch whiskey & a really good folk singer... you get the picture.. Loch Lomond Highland Games tomorrow.... read more