The UK, Not Just OK -- Brilliant!

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The four of us flew from Cairo to London but at Heathrow, Ted, Griff and I had to say goodbye to Tyler who was travelling on to Denver. He needed to take an entrance exam into his degree program at UCD and they would not accept anything other than him taking the test in person on the date it was offered. So off he went and the three of us sadly went on to Scotland without him. But we weren't sad to be going to Scotland, of course. Home of golf for Ted and Mary Queen of Scots for Jill -- we were looking forward to this visit. As most of you know, Ted has been to Scotland a number of times on golfing trips, but he was very excited to be able to show off this beautiful land and some of his haunts to his family.
We started out in Edinburgh where we stayed at the fabulous Balmoral Hotel and visited the Edinburgh Castle for a little bit of Scottish history. Next we drove to St. Andrews, and Ted's "home away from home"-- the Dunvegan Hotel or the "Dunny"as he calls it. We had four wonderful days in St. Andrews and a lovely time visiting with the Dunny's owners, Jack and Sheena Willoughby, who are unsurpassed in their hospitality and kindness. Jack even invited Ted to play a round on the Old Course to make our stay complete.
It was hard to leave St. Andrews but we headed north to Inverness for a couple of days to see if we could spot the Loch Ness Monster lurking in the waters of Loch Ness. As is the usual case we heard, Nessie was a bit shy while we were there, but we enjoyed our cruise on Loch Ness and our tour of Urquhart Castle before heading back to Edinburgh for one last night in Scotland.
Next we were off to London. Tyler flew back to join us and we took a tour of Windsor Castle, Bath and Stonehenge, which actually turned out to be more impressive than just a bunch of rocks in a field. And then we were in for a real treat because our friends, Michele and Gary, plus their daughters, Haley and Isabel, and Haley's friend Kristen, met us in London for a few days. How good it was to see some familiar faces and we can't thank them enough for taking their spring break in Europe in order to meet up with us. Together we toured the Tower of London, climbed up into the dome in St. Paul's Cathedral, ate great dinners and saw the play "Wicked" which was such fun. Even though he is a big fan of ManU, Ty really wanted to take in a football game while we were in London so he and Ted went to the Chelsea v. Sheffield United game which the home side, Chelsea, won handily.
This was a great beginning to our time in Europe and the next 2 1/2 months really ought to be "something to write home about!"

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Photos

St. Andrews/The Dunvegan Hotel
The three of us with Jack and Sheena Willoughby, owners of the Dunvegan.

Edinburgh
A view of the city from the Edinburgh Castle.

St. Andrews/The Dunvegan Hotel
A slice of home a stone's throw from the Old Course in St. Andrews.

The Old Course
Ted and Jack teeing off on number one at The Old Course with the Royal and Ancient in the background.

Loch Ness
Ted and Griff in front of Loch Ness. Maybe Nessie is hiding behind that stone wall?

Urquhart Castle
Griff descending the tower at Urquhart Castle.

Bath
The Roman baths in Bath, England.

London
The city of London as seen from the top of St. Paul's Cathedral.

London
Michele and Jill at our rented flat in London.

Tower of London
The building that houses the Crown Jewels at the Tower of London.

Tower of London
The White Tower at the Tower of London.

London
Dinner out with Michele, Gary and Isabel Kennedy.

Stamford Bridge Stadium
The stadium where Ted and Ty went to see Chelsea play.

Chelsea Fans
Chelsea fans enjoying a pitcher after Chelsea beat Sheffield United 3-0.

Comments

[Carla]

Hello out there!!
Stonehenge looks a little like Greece history still standing there years and years after. I have actually been to London and it looks the same - still beautiful. We actually just got back from Vegas (Chris' trade show) and had a great time. It was the same week as Rene's birthday so we celebrated in Las Vegas Baby - we missed you. We even tried to party with the "Girls Next Door" but they were there the following week!! HAHA

[Jade]

hmm...
That trip looks awesome and I wish that I could've seen stonehenge with you but did you get to watch the sun rise or set or whatever the sun does in them?? That would be even more awesome!!