London, Scotland, Ireland, and Paris 2023

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We had our typical morning…up at 6, luggage to the bus at 6:45, breakfast at 7, load the bus and depart at 8. Today was mostly a travel day we had to get from the Highlands at Strathpeffer to our home for the next 2 days in Edinburgh.

Our first stop was a little Victorian town called Pitlochry which is a cute town with lots of shops and restaurants. It is located close to the Cairngorms; the largest national park in the UK, which we drove through and would continue to do so for some time. Pitlochry was our morning bathroom / snack break. Interestingly enough the public toilets didn’t open until 10 am. We arrived at 9:50 so there was a long line!!

Our next stop was St Andrews golf course. St. Andrews is the oldest and most iconic golf course in the world and is often considered the home of golf. We were able to step right on the golf course, however you had to be playing golf there to go into the club house.

The town of St Andrews is very busy. There are tons of restaurants, pro shops, and souvenir shops. It is also made up of very old homes, hotels, and bnb’s! It was fun to walk around and look at everything. It was still set up from last weeks 150th British Open.

Back on the bus, we drove toward Edinburgh, but passed through a very agricultural area of Scotland. There were beautiful fields everywhere. There were greenhouses, huge gardens, wheat fields and oats. Who knew that Quakers Oats was grown in Cupar, Scotland?

We finally made it to our hotel in Edinburgh where we had a couple hours to get settled in Our rooms and prepare for tonight’s dinner…..a traditional Scottish dinner and entertainment complete with the ceremony of the Haggis.
What is haggis…… Simply lamb, beef, oats, onions and spices, nothing more, nothing less. Haggis is basically like an oaty, spicy mince meat. Each haggis maker will have a slightly different recipe. Look it up and you will find other descriptions, but what we ate was great!!

We were entertained with musicians, including bagpipes, singers and dancers and lots of audience participation. However, one bus load of people were about the rudest I’ve ever seen. They talked and laughed all through the meal and entertainment. In spite of them, It was a great night out.

Tomorrow is out last day of touring with our group. The time has gone fast and we must say goodbye to our bus mates, driver, and tour guide.

Now it’s to bed for another early morning!!

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