Scotland... Again...

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Our trip back to Scotland started with an overnight bus trip to Glasgow. Unable to by-pass a bargain, we paid our £11 each, popped a couple of herbal sleeping tablets, arranged our pillows in our seats, and woke up 10 hours later in (not quite so) sunny Scotland. We arrived in Glasgow bright and early and met Sam's Pa and Shirley, who have come to Europe from Australia for a couple of months of tiki touring good times. We picked up a hire car, and road tripped to Dornoch in the north of Scotland for a few days of cruising in the Sutherland area. Pa and Shirley checked into the local B and B, and in true TA fashion, we pitched our tent :o) All four of us were stunned by the beautiful Scottish landscape, rivalled only by spunky NZ, and both Sam and Pa really enjoyed tracing their Sutherland family heritage.

On our drive down to Edinburgh, we popped into Buckie to see Marion and George and then continued to Pitlochry for the night. The next morning we continued southward to Edinburgh for the Fringe Festival and the Tattoo. We loved re-visiting Edinburgh, and it was especially pumping with all the summer festivities. We went to several really cool shows, including some German acrobatics and a Cuban musical show-case, featuring Earnest Hemmingway's daughter-in-law (slightly unusual!) But a key highlight was definitely the Tattoo - Jane couldn't stop imagining Rach piping her bagpipes - it was a blast! But it absolutely poured with rain for the whole thing. At the end we couldn't see the fireworks because of the rain and some of the brass bands actually had to empty the water out of their instruments! We both loved hanging out with Gab and Loz as new arrivals in Edinburgh too, and are definitely keen to revisit sometime in the near future :o)

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Photos

Dunrobin Castle
Sam and Pa getting amongst some Sutherland clan heritage

Dunrobin Castle and an owl
We watched a very impressive falconry show. This owl was amazing!

Dinner time
Sam with a plate of haggis, tatties and neeps at the pub in Pitlochry

Pa, Shirley and Sam
Walking up the Royal Mile to the Tattoo. Pa and Shirley are decked out in Scottish ponchos.

Sam and Jane
Soaking wet - waiting for the Tattoo to start

The Tattoo
They battled on with the performance irrespective of the blustery wind and horizontal rain.

Cuban bopping
And some crowd participation... Sam is boogying on stage towards the back :o)

Comments

[mystery guy]

Cuban bopping
Sam, don't carry a beer onto the bopping floor! I assume you spilt it all over the stage