Bonnie Scotland

We've wrapped up our time in the UK (and most likely our time in English speaking countries, other than a possible visit to South Africa).  Scotland has been added to our long list of "Definitely Have to Come Back Someday" places.  We would have loved to travel north into the Highlands but we're grateful for the taste of it we got.

Our first stay in Scotland was the small town of Irvine, just a few minutes from the ferry.  In town was the Scottish Maritime Museum, which had something for everyone.

Boat races for the girls

Big machinery and boats all around which captivated Mike.  So thankfully there were kid stations to keep the rest of us entertained!

 

We traveled as far north as The Trossachs National Park which is the beginning of the Highlands.

On the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch...Lubnaig

Most scenic spots become photo shoots

We stayed in this hostel in the middle of nothing but gorgeous scenery

This area receives so much rain that everything was covered in green moss.  Such a pretty drive!

The hostel included a rowboat and two friendly dogs.

Mike, Faith, and Celia took the rowboat out.

But Trina was happy to play with the dogs.  Oh, how this one wants another border collie when we get home!

On Sunday we attended services at this Church of Scotland in the neighboring town of Balquidder.

Shocking to walk in--late as usual--and discover that our family of six more than doubled the congregation!  In addition to a pianist, two instrumentalists, and a lay pastor, there were four other older women in attendance.  They were very happy to have us there and we really enjoyed talking with them after the service.

In the afternoon, we traveled on to Callander where there was a town festival that included highland dancing to bagpipes.

We also took a hike through Dollar Glen

The reward at the top was a visit to Castle Campbell

Then it was a quick one day stop in Edinburgh.

Edinburgh Castle

Continuing our way south to York:

Walking the old walls that surround the city.

Beautiful views of York Minster, the highlight of the city

And a walk through The Shambles, an old, narrow street

Our final stop in the UK was Cambridge:

We really enjoyed dinner and conversation with Peter and Judith Heslam, Ben and Sam.  Peter is a business acquaintance of Mike's.  We had a fun little chat about American/British accents and stereotypes.  British think our accents are powerful and that we have "can-do" attitudes (those are the positives!)

The next day we explored the town of Cambridge:

Mathematical Bridge

Mike tried his hand at punting.  Tricky--balancing, steering, moving the boat along, pulling the pole out of the mud.

You think the girls are just chilling, but really they're keeping their heads low in case we run into another tree

See what I mean?

We punted along The Backs--the lawns that lead to the backs of some of the colleges.  Cambridge University is made up of 30 individual colleges.  This was the back of King's College, one of the more well-known.

And finally, we enjoyed a beautiful sunset as we drove south to catch our ferry from England to France