Showing posts with label Ben. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ben. Show all posts

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Skye Is The Limit (at least for us on this trip)

The weather had turned quite a bit cooler today, so we had made a wise decision in moving our trip to the Isle of Skye from yesterday to today.


 At Mallaig harbor, on our way to the ferry, Grandad showed us his boat. In the row of four, it's the second one from the right. 



 I asked Sophie to pose in front of our ferry...



 ...the she asked me to pose in front of this bus. 



 Leaving Mallaig. It was about a half hour ferry ride to Armadale - enough time to walk the entire ship once, via the cafe and the souvenir shop. 



 Between the Red and the Black Cuillins. We ordered some tea and scones in a restaurant at the crossroads just before a busload of French tourists arrived.



 Debra and I



 We drove past Talisker Whisky Distillery, erroneously thinking that it was closed for construction, on our way to Dunvegan Castle. I was impressed to find a castle like this in so remote a spot. 



 And such elaborate gardens!
We wanted to have an "inbetween" lunch/dinner in Portree (the main town on Skye), but found out after walking the entire "downtown", that every restaurant was closing between lunch and dinner. We thought we were cutting it a little close for the last ferry to the mainland, only to find out that the ferry was delayed coming in.

Ben could spot his home from the railing.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

London to Edinburgh

It was time today to say goodbye to Auntie Sandra. It had been a wonderful and fun week with her (as usual), but now we were headed north to Scotland for the next leg of our tour of Britain. We boarded the train to Edinburgh at Kings Cross.
 Our first class tickets were a deal: for just a little bit more, we had lots of room and free food and drinks for the entire ride. Keep the tea coming. And much less stressful than flying. 
 Granddad picked us up at the station. He and Debra (and Ben, the dog) had driven down from the Highlands to meet us at Auntie Karen's and Uncle Chris' house in Edinburgh. We were all looking forward to stretch our legs a little (yes there was some rain), so Granddad took us on a short walk over to the Museum of Modern Art to show Sophie the giant sculpture of a baby. Sophie was mesmerized. 
 I just hope she does not have any nightmares.
 So no sunshine?
 For dinner, Karen drove us to the Sheep Heid Inn in Duddingston for some good Scottish food. Delicious.
On the drive home we enjoyed some magnificent views of the city from Arthur's Seat in Holyrood Park. 
First impression of Scotland - very nice.