Scotland is so beautiful! None of us really knew what to expect, and we felt as though we were back in Colordado, with a few differences; there were lakes, castles, an ocean, sheep everywhere, and people were talking English, but we couldn't always understand them. Oh, and Chris was driving a stick, sitting on the wrong side of the car and driving on the other side of the road. This provided a few laughs. We flew in and out of Edinburgh, although we drove to Oban and up to Inverness and then back down through Perth to Edinbugh. We were constantly amazed at the mountains and gorgeous lakes. We even saw snowcapped peaks. Most days were a mix of hiking, seeing a castle, and eating a Scottish breakfast. (None of us reccommend the black pudding.) Thistle was in bloom all over, along with wild flowers. (Tessa is pictured with thistle, for those of you who don't know what it looks like.) This day we had a great hike that afforded wonderful views of Loch Lommond and the mountains. We even got to meet a little lamb; the sheep are everywhere.
We drove onto Oban and spent the next 2 nights there. Oban is a quaint seaside harbor town. We took an all day excursion from here to three isles, Mull, Staffa, and Iona. The day was cold, windy, and rainy, but made it all that more adventurous. We took a large ferry to Mull and then hopped on an hour long bus ride to get to another harbor. There we hopped on a small boat to head to Staffa. Staffa is a small, uninhabited isle that has many puffin birds. We didn't get to see any on land, but had fun hiking around. Iona is a small isle with an old stone abbey. It was so picturesque.
We stayed in a really small town called Alythe, in an old manor house. They had beautiful grounds, complete with a croquet course. We drove back to Edinburgh and spent the night before trying to fly out the next morning. Hmmm....The airport was closed, along with Schipol, and we wouldn't be able to get out for 2 days. So, we rerented a car, drove 3 hours to Newcastle and took the overnight boat back to Holland. It took 16 hours on the boat, 1 hour on the bus to Schipol where our car was, and then we drove home. Quite the adventure getting home, but now we can happily cross 'cruise' off our list. The whole vacation was so relaxing and our family enjoyed just being in the outdoors. Scotland is a wonderful country, and we hope to go back sometime.
Scotland is so beautiful! None of us really knew what to expect, and we felt as though we were back in Colordado, with a few differences; there were lakes, castles, an ocean, sheep everywhere, and people were talking English, but we couldn't always understand them. Oh, and Chris was driving a stick, sitting on the wrong side of the car and driving on the other side of the road. This provided a few laughs. We flew in and out of Edinburgh, although we drove to Oban and up to Inverness and then back down through Perth to Edinbugh. We were constantly amazed at the mountains and gorgeous lakes. We even saw snowcapped peaks. Most days were a mix of hiking, seeing a castle, and eating a Scottish breakfast. (None of us reccommend the black pudding.) Thistle was in bloom all over, along with wild flowers. (Tessa is pictured with thistle, for those of you who don't know what it looks like.) This day we had a great hike that afforded wonderful views of Loch Lommond and the mountains. We even got to meet a little lamb; the sheep are everywhere. 
We drove onto Oban and spent the next 2 nights there. Oban is a quaint seaside harbor town. We took an all day excursion from here to three isles, Mull, Staffa, and Iona. The day was cold, windy, and rainy, but made it all that more adventurous. We took a large ferry to Mull and then hopped on an hour long bus ride to get to another harbor. There we hopped on a small boat to head to Staffa. Staffa is a small, uninhabited isle that has many puffin birds. We didn't get to see any on land, but had fun hiking around. Iona is a small isle with an old stone abbey. It was so picturesque.
We left Oban and drove north through gorgeous countryside and mountains. We took a short hike by an old slate mine and through a forest that was almost sureal. The trees were all covered with a light moss and the ground was bright green in places with clover. Then we came upon some old stone farm walls covered in moss too. 
We stopped by Loch Ness, but had no luck seeing Nessie. The Urquart castle on Loch Ness is very picturesque. We landed that night just outside of Inverness in Nairn. To my delight, our hotel looked out on a pasture with 3 highland cows. These cows are so cute! How can they see? My family would say that I fell in love with these cows. The next day we spent the morning on the beach. Nairn claims to have the most sunshine than anywhere in Scotland and the white sand beaches are beautiful. It was a wee bit chilly, but Allie and Tessa can never resist a beach. From there we drove south to Perth and went to water park. If you ask Allie and Tessa what the highlight was of our trip, this would be it. Chris and I, not so much, but a fun diversion none the less.
We stayed in a really small town called Alythe, in an old manor house. They had beautiful grounds, complete with a croquet course. We drove back to Edinburgh and spent the night before trying to fly out the next morning. Hmmm....The airport was closed, along with Schipol, and we wouldn't be able to get out for 2 days. So, we rerented a car, drove 3 hours to Newcastle and took the overnight boat back to Holland. It took 16 hours on the boat, 1 hour on the bus to Schipol where our car was, and then we drove home. Quite the adventure getting home, but now we can happily cross 'cruise' off our list. The whole vacation was so relaxing and our family enjoyed just being in the outdoors. Scotland is a wonderful country, and we hope to go back sometime.
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