Birthday - The halfway point

Birthday morning started very early, at 5:30 with cards and gifts in bed. I got a coffee maker :) I had a slight accident setting it up and made 10 cups instead of two. I must learn to read the instructions first. Ali told me the plan for the day, a trip to Windsor Castle and afternoon tea. I feel like a royal stalker, Holyrood on Tuesday, Windsor on Saturday. Ali lit the candles of my cake, a gorgeous coffee and walnut cake and I made a wish.

Of we went to Windsor Castle. It's a lot bigger than I thought, in fact, it's huge. I'm a regular at these now, I even know what the audio guides will be like, so I took my headphones. Yep, I'm a stalker. We walked to the Round Tower, visited Queen Mary's dolls house which was absolutely amazing. It has running water and electricty. The detail is astonishing. We continued through to the state appartments. Windsor Castle is incredibly different to any other, you can imagine living there. I love listening to the audio guide and intrigued why the King had a bedroom to meet people in.

We walked through to the St Georges Hall, oh my gosh, it was amazing. I loved the sheilds on the ceiling, especially the white covered shields for naughty knights. The Queen hosts banquets in the hall. Sadly, it was destroyed in the fire. We saw the room where the fire started, it has the armour of Henry the 8th. Sadly, the fire damaged order of the garter throne room. It was interesting that the floor was scored, so they turned it over.

We saw an exhibition on drawings and when we walked in, we weren't sure it was for us. We were really surprised, it contained diary entries and letters from significant events, such as letters from Victoria to Albert, sketches of the zulu war, paper dolls decorated by Victoria. The arms, guns, spears and armoud on the entrance hall is quite intimidating.

We continued to St Georges Chapel and again, it really surprised us. We saw a memorial to Robert Burns, ironically I went to Bridge of Allan last week and went to his house in Ayreshire. We saw the grave of Henry the 8th, in the Quire. It wasn't meant to be that way, he planned a grand tomb, but his children didn't enact his wishes. Poor Knights still live at the castle. We saw the chapel for the Queen Mum, George and Margaret. The Royal Family visits the chapel at various times of the year.

On our way out, we saw a soldier in the red jacket and bear skin. Strangely, three young men tried to grab his gun. He started by stamping his foot on the floor to intimidate them, it scared me. Then they grabbed it and he had to defend himself. A guy them walked up to him and turned his amunition over. It was really bizarre.

We then moved to afternoon tea in the Mercure across the road, including sandwiches without the crusts nd warm scones with clotted cream. What a fantastic visit, I'm definitly a royal stalker now.

Scotland - Palace of Holyrood House

My last day in Scotland and a quick trip around Edinburgh. The drive to Glasgow train station was interesting, to see all of the 'yes' signs and banners. The train to Edinburgh is so easy from Glasgow and cheap, compared to how much it costs from home to London. A powerwalk to Holyrood House, it's further than I thought. I love a good audio guide to walk you around the palace.

The abbey has been incorporated into the house and it strangely reminds me of Balmoral on the outside, but the inside was decorated by Victoria who brought lots of tapestries, so it's quite dark. Very different to Sandringham which is super homely and Balmoral which has tartan. I spoke to one of the guides about a circular mound in the garden, it was an old rubbish heap that Albert asked to grass over!Time team has recently buried into it.

On the walk back, I had a quick stop over at the Scottish Parliament which was full of journalists and media stands being erected. A quick coffee with Jennifer, sit in the first class lounge, then back home in first class and afternoon tea. What a trip...I can't wait to hear the result of the independance vote.

Scotland - Ayrshire and Culzean Castle

I love my boutique hotel room, I still get up at 7am, but I can watch TV, make a coffee, eat some truffles, smell the flowers in my room. Today's trip was to Culzean Castle in Ayrshire. Steph drove us past Robert Burns House and museum, her old house and then onto the castle which is right on the beach. The coast road was stectacular, especially the optical illusion road where it looks like you are going downhill but you are actually going uphill.

Culzean castle is lovely, we walked to the Swan Lake and walled garden, Hugo was loving it and bouncing around. We walked around the castle, the guides explained paintings which is never our favourite thing but the rooms were gorgeous with panoramic views of the beach and sea.

Back home for takeaway chinese and my last night in Scotland.

Scotland - Isle of Arran and whiskey tasting

A very early start for our exursion to the Isle of Arran today. A taxi to the station for an 8am train and breakfast. I forget what it's like travelling with Phil, we forget the time and then nearly missed the train. The train goes tight into Ardrossan Harbour which is a bit bizarre. The trip is so easy, it's a short walk to the terminal, then straight onto the boat and across to the island. Luckily, the sea was calm.

We boarded a bus to Brodick castle, a Scottish National Trust property. We had an incredibly hard sell to join the National Trust but eventually ran the gauntlet to get into the castle. I loved the kids versions of the information sheets in each room and learnt loads. For example, why it's called a boxing ring, becuase people would form a ring around them. Then, the saying 'up to scratch' refers to when a person is ready to fight, they would step towards a scratch in the floor.

A quick lunch in a pub while we waited for the brewery to open. Alas, it was more of a shop rather than a brewery, so we didn't stay and decided to go to the whiskey distillery instead. We went to the bus stop, there are only two buses a day so we couldn't miss it. The journey was wonderful, through the mountains.

A quick whiskey tasting and whiskey cake in the distillery before the started. Phil and I have a slight issue that neither of us like whiskey, it burns as it goes down. We had a tour and a dram of whiskey but at this point, we didn't want anymore :) We saw the stills, the barrels and ended with a cream liquer tasting before a quick dash back to the bus to get the boat back to the mainland. There are a lot of 'yes' posters on Arran, and the first 'yes' van.

In the evening, steph cooked us a gorgeous banquet for dinner.

Scotland - visiting the mansion

Rachael and Blaise drove me to the station, via a tour around the University of Stirling which is absolutely massive. What an amazing setting, with it's own loch and view of mountains all around. A quick train journey to Glasgow and Mansewood to Phil and Stephs new house. What a mansion! Lunch in the garden, followed by a walk with Hugo around the local park and then a banquet cooked by Steph.

Scotland - Edinburgh and Bridge of Allan

The start of my Scotland adventure and I travel in style, in first class. What a difference, lunch first, then wifi and doing Brownie work for the entire trip, then dinner of frittata, cooked by the travelling chef. Peter and Grace met me at the station, we last saw each other in the Galapagos Islands and time just drifted away, it was so great to hear what they have been up to. They treated me to a lovely lunch, then we walked to see a great view of the castle and then back to the new town and a craft market.

I felt like I was on a relay, Peter dropped me off at Waverley and I met Keith to go to the Bridge of Allan. I haven't seen Rachael and Keith since the wedding and never met Blaise, they doggie, so it was fabulous to see them. We had a thai takeaway and then went to the local microbrewery to meet their friends and have a pint of mango beer, lush!