It was wonderful to be in Scotland. We knew it would be a
bit of a rush but it was important for the girls to connect with their
heritage. We settled in with Bill and Janis, my aunty and uncle and it was as
though we had always been there. On Monday we drove to Brechin to the Blue Door
walk and the rocks of solitude along the North Esk river. We had all seasons in
one day on that walk and none of them particularly unpleasant. I loved walking
along the natural paths with the sun filtering through the new growth. It was
certainly a contrast to winter months when the branches were bare. Mind you,
some moments it felt as though it were winter. That didn’t stop our Gracie
determinedly wearing her shorts! We had a picnic along the riverbank and we
watched red squirrels dart up trees; never long enough for a photo of course. On
the way home from Brechin Uncle Bill took us around the places where the girls’
great grandparents lived and where their granny had played as a child. They
showed as much interest as you would expect but now at least they have a
picture to put with the words. The heavens opened up and chunks of hail came
down followed by weak sunshine! Good grief, who knew what to wear; perhaps Grace
had the right idea.
Bright and early on Wednesday we headed off to Aviemore in
the cairngorm mountains. It was to be a long day trip with contrasting scenery.
We rode the funicular up to the top of the mountain. It was a 15-minute journey in a carriage
filled with snowboarders and skiers. It was hard to believe that at this time
of year there was much activity going on. Only in Scotland. After 15 minutes
the weather closed in and the conditions were white-out. I had never seen the
snow in little polystyrene like balls. When their weather cleared we headed to
see the reindeer. They were reintroduced into Scotland in 1940 after several
attempts and this time they have been successful. We saw babies and their
mothers and one stag with huge antlers. 
Grace now: Thursday was a blob around day and Friday the
weather was rubbish. It was cold, wet and windy; perfect weather for going to
hunt down the puffins. After about an hour or so of driving around, trying to
find the national park we got there and started to walk the slippery cliffs.
The wind up there was soo cold and the freezing rain felt like little needles. (They
would if you wear shorts Grace!)We finally found the puffin cliffs and…no
puffins, until we saw these little orange feet amongst all the black and white.
They were a lot smaller than we thought they would be. A tad disappointing, but
better than seeing no puffins at all for the effort we put in. We headed back
to the nearest town and got posh fish and chips. They came in two little boxes
and then in a posh paper bag. After stinking out the car and fogging the
windows up we headed back home where mum and dad went out for drinks with Kelly
and Cullum. And didn’t come back until 1.
Nuff said.Saturday was lunch out with the lovely Carol and Jude at a converted stable. Very pleasant and a great catch up. We then headed into town to the shops for a look around, then off to the cemetery (I know how to have a good time) before heading back up to the whole family gathering Saturday night. So fabulous to see the second cousins in the same room and to have the cousins and uncles and aunties around.
Sunday we left the family and headed to Stirling Castle. We dragged the girls around, took a few photos, had lunch on the stone wall outside and then off to Edinburgh Zoo to please the girls. They had a great time charging around in the sun without the layers. All agreed: the kookaburras were cute, cats were great but pacing. Back in the car to head to the Royal Mile. Out of the car, walk the mile, in the car and off to York where we had bargain accommodation at 15 pounds for the four of us. Crazy! Had a beer and went to bed quite knackered
No comments:
Post a Comment