The Highlanders

My mom and sister came to visit us over the past 2 weeks and looking back at the pictures, we covered a lot of ground in that amount of time! If there ever was an elite status on the Scotrail, I've earned it:)

After giving them a few days to recuperate and enjoy my culinary creations, we kicked off the Highland tour in Glasgow, south of Aberdeen.  The first thing we saw on the way to our hotel was the Olympic symbols.  So we just had to go back to George Square and take pictures.  Of course, we weren't the only ones with that bright idea.  Needless to say it was tough (and annoying) fighting off all the little kids to take a picture so we decided to come back at night when it was past their bedtime. Haha. During the day we walked around, did some shopping, and went to a street market. We ended the night at The Living Room where we enjoyed the atmosphere and live music.

Next, we headed northwest to Fort William.  Fort William is a small coastal town.  It's the site of Ben Nevis, the largest mountain in Britain and the 13th century Inverlochory Castle ruins.  I still can't believe how many castles there are to see over here.  It's amazing how much history is preserved in Scotland.  As the rain poured down on us we walked through the town and found ourselves at a local pub where we ate and drank the night away.  The next morning we stepped aboard the Jacobite Steam Train, also known as the Harry Potter train. (Jac-o-bite (noun): A supporter of the deposed James II and his descendants in their claim to the British throne after the Revolution of 1688).  West Coast Railways, operators of The Jacobite, provided the steam engine and carriages for the 'Hogwarts Express' as seen in the 'Harry Potter' films including The Philosopher's Stone. This 42 mile one-way trip took us past a list of impressive sights. Starting near the highest mountain in Britain, Ben Nevis, we passed by the deepest freshwater loch in Britain, Loch Morar and the shortest river in Britain, River Morar, as well as arriving next to the deepest seawater loch in Europe, Loch Nevis! (Remember, loch = lake).  

The views were breathtaking despite the rain, though as we were traveling there was no commentary so I had no clue what I was looking at!  After the 3 hour ride, we hopped off the Jacobite and into the city of Mallaig.  Another coastal town with a population of 3,000.  This city was very charming and was filled with cute shops.  After exploring our area, we took the ferry to the port city of Armadale in the Isle of Skye.  The rain was relentless so we did not continue further into Skye:(  We toured Armadale and the castle and gardens over there and then caught the ferry back to Mallaig.  Then we made the long 8 hour journey back to Aberdeen.  

After a much needed day of rest, we ventured out to Stonehaven and Edinburgh.  I simply could not let my mom and sister come all the way here and not see these 2 cities.  Of course I took them to the famous Dunnotar Castle and I was so proud my mom did the rocky trek up to the castle.  Then we hit up Edinburgh where we lunched at the famous Elephant House.  Again we were greeted with Olympic rings but this time they were placed such that we couldn't get too close but we managed to get a few pics anyway. I also showed them the panoramic views of the city from Calton Hill and the National Monument.  On our way to the Edinburgh Castle we came across a Whiskey shop was 2 stories tall! I was feeling bad that Ram was absent (and we seemed to missed this spot when we went a few months back).  So I set out to find the perfect bottle of whiskey for Ram.  Boy was that an adventure! The store was pretty cool, flavor map and all.  Luckily the whiskey I selected was a hit with Ram (phew!) I found myself enjoying Edinburgh a lot more this time around and there's still much to see and experience, so I definitely want to go back. 

That brings us to the last 2 days of their visit so Ram and I gave them a taste of our lives here in Aberdeen.  With the sun shining and not a cloud in the sky (yippee!), we took them to the International Market and Afternoon Tea at the Marcliffe.  The trip would not have been complete without showing my sister how we party in the shire.  She also got to meet some of our friends, so it was the perfect ending to their trip. 







Now everyone's gone:( Even Ram had to fly off to the Ukraine. 2 weeks flew by way too fast.  Can't wait for my brother to join me in October so  we can explore some more!