From Whisky to Gravestones?!?!

Euro Post #2. Scotland (non-wedding)

Kyle and I spent a total of about a week in Scotland ... a few days before and after the wedding. I was lucky enough to explore the country with my mom back in the fall of 2007 and was SO excited to revisit this beautiful place with Kyle.

I have to say, out of all the places I've traveled, Scotland is definitely one of my favorites. To the point that I'd skip seeing new places to revisit and continue exploring all that Scotland has to offer. That's saying a lot for me. Maybe this explains part of my attraction to Kyle as he has some Scottish blood. ;)

Both of our checked bags arrived in Scotland. What a relief! For those of you that don't know, Kyle's first trip to Europe was back in December of 2003 to visit me at the end of my study abroad program in Copenhagen. He arrived, but his bags didn't and boy was he pissed. While his temper has mellowed with age, I still didn't want to test the waters. To add to our luck, the Icelandic volcano hit the very next morning ... so we got in just in time. And while the airports were all shut down for a week, we were playing around in Scotland, so no interruptions for us!

Our amazing friends, Russell and Fiona, hosted us at their flat (apartment in British speak) for 5 days. Super sweet of them considering they had a wedding to prepare for! Here's a picture of their flat and our entire crew reunited. Us, Russell & Fiona and Liam & Bethan - it was the 6 of us that traveled to Florida together last May.

We toured Edinburgh (beautiful, friendly, clean city) for a couple days, enjoyed the wedding festivities for a couple days, a day of rest and recovery, then went to the eerily deserted airport to rent our car and tour whisky country up north. I had driven on the "wrong side of the road" before in Ireland for a week during my study abroad program and for 2 weeks with my mom, but you never get used to it. Similar to driving in the states, Kyle proved to be better on the windy, country roads and I could better handle the busy city driving.

We stayed at a fantastic B&B in Speyside, the heart of whisky country, in the northern Highlands of Scotland. Among several others, we toured the Glenfiddich distillery, one of Kyle's favorites. They were very generous with their samples (even more so since our tour guide was a Packer's fan!) but don't worry, I was the DD so Kyle was able to enjoy his whisky. You can see the "enjoyment" in his eyes.

Russell's Aunt Brenda and Uncle David, who sat at our table at the wedding, actually live 20 minutes from our B&B, so they met us at a local pub for a few drinks. Super nice of them to show us a little more local flavor ... we're talking about a one room pub that fit the bar, a fireplace, 8 people and one dog ... max. Now that's local flavor!

Here's the 82 year old bartender, Joe. Kinda looks like another cute little Grandpa Joe we know! He owns the place and used to run it with his wife before she passed away. He lives on the other side of the building and closes up shop whenever his last customer leaves.

Our last day in Scotland was spent driving to Ochiltree, just south of Glasgow, to visit the cemetary where Kyle's great-great-great-great grandfather was buried. His Grandma Mary traced their roots and visited Ochiltree back in 1995, just before she passed away. So, not only were we walking in the footsteps of his ancestors, but we were tracing his Grandmother's steps on the same journey. Very moving experience and gave us the itch to do more tracing of our roots. Singen, Germany, here we come! (That's the Mulhausen side of the family, if you couldn't guess)

Kyle is holding the picture of his Grandma Mary doing the same pose that he is doing. Very cool.





Thank you, Scotland. We promise to come back and visit again someday. I mean, technically, we are Scots ... and we've got the pictures to prove it!