Luss, Loch Lomond, Oban. May 22

Last night we hastily booked a highlands tour, we were planning on doing the Loch Ness tour today but it was full so we decided to do that one Monday and today go to Loch Lomond and the west of Scotland's highlands. It was a very good decision.

The bus left at 8am from the Royal Mile and went west, via Glasgow, to begin in the town of Luss. Today there was a lot of sitting on the bus and journeying through the highlands, but we didn't mind because the scenery was incredible. Also our bus driver/tour guide was very good, he was constantly sharing facts and information not just about the history of Scotland and the highlands, but also about things that we wouldn't normally have wondered or known about. 

On the way to the first stop he told us about some Scottish history and also about the highlands landscape. The hills were once covered in native forest but all the trees were cut down to be used for wood, depleting their resources massively. By the 1920's , after the war, they needed to solve this problem so they could once again have supplies of wood, so the forestry commission actually planted non natives. Norwegian spruces and Siberian fir were planted as they grow in approximately half the time that the native conifers would have. They also planted the trees ridiculously close to one another, which lead to reduced sunlight reaching the forest floor and major biodiversity issues. But from our perspective the huge forests spanning the highlands of these trees looked impressive and if we hadn't have been told this, we would have had no idea this was what was actually occurring. 

Our first stop Luss is a tiny town on Loch Lomond. It was incredibly beautiful and so very quaint and the lake was amazing. It was glistening in the sunlight and we took many snaps. There was also a lovely river running through the town and a cemetery with Viking graves.

Loch Lomond

Cats forver

We got back on the bus for the longest part of our trip through the highlands to Oban. Oban is this port town that was verrrrrryyy popular and full of the older generation as Queen Mary II was docked there, so everyone was out and about. We just had lunch there and had a quick look around, mostly watched seagulls having struggles flying in the wind.

Church we stopped at with Robert the Bruce relic

King of Sass being sass

Oban wind times

Later on we went to Inveraray and the Inveraray castle, which is actually occupied by the Duke of Argyll (he's a real person!). Part of the castle is open to the public and we got to got in and see the nice porcelain and weapon collections they have. Also, fun fact, some episodes of Downtown Abbey were filmed there. Rose's family lives in the castle in the show and this became evident when we went into the dining room and pictures of Maggie Smith dining there (in character) were on display (so subtle). Elise was v happy, Ash still hates downtown after they killed off Matthew Crawley (why would they do this?). Also fun fact #2, they had a whole room dedicated to the Dukes over the years in the media. Current Dukey was considered a very eligible bachelor. heh. 

There were loads of castle stories, maybe Queen Liz I was held here at some point?

Inveraray castle 

Turret china collections

Sideways badger because it's a must

Hello Granthams? Hello Rose?

Classic hunting shot. Much Downton pride. 

Lady Ashleigh

Lady Elise

After this we stopped at some lookouts for highland snaps, and went back to Edinburgh via Glasgow again, getting back at 7.45pm ish.

All in all a great tour and we are looking forward to our next highland adventure!  

Lurve A&E.

Edinburgh. May 21

This morning was cooler and wetter than yesterday, but deciding that it was very appropriate to the city we were staying in, we went ahead and joined a 2 hour walking tour through the city. At the beginning we went up to the Castle entrance and were able to look down at our apartment!

See the grey apartment building with the two blocks sticking out? We were left of the first block!

 On the tour we were taken to historical areas of the city, explained who the Royal Mile statues were dedicated to, learnt about the terrible living conditions of ‘Old Town’, and the subsequent building of the Georgian ‘New Town’(the first city build on a grid). A large part of the tour was also dedicated to the large Greyfriars Cemetary in the middle of ‘Old Town’. This was for two main reasons; a dog, and Harry Potter.

The dog, Greyfriars Bobby, was a little Skye terrier that had belonged to a night watchman of the surrounding area. Eventually the dog was left masterless and the community took him in, some feeding him, some paying his ‘Dog Tax’. He would also return to the graveyard everyday to visit his master, hence getting the name Greyfriars Bobby. They loved him so much, that he was given a large gravestone in a central part of the cemetery, a water fountain dedicated to him, and plaques marking where he was a regular. So now, one of the major images you see around the city is of this dog. It’s super weird and good.

Ash v sad about dead doge

Bobby nose touching

In regards to Harry Potter, the cemetery, and neighbouring school and cafes are all mentioned because J.K Rowling lived in the area. The school inspired Hogwarts, and there are two cafes in which she is supposed to have written her books, avoiding the cold of the house she couldn’t afford to heat.  The guide took us to 3 graves, McGonagall, Moodie and Tom Riddle. This was all very exciting for Elise, and having not been allowed to go down to Voldemort’s on the tour, she made sure to go back after.

Maybe it's Mcgonagall's secret squib brother?

Moodie/Moody, what's the diff?

Found Voldy 

We walked back to the Grassmarket on our way to the castle, and ran into someone we had met on our tour, so we all went to lunch at Edinburgh’s oldest pub, and settled for a warm soup and bread. We then split up again and the two of us climbed the many steps up to Edinburgh Castle.

Grassmarket and castle

The castle was amazing, rising up out of a huge volcanic plug. We toured the rooms with the Crown Jewels, birthplace of Mary Queen of Scott’s son James the 6^th (who would unite the Kingdoms), Military museum and lots more medieval sites. We also saw the dog cemetery, which was pretty weird/fun.

Having a lawl

Castle building

Ultimate queen

Loving the faux marble

Elise on watch 

Building out of rock

Castle rock climbing

New pals

Where's the dog cemetery though?

View towards Scott monument and Calton Hill

Found doges below

Dog cemetery 

Army lads just like in 'Sunshine on Leith' guyz (it's a film, okay?)

After the castle we went to Mary’s Milk Bar, a place in Grassmarket that we had found to have coffee earlier in a break from the tour. We each got a Dark Chocolate and salt hot chocolate, which was super delicious.

For dinner Elise made a pasta dinner and we ate and watched some telly and were merry.

Love A&E

York to Edinburgh. May 20 (Mikey's bday)

Firstly, happy birthday dad (Michael), hope your day was wonderful even though that's probably not possible sans Ash hehe. Secondly, today was another travel day. We were heading from York to Edinburgh by train, a pretty easy trip, around 3 hours.

In the morning before catching the train we went out in search of a yum cafe to grab something tasty on our last day in York. We headed to a part of York outside the walls that had a cafe that was described as the locals fave. Pig and Pastry cafe was sooooo good. We both had amazing breakfasts and explored the little area surrounding and we were pretty glad we'd stumbled upon it. Also, Ash became very lucky and managed to be pooed on by a pidgeon. They are everywhere and we were counting down the days until we got hit with a rogue poo. Ash won this opportunity and was even lucky enough to get splattered on her head. It was actually very funny (Elise would not stop laughing and Ash was actually v excited). 

Little street where we found Pig and Pastry

We then caught the train (which was delayed) to Edinburgh. Upon arrival google maps tried to get us to walk up several flights of steps in the old town to reach our accommodation, good one Google, lol no way. We managed to find that you can actually get around Edinburgh avoiding vast amounts of stairs, you just have to walk up and down many many hills. Workout achieved for the day. Here we are staying at an airbnb, which can we just say is perfect. Ultimate location (in Grassmarket- a Main Street in the old town) and as you've probably already seen, it had the BEST view of the castle. We were literally just below it. And also the place itself was very nice, perfect for what we needed.

View of the castle from our door!

View from Grassmarket (Do you remember Brand Fam?)

The weather was so beautiful and the afternoon sun was stunning, so we went for a walk through town and down the Royal Mile starting at the castle (the main road in the old town- just over a mile long). Along the way we watched an a-cappella group perform traditional African and modern renditions of songs. Elise got very into this and didn't want to leave ever. The Royal Mile lead to Holyrood Palace and we were lucky enough to catch the changing of the guard by chance. From here we saw Arthur's seat, where we planned to later in the week ascend for a picnic. 

Super good a cappella group on Royal Mile

Holyrood Palace, changing of the guard

We came back to our place for dinner (Ash made kidney bean tacos- how much do miss these Shaz and Mikey?) and planned out our week ahead.

Lots of love, A&E.