It’s good to travel and learn and to broaden one’s perspective…
There’s a famous quote by Saint Augustine:
‘The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.
In 2016 and earlier Bruce did all the legwork for our travels. In 2016 we were planning for celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary, which was in 2017. We wanted to take a special trip. We had been to Alaska, Hawaii several times, the Grand Canyon, San Fransico a couple of times, Florida, Cancun, Washington DC, the San Juan Islands in Washington State, I am from New Orleans – we were looking at Europe.
We were thinking about Scotland because they speak English and we had been to England a couple of times as well as Ireland. I was looking through travel guru Rick Steves’ book on Scotland when I saw they did tours! That meant we weren’t limited to English speaking countries and I really wanted to go to Paris!
So, in October (to avoid the heat and crowds) 2017 we went to Paris with our first RS tour! They take care of all the tickets and arrangements. It was such a positive experience that we just went on our 6th RS tour. Bruce wanted to go to Scotland and so we did!
My next several blog posts will have pictures and comments about our Scotland adventure – starting with our dog’s care while we were away:
We take Bliss
and Faith
to the kennel with free crate boarding
they have been to numerous times before
for mini daycare and a couple of overnight stays.
While away, we are texted comforting pictures
and ‘report cards’ of our fur babies.
There is no direct flight to Scotland from Denver.
We flew from Gunnison, Colorado to Denver
and from Denver to London and from London
to Inverness, Scotland. Inverness is a cute little town
not unlike Gunnison with its own little regional airport.
Between planes we found a nice resting / reading / eating nook.
I get some sparkling water and when we can find it,
we usually have oatmeal from Starbucks.
While waiting for British Airlines to board,
I noticed the curve on the wings.
I hadn’t noticed that on planes before.
Bruce said it is fairly new and is for stability in the mountains.
The flights to and from Gunnison are generally rough.
We could use a stability factor then for sure.
We arrived in Inverness, Scotland, the day before our tour began.
We found the grocery and sparkling water.
We bought some cookies to enjoy in our room
with a cup of tea – for either after dinner
or after long walks. I really enjoyed these!
That evening dinner was a cup of tasty eggplant soup
with garlic bread and we shared a large shrimp cocktail.
The flavors blended, creating a welcome party for my hunger.
The next day, before it’s time to meet up with our group we investigate our surroundings:
It’s a gray, drizzling day weatherwise but we cannot help to be
excited to be starting our Scotland adventure.
I find the painted front doors in Europe to be quaint.
We found the most charming book store –
Leakey’s Bookshop – to escape the rain.
It has the scent of old wood and history.
A rainy day and reading just seem to go together…
Old High St Stephen’s Church is a historic church in Inverness, Scotland.
Oldest Church Site: The site has been used for Christian worship since 565 AD.
“It is not death that a man should fear,
but he should fear never beginning to live.”
— Marcus Aurelius
The decommissioned church sits on St Michael’s Mount by the River Ness.
Among the many things that Scotland is famous for,
the mythical monster, “Nessie” comes to mind.
Nessie the doll and name are all over.
The stone property dates back to around 1820
and features a prominent frontage overlooking the River Ness.
It has been used as an art gallery.
We are by The River Ness
This caught my attention because my father-in-law
worked for the telephone company – Ma Bell –
44 years. He started climbing poles and worked
his way up to being a supervisor.
https://themannahouse.co.uk/history/
Built in 1593, Abertarff is the oldest residential house in Inverness.
Sweet mural:
My buddy Darlene.
On Rick Steves tours we have a ‘buddy’ who is not someone we are traveling with.
When our tour guide says ‘buddy check’ we make sure our buddy is with the group.
This insures we are all accounted for.
Comforting.
Tasty bean burger dinner. We were hungry. We don’t find airplane
or airport food appealing. I will go hungry rather than eat it.
We eat healthy at home. Rarely, we have air fried potatoes.
The real fried one are extra tasty if not too oily.
I handed the leftover fries on my plate to Bruce for him to move
out of the way for me, so I didn’t mindlessly eat them all
when I was no longer hungry.
“Eat food.
Not too much.
Mostly plants.”
There was music and storytelling after dinner.
Tomorrow is our first full tour day.
“Not all those who wander are lost” – J.R.R. Tolkien
“Walks in nature are hugs for my soul.” Julie A R Stephens
julie@handsbestrong.com
How fun to experience your trip this way. Love all the photos. So glad you got to go.
Thanks Janet – I appreciate you taking the time to investigate.
Traveling is hard and gets harder as we age – still glad we do it.
Doing hard things is good for us and rewarding.
Yay! What an adventure. You incorporate photos and story so well, and I loved the image of the mural especially, the passage of time and generations.
Here’s to many more pages of travel!
Thank you Daniel,
You are so observant and articulate.
I’m working on the second post which wa our first full day.
Your photos are wonderful to see! Looks like an amazing trip!
Thanks Tammy,
Travel is hard and fun.
Working on the second post – our first full day.
Love the post; look forward to seeing more photos from the trip 🙂
Thanks Raj
Working on the second post!