Roaming With the Roddens: Scotland!

We have been very fortunate to be able to travel all around the world together and, of all the places we have been, the clear favorite for Lindsay is Scotland. We spent a week traveling around the Highlands and checking out Edinburgh. It could not have been a better vacation. We were blessed with wonderful weather and had some excellent guidance from two good friends that allowed us to pack a lot of greatness into our week in land of haggis, kilts, and legends!

We flew into Edinburgh, got our rental car, and began the drive north to Inverness. We knew Edinburgh was fantastic and decided to save that for the end of the trip, but we weren't about to miss out on the famous Scottish highlands. The drive was beautiful, enchanting, and as scenic as you can ever imagine. We stopped in a small village on the way for dinner and explored a bit in the area, stumbling on an unbelievable lookout named the Queen's View.

We booked a beautiful B&B right on the shores of Loch Ness that proved to be a fantastic base from which to explore. Our first full day put a lot of mileage on the rental car, driving from Loch Ness up to the Isle of Skye where we had a delicious lunch in the picturesque town of Portree. We drove around beautiful Loch Ness but didn't see Nessie, though we were told she had been spotted two weeks earlier!

We cannot begin to describe how magnificent a drive around the Isle of Skye is. Between the never ending stone covered hills, ancient stone buildings in various stages of decay, the infinite number of old stone walls that seem to run forever, and the castles (Oh, the castles!) we could have spent a lifetime driving those roads. We found ourselves stopping the car and stepping out for pictures or just to take in the view at countless points throughout the day. We did our fair share of exploring ruins, cemeteries, and castles. It was as good a day on the road as either of us has ever had. We ended the day walking around Inverness and found our way into a parade of bagpipers that was just as cool of a moment as it sounds!

On our second day we drove south into the heart of the highlands towards St. Andrews. Joe planned out a route that would provide several wonderful treats for Lindsay and we had a lot of fun. About an hour or so south of Inverness we came to a small town named Carr Bridge. In that town we found the Bridge of Carr, which has been standing for thousands of years. This was an extraordinary moment for Lindsay and she even went out of character and disobeyed the warning signs telling her not to go on the bridge. We got some great pictures and got out of town just as a typical Scottish rain shower soaked the area. The next two to three hours brought us an excellent assortment of quaint villages, cool architecture, and amazing Scottish scenery. There were several towns we found ourselves saying we would love to escape to for a summer and we even drove through the mountains and discovered a ski resort that we stopped at for a break.

We drove up and over mountains, through valleys littered with waterfalls, and saw many more ancient buildings and several magnificent castles. The point of the day's drive was to enjoy ourselves and soak it all in, but also to arrive at Balmoral Castle. Balmoral is the favorite home of the current Queen of England and Lindsay couldn't wait to explore the grounds. The place did not disappoint. The gardens are indescribably beautiful and it was a day and a visit Lindsay will never forget. Since the Queen still lives here for about six weeks a year, the grounds were closing to tourists a couple of days after we visited, so our trip was timed perfectly. The Queen walked the same paths we did just a few short weeks after we were there. I'm sure she was as happy to find herself there as we were!

We left Balmoral in the late afternoon and drove the last couple of hours to Saint Andrews. Joe was excited to see the Old Course and walk across the bridge, which we did! Lindsay liked the golf history but her real excitement was to find herself walking the same streets that Prince William and Catherine (Middleton) did through their time at university. Saint Andrews is a beautiful city and the grounds of the university are as beautiful as they are historic. We managed to find the home where the Prince and Kate lived and then we had a delicious dinner where Joe first tried haggis.

We got back in the car and drove the hour and a half to Edinburgh were we would spend the next three days exploring the city in grand fashion. Edinburgh was truly wonderful in every way, one of the coolest cities either of us have ever visited. We were there a couple of weeks before the world famous festival was set to begin but the city was already buzzing. The days were sunny, but cool, allowing for perfect exploration of as much greatness as we could fit in to our time there. If you are thinking of visiting, you should. It was an amazing trip. We even managed to meet up with our good friend Kylie, a Canadian that teaches in Kuwait and plays for the Harps with us. We met her and her friend near the castle and had a fun lunch as we all shared our summer adventures with one another. Lindsay tried haggis then and found she liked it.

We could keep writing, because our time in Scotland was just that good, but seriously - go there yourself!