natalia's posts with tag: honeymoon
These are just from what we remembered.. we didn't really make any notes.. Miles travelled: 1930 Pictures taken: 588 Average travel time: 9 hours/ day Alcohol bought: 5 bottles Souvenirs bought: 12 (shot glasses, bells, magnets) Post card sent: 3 Books bought: maybe about 10 Brochures/ info book taken: countless Food eaten: Breakfast: 7 Fish and chips: 7 Sausage and mashed potatoes: 2 Roast lamb with Yorkshire pudding: 1 Pasta: 1 Steak and Guiness pie: 1 Macaroni and cheese: 3 Chinese food: 4 Mexican food: 2 Caesar salad: 2 Mussels: 1 Sandwich: 10 Appetizers & Dessert: 5 Coffee: 5250 cc Apples: 8 Candies, cheese, chips and other snacks: countless Water: countless Number of stops at gas station: Don’t remember Average rooom price: 100 pounds/ night for 2 people Average meal price: 20 pounds/ meal for 2 people To make the most of the trip: 1. Eat breakfast in your hotel to make the money worth (because it's included anyways) and this way you'll eat lighter during the day . Lighter=cheaper 2. Roughly plan your route so you can figure out what to visit / what you want to do and where you're going to make your stop 3. You can save money by booking the hotel ahead of time, but it takes away the flexibility and the spontaneity of the road trip. Sometimes you can find a "hidden gem" like when we found the Dornoch hotel. It was a very nice and unique hotel, we had it cheaper than their listed price on the internet. But the risk on doing the way we did it is that you may arrive in a place where there's no room availability so you have to drive further not knowing where you'll stay for the night. 4. Stop at a supermarket and stock on travellable food such as cheese, chips, breads, processed meat, fruits such as apples and stuff. This way you don't have to stop just to do lunch and it save tons of money. 5. Buy a vacuum flasks and use the hotels cofee making facility to fill it up in the morning before the trip so you'll have hot coffee handy just in case you get sleepy while driving. This helped me lot on this trip. 6. Research the points of interests in the area you want to visit (it all depends on what your interests are). We both love castles and history so we bought a "castle map" which shows smaller castles and making the "hunting" really fun.. 7. Travel light as it is easier to move luggages in/out of the car to the hotel. So go on a road trip if.... 1. At least one of you can read a map and good with direction (north , east , west, south, right, left). 2. You enjoy the driving itself 3. You get along well with your partner as you will be stuck with each other for quite some time.. no running away here.. 4. You could be patient and enjoy the drive 5. You could enjoy comfortable silence.. 6. You like exploring 7. You're okay with minor discomfort of not having the stuff you usually have for example: smaller bed than what you have at home. 8. You have some similaities in terms of interests with your road trip partner, otherwise you'll end up arguing where to go what to do or see and stuff.. 9. You feel okay with sometimes not being able to connect to the "world" through phone, internet, etc .. 10. You enjoy being spontaneous Don't go on a road trip if.. 1. Your idea of fun is shopping at a mall/ outlet store 2. If you're a "city" person 3. You feel separation anxiety when your mobile couldn't get any signal ad there's no place to connect to the internet 4. You don't read map well or don'r read well in general 5. You cannot stand your partner 6. You don't trust your partner's judgement 7. you're trying to save a relationship. For this, book an all inclusive vacation where youdon't need to go out of the resort. 8. You have anal retentive, obsessive compulsive personality where you just have to have everything planned to a very tiny detail and upset if something didn't go as planned or that you feel "anxious" and "out of control" for not having a plan.. 9. You like to complain as this will drive your partner crazy.. But if both of you like complaining this actually fun because there will be tons of things to complain about.. These are just our two cents.. feel free to add more tips :).. See ya in our next adventure...
|  | April 30
Start from Hotel: 10:15 AM
Arrive at last stop: 10:15 PM
We woke up early this morning to get breakfast before leaving. With our tummy full, we continued to drive south toward Dumfries before we made a loop to go back to Prestwick Airport. We stopped at the post office to mail our books and brochures of the places we visited as the airplane has limited weight allowance and we did buy some books to assist us in this trip.
After successful mailing, we went to a ruin of an Abbey called the Sweetheart Abbey. Sweetheart Abbey was founded in 1273 by Lady Devorgilla of Galloway in memory of her husband John Balliol.
On her death, she was laid to rest next to her husband’s embalmed heart and the monks named their abbey in memory of her.
We continued to go on our search to find Drumcoltran Tower. It is located in the middle of a farming area. It is one of the few tower houses left. Towerhouse is a 15 century house of the landlord so that he could oversee his lands easily. Then we’re off to Orchardton tower and we had a picnic (again) and rest for a little bit.
Then off we go to Dundrennan Abbey and then McLellan’s castle. We tried to find the entrance to Cardoness but it required some climbing so we skipped it
Then we visited Cairnholy .. it is an ancient burial ground from 4-6 thousand years ago. It was very nice view from this place. Then we continued to Carsluith castle, Sorbie tower, Castle Kennedy, castle Ardstinchar, culzean catle and finally looking at the sunset behind the Dunure castle.. we are pretty successful with our exploration today. Found a lot of interesting places before we head back to Prestwick area to spend our last night before leaving tomorrow.. All good things have to come to an end.. feel kinda sad, but we had a good time, had so much fun and think that this is the best vacation we’ve had.. so we’ve successfully explored the west coast of Scotland..
next year: the east coast ) …
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| | April 29
Start from Hotel: 10:15 AM
Arrive at last stop: 5:15 PM
After a good night sleep at Lagg hotel we continued with our quest to explore the Arran Island. We started by trying to find the Circle stones. However since Arran turned out to be a big nature lover destination, a lot of these circle stones could be reached only after one mile hike or so.. I guess since we walked and climbed the stairs a lot yesterday, we didn’t really feel like doing so.
One place called King’s Cave tho, caught our attention. We decided to do the hike not knowing how far or how hard the hike will be. So we kept walking and walking and after an hour we finally get to the cave which is on a sea level, The climb back was also take around 50 minutes. So we really have a good workout today. I would suggest that you do it the way we did it as it turned out easier. Start the hike from the opposite direction from what is suggested on the information board. This way, you get the hardest part as walking down instead of climbing up.
After that we continued toward the Arran distillery where the attendant gave us free sampling of the various whiskey that they produced. One suggestion: talk your way into getting free stuff. If you sounded interested enough about their product, they might give you some kind of waiver or gift etc. We decided to have lunch at the distillery before continuing with our trip.
After the distillery we made a stop at the Lochranza castle which was unattended and then we stopped at the Brodick castle which was fully attended. We made it just in time before they closed and we made it also to our ferry back to the mainland.
We drove south and decided to stop at Thornhill right before we enter Dumfries. We stayed at a pretty nice hotel and had a nice dinner at their restaurant.
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| | April 28
Start from Hotel: 11:45 AM
Arrive at last stop: 10:15 PM
We went to the Stirling Castle where Robert the Bruce reside after he beat the English at Battle of Bannocburn. The castle was big and has tons of interesting information. However it was a pretty empty castle because it doesn’t really have much furniture left and it was under construction so you can see scaffoldings in most of the places. However the great kitchen was really awesome. I enjoyed it a lot.
Turned out that Stirling Castle also has some ghost stories. Here’s what I can find from the internet:
Perhaps the best known ghost of Stirling Castle is that of the Green Lady, a phantom said to appear at the most unexpected times and places in the castle. In recent years she is said to have caused dinner to be served late in the officers' mess - the castle is an Army garrison - when she appeared in the kitchens to watch the cook going about his catering chores. He, being aware of the feeling of being watched, turned and saw the misty-green figure totally absorbed in what he was doing, and promptly fainted.
In life the Green Lady could have been an attendant to Mary, Queen of Scots. Her greatest claim to fame at that time was that one night, whilst asleep, she had a dream that the Queen was in danger. Waking up with a start she had rushed to the Queen's bedchamber to find the curtains of the four-poster bed aflame with the Queen herself asleep inside. When the Queen was rescued from the burning bed she had recalled a prophecy that her life would be endangered by a fire whilst she was at Stirling Castle.
It has also be suggested that the Green Lady was the daughter of a governor of the castle who was betrothed to an officer garrisoned there. The poor man was accidentally killed by the girl's father and she in despair and anguish is said to have thrown herself from the battlements to her death on the rocks 250 feet below.
Any appearance of the Green Lady is taken very seriously by the authorities at the castle. Many of her appearances have been followed by a disaster of some kind and indeed several fires at the castle have followed a sighting of the silent figure.
The Upper Square of the castle, known as the Governor's Block, is where footsteps echo across the ceiling of a room at the top of a flight of stairs and yet there is nothing above that room except for a roof on which nobody could walk. In 1946 these footsteps were heard several times at infrequent intervals by an officer of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and in 1956 by a major occupying that room. In the 1820's there was a "sentry beat" along the battlement that then existed over the Governor's Block. One night a sentry, taking over guard duty, found the previous guard dead at his post, mouth wide open, a look of utter terror on his face. No explanation was ever made for this incident although it is known that after several other guards reported strange and terrifying incidents on the beat. The sentry duty above the Governor's Block was discontinued during early Victorian times.
Stirling Castle has also a Pink Lady, a young girl dressed in pink surrounded by a pink glow, who actually walks from the castle to the nearby church at Lady's Rock. It was at this spot that the women of the court used to watch their menfolk as they jousted. It is thought that this particular lady was one of the occupants of the castle when it was besieged by Edward I in 1304. She was the only one to escape from the castle and it is thought that she may return to the castle searching for her husband who was killed in the siege.
Good thing I found out AFTER we went there. After Stirling Castle we went to the Wallace Monument. The monument is on the hill. To get up there people could either hike or took the complementary bus from the parking lot. We chose the latter. We have to climb 246 steps to reach the crown of the monument. On the way to the crown there were 4 levels where you can see the history of William Wallace and the heroes of Scotland. We walked down to our car and had a nice afternoon walk.
We continued to drive toward Loch Lomond and made a stop at Balloch Castle and Country Park. A lot of people stop here and just hang out at the castle ground as it has a very pretty view of Loch Lommond. We did the same and even took a nap on the grass for a bit. It really felt like a vacation..
When we get our energy back we continued our journey and crossed with a ferry to go to Arran Island. The Ferry took 1 hour and they have seating and eating area for the passengers. It was a challenge to find a hotel when we get to Arran as we didn’t have prior booking. But Finally we found a hotel called Lagg and we decided to stay there. The hotel was built in 1761 and it has a very warm and cozy feeling to it. We have no problem falling asleep here…
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| | April 27
Start from Hotel: 10:30 AM
Arrive at last stop: 8:15 PM
Today is very interesting day as Jason and I went on a cruise on the Loch Ness hoping to see Nessie the monster. We took the 1 hour trip as we could easily get bored not doing anything on the boat but listening to the guide. The cruise was actually fun, but it was pretty cold on the boat.
After that we went to the Loch Ness exhibition centre which has information on people’s attempts to debunk the Legend of Loch Ness Monster. There were two places that offers this sort of attraction but one is more modern and more developed than the other, and it also has better location.
Then we’re off to Urquhart castle and as usual we explored every corners of it before we leave. We drove again passing the Fort William toward Stirling and made a stop at Castle Doune where we explored the unattended castle. When we get to Stirling it was pretty challenging to find the Hotel.
We finally found one close to the Stirling Castle called Stirling Highland Hotel. This hotel is unique as it was a highschool before. The management kept the “class room” name as a function rooms for meetings and such. It does have “ a school” feeling to it which made us think that we’re staying at Hogwarts (Harry Potter’s school).
Stirling was one of the towns I really want to visit since I watched the Movie Braveheart. It was at the Bridge of this Town William Wallace beat the English soldiers under the lead of King Edward I. Supposedly Stirling is also one of themost “haunted” town in Scotland. Maybe because of all the wars and stuff, but it is a very nice town. Very nice to explore around. But If I could suggest one thing, DO NOT eat at Pancho Villas. Although they offered 20% off for students, the food was extremely bland.
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| | April 26
Start from Hotel: 11:00 AM
Arrive at last stop: 4:30PM
After checking out of the lovely Dornoch castle we drove toward Inverness and our first stop was Glenmorangie distillery. We only bought a shotglass and then we head back to the road. We stopped at Tarbat ness and walked toward the lighthouse to have lunch. It was a very nice view and extremely romantic.. We enjoyed our cheese sandwiches amongst the water and the rocks .. After that we drove through some small villages to see the ancient stones (in Sandwick and Nigg). Then we passed Talloch castle and we’re off to Inverness. Today is a pretty short drive as we want to stay and explore Inverness the “capital” of the highland. After checking in as usual, we walked around the town to window shop as everything was closed already and we ate Chinese food (buffet) which was pretty good and cheap too. We were disappointed as the Inverness castle is not even a “castle” or even a museum .. the government uses it as a courthouse.. nevertheless we took tons of pictures..
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| | April 25
Start from Hotel: 12PM
Arrive at last stop: 7PM
Connected to the internet at the hotel lobby before we go on the road today. Got some emails from my professors, yikes, I’m very close to my deadline.. but oh well, I’m on vacation .. hehhe.. so I ignored that for a bit.. Then we went to a small supermarket to load up on our logistics. I was pretty good today as I didn’t buy too much junk food. We bought apples, blue berries and soy milk instead (well.. in addition to chips, salsa, cheese and sweets.. hehe)..
We really had fun having picnic lunch at the Dunnet bay beach. It was sunny but not hot at all. We walked around the beach and have fun researching and collecting the rocks and the shells, feels like we’re little kids again..
We continued our trip toward John O’Groats , which is the northest point of Scotland. We bought some souvenirs and wrote some postcards for our families in US and Jakarta. Then we continued our trip passing some little towns. The scenery today is farm lands.. very green grassy lands with hundreds of sheep and cows in sight.
Today is actually a “U Turn” day because we haven’t been very successful in seeing the castles or the ruins we wanted to see. The success rate for today is probably 20%.. The point of interests that we want to see are either privately owned or not accessible or just can’t be found.. Some successful sights: Hills o’many stanes (an ancient monument for lunar and solar indicator for farming use), the witch stone (where the last woman accused of being a witch was burnt alive), some unsuccessful sights: Viking settlement and stronghold and castle of old wick(we couldn’t find the place). Some half successful sights (meaning we can find and see it but cannot get close to it): Keiss castle (cannot find the road to get us there), castle Sinclair ginigoe (closed for renovation), the ancient village of Badbea (We find the place to park but the walk was too far so we turned around), Dunrobin castle (closed as we get there) and castle Skelbo (it is on a private farm land).
We decided to stay at the town called Dornoch (around 30 miles north of Inverness) because the hotel we found here is kind of cool. It is called the Dornoch castle hotel. It has satellite TV and internet connection, 4 poster bed, cool interior with many amenities for very reasonable price. I would suggest people to stay in this hotel.. it is very romantic.
Oh oh, btw, turned out that this place have hosted some famous people wedding check this out : (taken from Wikipedia):
“The Carnegie Club hosted Madonna's wedding to Guy Ritchie on December 22, 2000. In December 2001, Ashley Judd married Dario Franchitti here also. On 28 December 1997 Robert Carlyle planned a secret midnight wedding with Anastasia Shirley at Skibo Castle, but a journalist phoned the minister posing as a friend, "confirming details", and splashed Carlyle's romantic plans all over the front page. Other weddings include Ewan MacGregor and golfer Sam Torrance.”
The hotel has a restaurant, but it is on the pricey side. So we decided to walk around the town and made a dinner stop at the eagle’s inn. I had a nice portion of Cumberland sausage with mashed potatoes and Yorkshire pudding .. yumm.. now that I’m well fed, I’m ready to go back to our high tech room and chill.. See y’all again tomorrow!!!
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| | April 24
Start from hotel: 11 AM
Arrive at last stop: 8:30 PM
I was still very full from the dinner last night and Jason was still tired because he couldn’t sleep last night so we decided to skip breakfast and have more of sleep time. We left the hotel and started driving toward the north part of Scotland at about 10 AM. The scenery continued to be interesting, more of the stony mountains, grasslands, pine trees, gorges and sheep everywhere. We continued by driving toward Ulapool. On the way, we passed a beautiful view of the valley called corrieshalloch gorge made a stop to take pictures. Arriving at Ulapool we made a stop at a clothing store to buy a waterproof jacket for me. It has been raining for the past 3 days, and I really wasn’t prepared.
After Ulapool we tried to get to the “bone cave” but decided not to because we would need to walk 4 miles from the parking lot to reach the cave. So we continued on and go the ruin of Ardvreck castle instead. We spent some time on the ground of Ardvreck castle and then off to a north shore town called Durness where we stopped at the ruin of the church and the cemetery ground. Close to Durness is a place called Faraid Head which is the practice ground for the British Army.
After that we go on to Smoo Cave where we had to go down the stairs to reach it. It was a pretty cool sight and we hang around looking at rocks near the cave. Then off we go back on the road and we passed the ruin of Varrich castle. WE made a stop at Strathnaver museum and cemetery ground to see Farr Stone which is an ancient stone used for worshiping before Christianity was introduced to the island.
Then we drive off toward Thurso as our last destination for today. But, before we arrived there we tried to make a stop at St Mary’s chapel at Forrs, but the walk was too far so we decided to skip it. We also drove through a sea port village called Scrabster before finally arrive at Thurso.
We stayed at the St Claire hotel. Pretty cheap for the size of the room. Finally we get an internet connection at the hotel after 3 days not connected to the world. We walked around town and had dinner at a Chinese restaurant before settling in. Actually there’s a surfing championship that supposedly a big deal because it is sponsored by O’neil in Thurso area. We saw some surfers as we walked around the town.. Nice change of scenery compared to the older people we usually meet on our trip.. Better get some rest for tomorrow!
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| | April 22
Start from hotel: 12PM
Arrive at last stop: 11:15PM
Don’t really feel like waking up! We decided to skip breakfast and gain more sleep time. We had to go back to Morar before crossing. In Morar, supposedly there’s a “being” in the loch. One book says that the “being” is similar to the monster Loch Ness, but our other book says that it is a mermaid named Mhorag. Too bad we were not lucky to spot it. Oh well, drive back to Mallaig we go.
As we get to the port we were informed that since today is Sunday, they only have 4 crossing which we have already missed 2. The next one would be at 4 pm which is 4 hours more to wait. Jason suggested that we drive and take a different route to Skye Island. So we head toward a bridge that connects the mainland to the Skye Island at Kyle of Lochalsh .
As we are driving toward Fort William, we got held up by a bunch of marathon runners. Slowed us a little bit but we’re not in a hurry anyways… (Btw, today is also the London Marathon Day).. We made a stop at Inverlochy castle just off Fort Williams. This time we were lucky because not only this castle is easily accessible, it is also free.
We made another castle Stop at Eilean Donan which is the castle used for the highlander movie. Jason took a picture with the attendant at the museum’s shop who turned out to have been an extra in the movie. It really made Jason’s day since it has also been raining all day today. By the way, as we drove away from the castle, Jason told me that according to one of our books, the Eilean Donan castle is haunted by a one of the 300 Spanish soldier who died defending the castle. The legend says that he was seen carrying his head. Another ghost of this castle is called “Lady Mary” who supposedly haunts one of the bed chambers. Isn’t that scary?? I am so glad that he told me about this way after we left the castle..
In Kyle of Lockalsh, we saw a ruin of a castle called Maol. Then when we arrived at Skye we saw two more castle ruins: Knock and Dunscaith. The big castle that would’ve been good to see in Skye is called Armadale which was already closed when we got there. Feeling disappointed, we continued driving and made a stop at Broadford to have dinner at Gabbro. I ordered sausages and mashed potatoes and Jason had fish and chips, we also ordered mozzarella bites and salsa as appetizer.
Then off we go on the road again and saw Kiltrock and Mealt falls. It was breathtaking and awfully windy … Brrr. We are ready to find a stop and rest at this point, so Jason suggested we stop at a bed and breakfast called Floddygary garden house as we were passing its sign. The place was nice and big but we had to wait to get our room as they don’t really take a walk in. I was kind of scared at first but I felt better when we get to our room. Turned out that this place is supposedly one of the most romantic hotels in UK. What luck, and we got it for cheaper price than the listed price too. So after a relaxing bath I am so ready to sleep. G ‘nite all!
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| | April 21
Start from hotel: 11:30AM
Arrive at last stop: 11:30 PM
We went to Oban Distillery in the morning, shopped for a special Oban whiskey but skipped the tour. Oban is one of the famous whiskey distillers of Scotland. It is considered unique because of its “peaty” taste and they only produce a 14 year old whiskey. Neither one of us is a whiskey drinker, we just think that it’ll be cool to have the whiskey from the place we actually visited and get the one that is not available outside of the distillery.
It was already raining as we started to drive, which is kind of disappointing, but we made our stop at the Scottish Sea Life Sanctuary anyways. Saw different kinds of fish and saw the feeding of the Seals. Too bad we can’t find the otters. When we’re done with exploring the shop, we continued on road to see Stalker castle. Disappointed that we couldn’t come in, we just take the picture of it. Oh ya this castle is actually referred in Monthy Python the Holy Grail as the "castle Arrggghh" where they believe to have contained the Holy Grail.
After that, we made a stop at Barcaldine castle and again we couldn’t come inside. This one has already been turned into a hotel and nobody answered the door when we knocked, so oh well, we left...
Then we crossed with a short ferry ride from Onich to Corran . From there we drove south to Lochaline. The quest to find Kinlochaline castle began. After getting a bit lost and asked direction to a 10 year old boy, we head back northwest and tried to find Ardtornish estate, as it is the landmark that could lead us to Kinlochaline castle. Then we had to drive on a muddy and stony road which didn’t even let us get Close to the Castle. So we gave up, turned around and tried for another castle.
We continued our drive toward Loch Moidart area to see Tioram Castle. Again, we were out of luck because the access to go to Tioram caste was already covered by the water due to high tide. So we ended up only taking its picture from afar. Too bad, I think it would have been another nice romantic evening walking adventure if only we arrived there a couple of hours earlier.
Meanwhile, the rain hasn’t stopped pouring so we decided to continue driving toward Mallaig. It was kind of late already as we pass Arsaig, a nice seaside town, so we started to look for lodging for the night; but no luck. Legend has it that in Arsaig there’s a ghost of a white horse. If you happen to see it, don’t be tempted to ride on it, as it will drag you into the water and drawn your. Yikes. Good thing we didn’t see it…
So with no luck at Arsaig, we tried another town called Morar. Again, no luck. So oh well, we thought, we’ll just push it to Mallaig. Finally, we found a nice hotel on the hill called West Highland hotel. Our hotel room was pretty big. It has one queen size bed and a single bed. It also gave us coffee/ tea making facility. I think this hotel is pretty good for the price. So after checking in and put our stuff down we head down to walk around in the town center and stopped at Marine bar to get a drink. That was fun but it was time for us to head back and get some rest as it was a long drive. Tomorrow we will cross with the ferry and go to Skye Island, but now we’ll go to dream land zzzzz.
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| | April 20
Start from hotel: 12PM
Arrive at last stop: 8PM
Today was not as cheery, kinda overcasted a little bit so we didn't take too much pictures..
Today we were driving from Creggins inn to Oban, again we started late.. planned on going early to get breakfst (we're at B&B , right??) and tried to get as much driving as we can.. but.. last night we can't sleep there wre noises from the heaters and the pipe.. so I woke up tired AND cranky... On the way to Oban, we stopped at a cemetary near a restaurant close to Inveraray.. too bad it wasn't super old ones.. so we continued on to Kilchurn castle..
This one is also an abandoned one with a really nice afternoon walk toward the castle.. the entrance to the place where you can park is pretty hidden tho, good thing we drove around to find out..(read more : http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/lochawe/kilchurncastle/access.html) It was an easy walk, not close but pretty easy, no inclination whatsoever... a lot of people were taking their dogs and families there.. From the castle, we can see people fishing and camping around the loch awe.. We were planning on going to Inveraray to get some gas and walk around but then we got sidetracked and made a loop drive.. Oh well, still a nice drive, we got to see the higland cows pretty closely, so I was happy.. But I got pretty sleepy at that time, didn't sleep enough last night.. but we mae it through to Oban, finally!!
As we arrive in oban, it turned out to be a pretty big village, i think it's a town... Unfortunately a lot of shops and stuff were already closed by the time we arrived.. so we just hung out and bar hop trying different food from different places.. Of course we order 1 and shared.. more romantic that way :) so our menu tonight was mac and cheese with chips from Coastal Pub, then a piece of fish with no chips from some fish and chips shop, then we ended up in Obans Inn and get our dessert: a warm apple pie with warm custard and I chased it down with a pint of Kronenbourg with Cassis syrup and Jason had a glass of diet coke and tried a shot of Oban whiskey.. I must say i didn't like it.. it was abit too oaky and a bit salty.. then we continued to walk around the town looking at closed shops.. good method to save money hehhe.. tomorrow we will walk some more before continue the drive.. So nitey nite... |
 Took stansted express train from Liverpool st station and then flew with Ryanair.. the "fare" was supposed to be 1 Pond return/ person but WACHOUT that their taxes and "charges" ended up being 123 pounds or around $250 / person PLUS, their baggage limit was only 15 Kg and they charge $5 / Kg extra.. we ended up paying like $100 more :( sucks...
Arrived at glasgow prestwick airport and picked up our rental car.. in UK, I'm driving !!! it was a cute blue vauxhall Astra .. then off to Glasgow we go..
 We stayed at brunswick hotel (http://www.brunswickhotel.co.uk/) at merchant city area.. (that's me in the car in the front of the hotel)
 We spent the day walking around merchant city and ate fish and chipas at the black friar's then before heading back to our hotel to rest we shoped for logistics at tesco.. It was so much fun..
So starting tomorrow I think it's better if we take more pictures isn't a picture paints a 1000 words????
 
 
Yaaaayyyyy Finally arrived in london after almost 12 hours of flight from Des Moines.. feeling weird coming back after 6 years.. just realized how much I really missed this place
 Took a train from Gatwick to Victoria station and then continued by cab .. finally arrived at the hotel..
Pro: Convenience: train 30 minutes and
taxi not having to haul our luggaes in/ out up/ down the stairs of tube stations
Cons: Total land transport almost $100 yikes...
Determined to not getting jet lag, Jason and I forced ourselves to walk around the City area, so we end up going to see tower of london and tower bridge..
 After walking around we had lunch at E.A.T (http://www.eat.co.uk/) and ordered sandwiches .. it was okay but we were pretty hungry .. then we head back to our hotel and took a nap and hang out in our room.. excited to go to Scotland tomorrow.... Nite nite.. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
| | April 19
Start from hotel: 1:40 PM
Arrive at last stop: 10:30 PM
We drove from Glasgow at around 1 PM, stopped at newark castle where the innkeeper let us in the castle for FREE.. she was very helpful and friendly.. Then, took ferry from Gourock to Dunoon, I didn't go out of the car at all, Jason did and he said it was a very weird feeling... then we continued driving on a single lane road...
We stopped and ate at a very romantic inn called Inver cottage where it has a ruin of a castle and a cemetary nearby (http://www.invercottage.co.uk/lochfyne/lochfyne.cfm). The walk from the cottage to the castle (lachlan castle) was very nice and we both just roam around and climbed like monkeys cos nobody else were there.. For more information about lachlan castle see: http://www.darkisle.com/l/lachlan/lachlan.html
We continued driving and rest at the creggans inn cos it was getting late.. Tomorrow we will continue to go to Invararay and Oban.. right now we will continue researching about what interesting places e can find along the way.. tata for now... |
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