Glamis (pronounced Glahms) Castle is the home of the Earls of Strathmore, and best known as the childhood home of the Queen Mother (Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, 1992-2002). So we decided to pay our respects to the Queen mother who gave birth to the longest reigning monarch in British history and supported her husband, King George VI, through WWII, as seen in the movie The Kings Speech. Driving to it on a tree-lined driveway invokes oohs & aahs. It’s what I think o...

Stirling Castle is one of the largest and most important castles in Scotland, both historically and architecturally. The castle sits atop Castle Hill, which forms part of the Stirling Sill geological formation. It is surrounded on three sides by steep cliffs, giving it a strong defensive position. Its strategic location, guarding what was, until the 1890s, the farthest downstream crossing of the River Forth, has made it an important fortification in the region f...

I’m not a golfer (in fact, I don’t really like the sport) but its hard not to be awe struck being in this mecca of golf. It’s known as the home if golf. St. Andrews claims to have founded the sport. The first recorded round of golf played here was in 1553. In the Middle Ages, St Andrews traded with the Dutch and some believe the Scots adjusted a golf-like game played on ice to the fields of Scotland’s east coast, which were not suitable for farming. Did ...

Our other 2 travel companions are not joining us until Monday so we thought we'd stay busy and are go on our first, of what is likely to be many, whiskey tasting tours. We are going to visit the Dalwhinnie Distillery.  Dalwhinnie Distillery is located in the Cairngorm National Park at the heart of the Scottish Highlands in the village of Dalwhinnie. We had a good nights sleep, met for breakfast and set off towards Dalwhinnie for our 3:00 tour of the Dalw...

We had an uneventful, but very uncomfortable, flight to Glasgow. I, of course, was stuck in the middle seat and I was next to Vic and a bonnie, very friendly, BIG Scottish fellow who gave us some tips on what to see and educated me on pronunciations and some Scottish terms. For instance, he told me if I thought a guy was cool to call him a “sound cu*t”. Yes that “cu*t”! I’m not sure if he was pulling my leg or not but I think I’ll pass on using that ...