LISA

Our scenic and reviving (read - Lisa slept most of the way and missed the sights) bus trip culminated in our arrival in the city of Aberdeen where Mary thankfully spotted us. We were then treated to the scenic route to their delightful house via the River Dee, Costco, the park for Hector, the very miniature Yorkshire Terrier, and Marks and Spencers.

A fantastic dinner of inch-thick rib-eye steak with accompaniments followed a lazy afternoon in which we relished the chance to watch the news and just enjoyed spending some time with lovely people in a real house.

The second day we were there we were treated to a lovely country drive up into the Highlands of Scotland. We had a short tea break near Dee airfield with a vista of snow-capped mountains and grassy valleys. Then we continued on to Ballater where we browsed the little shops and I bought my scotch thistle charm. Feeling a bit peckish we took a lunch break at Braemar, on the site of the Braemar Gathering, nestled between the mountains.

The landscape was absolutely breathtaking as we continued following the river to the Linn of Dee (the river head). Here the water has gouged out a deep winding path through the rocks and sounds like a massive waterfall.

Homeward bound we briefly stopped in Braemar again (for chips) and in Ballater to see the vintage style train commissioned by Prince Charles. Alas, the money-conscious Scots had started charging entry, so we saw about 1ft of it through a door!

Near BalmoralCastle (which we saw from a distance, and its gates close-up) we visited the little Kirk (church) the royals go to when they're around and were told that Charles and Camilla were expected this week. In fact they had apparently just gone passed before we arrived. Oh the delight :P. On a detour walking Hector, Mary and I found John Brown's grave (close friends with Queen Victoria).

Continuing in the fashion of fine food the day was rounded off with Scottish Salmon baked in cream, baby tatties (potatoes) and cucumber salad (sooo goood!).

On our last day in Aberdeen Mary took us for a drive through the city itself (with expert commentary). We saw her old school, the posh granite houses, the old town, the Cathedral/Kirk with a complicated history (as most things have when they're old we're discovering), the university buildings, the botanic gardens, the ocean (ahh, feels like home), the local amusement park, and a quaint little 'fishermen's village'. The latter was an amazing setup of houses arranged around four squares, with old fashioned garden sheds in the centre of these, each belonging to its opposite house. Some owners took the opportunity to express their personality and whole sheds and gardens were covered with little gnomes, or boating paraphernalia. It had a real little community feel.

Then it was on the bus with a bag full of goodies to keep us from starvation on the 4hr trip from Glasgow. A fantastic time!