Wow, the last couple of weeks went by fast. Our vacations are typically very busy and go go go, but this time we literally did nothing in London (last 5 of the days) and it still zipped by! Here's a summary of our time in Scotland, which was our first time visiting there:
We started our trip with an evening flight to London Heathrow, then made a connection to Edinburgh. Claire slept through 6 hours of the flight, comfortably splayed out on the complimentary bassinet provided by the airline. The word "bassinet" really didn't apply if you ask us, because it ended up just being a plasticky duffel-bag which we laid at our feet. Brian and I didn't sleep much at all because we were so worried about accidentally kicking Claire! After getting seriously lost driving around downtown Edinburgh, we finally made it to the Walton Hotel with whom we had booked an apartment. It ended up being a really decent place, two bedrooms, with nice although strange decor including an animal hide rug in the living room. We did a little grocery shopping in the neighborhood and I got my fill of fish and chips before hitting the sack.
Our first full day in Edinburgh, we drove to two medieval castles along the coast east of Edinburgh: Dirleton Castle and Tantallon Castle. There were only a few other people at these castles so it was alot of fun exploring them in the eery silence. From Tantallon Castle we could see Bass Rock, home to 100,000 seabirds. The rain drove us to return to the apartment early, but it did lighten up and we took turns doing running tours through downtown. We picked up Brian's sister, Ali, late that night and she finally got to meet Claire.
Day two we decided to stay in the city and see Edinburgh Castle, which actually ended up being way too crowded for our likes. We did get to see the "1 o'clock gun" fire off and changing of the guards in the courtyard, but we ditched out of there early to lunch on Thai food. The Princes Street Gardens at the foot of the castle were very nice and suited us much better. Brian "flew" Claire around in the air alot and she had a blast. We went on a late afternoon hike in Holyrood Park, and ended up getting lost in the thick fog. I'm pretty sure we made it to the summit but there was absolutely no view of Edinburgh to be had. On our way down we did have nice views of the nearby town of Duddington and its small loch.
On day three we drove to the town of Stirling to get away from the rain in Edinburgh. On the way we stopped to see Linlithgow Palace, a residence of the Stuart monarchs. We missed the falconry show there but the birds were on display and Claire was fascinated by them. One of them was screeching incessantly and it sounded very much like Claire when she screams! We toured Stirling Castle, another residence of the Stuart monarchs, and Argyll's Lodging, a historic home. We should have ended the day at that point, but Brian really wanted to see Loch Lomond. It ended up being alot farther away than we had guessed! By the time we got there, it was too dark to do anything, plus we did not have good views of the loch anyway.
Day four we headed out to the town of Perth and picnicked at Elcho Castle by the river Tay. I will never forget this: Claire lunged at Brian's peanut butter and jelly sandwich while he was talking, and she got her first taste of peanut butter! I had a bit of a panic attack but Claire ended up being just fine. Afterwards we toured Scone Palace, the home of the Earl of Mansfield. There was a nice hedge maze in the gardens as well as peacocks living on the grounds. We ended the afternoon with a nice hike up Killoun Hill, for splendid views of the countryside despite the mist.
On day five we did a little shopping then met up with one of Ali's friends for lunch and a stroll through the Royal Botanic Gardens. The highlights were the gigantic 100 year old hedge and rock garden. Ali baby-sat Claire while we went on a run up Calton Hill to get views of the city. We realized it was just the second time we've ever had anybody baby-sit Claire! Her auntie did a fantastic job, and Claire rewarded her by saying her first word: "Ali". We don't know if Claire knew what she was saying but it definitely sounded like Ali's name!
The next day we flew to London with Ali to see my family before my brother's wedding on July 4th. Brian and Ali did an amazingly thorough walking tour of London in just 3 hours, before she had to leave to return to her home in Montpelier. The remainder of our time in London was primarily spent visiting with family, and of course the wedding! We strolled through Soho and Covent Gardens, toured the tower of London with my cousin Mimi and her family, and went up in the London Eye to see what all the hype was about. In the end we decided it was over-priced but it was very special to get to see the city on such a sunny day, and with my brother Stephen, sister-in-law Ana, and nephew Alex too. We had such a fun time catching up with the newlyweds David and Leila, along with all the rest of the family! We miss everybody already.
Even though Claire won't remember the trip at all we really enjoyed showing her new things and having her meet our loved ones. Travelling with a 5-month-old is much different and tiring than what we're used to but the special memories make it worth it for us.
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