A little more than 24 hours ago we all woke up in our Edinburgh apartment to get ready for the trip home. I must say that British Airways far out performed American Airlines on the trip home. We had American going there and British coming home. My bed is so wonderful to be back in, but I really enjoyed Scotland. It needs another visit to see more of the country and to spend more time at the top sites we went to. The sites I would want to spend more time in were mostly a surprise to me, so it is good that we got to taste many of them on this round. More pictures will be posted for posterity here soon. Lastly, I want to thank my travel companions for being so great, especially in helping me with the driving directions as I focused on reversing all my habits.

Now to sleep a few hours before Sunday morning starts!

HOLYROOD HOUSE

We visited Holyrood and Edinburgh Castle on our last day in Scotland

Dinner was at a popular Indian restaurant, Kashi's. It was great and was something on my personal to do list while here. The weather went classic Scotland today with wind and rain which made the castle visit more of a duck and cover. The war memorial was impressive and touching.

Glasgow was a fun place to go see. I was expecting more modern buildings but there is still a lot of old, stone architecture there and much worth going for a visit. The main purpose of taking time away from Edinburgh was to visit the National Piping Centre. We toured the museum and watched a great video about piping. Since Michael played pipes in band during high school and has begun relearning, this was very interesting for us. While at the centre, we found out about a place to get a quality hand made kilt a short ways away. We went there and it was an amazing experience. This is a one man shop and the gentleman who helped us personally makes the kilts. He spent a lot of time chatting about what to consider when selecting all the qualities you want in your kilt and helped us narrow down what tartan would be best for Michael. I love the grey tweed coat that will go with the kilt, too! I went to the same high school as Michael, but 4 years later, so never got to see Michael in a kilt in person. It was a special moment to see him in one for myself. t was so nice to see that each person who entered the shop was clearly remembered in detail, no need to look anything up. He knew what they had ordered, which events they were for, what pieces they were adding on and why. By the time you leave his shop, you feel like a small town friend & customer for life. 2 hours later, we were on our way to find lunch and await delivery of the kilt at home in mid-November. Lunch was some very good BBQ (pulled pork with caramelized apple and a rack of ribs). I am not sure why I was skeptical about BBQ in Scotland, but no more!

Sometimes you are hungry enough to eat a....well, you get the idea!

These horses are hundreds of feet high and glow with light after dark. We got cold waiting for full dark, so these are the best pics we could get.

They are Kelpies, mythical water horses. Here they are rising out of pools of water, very cool.

Last night we went to the Enchanted Forest. Interesting, but if it had been in the daytime when other things were open, I would have skipped it. Got some good pic, though!

This morning was spent hanging around Pitlochry, each of us doing whatever we wanted to do on our last day here. We all got back together for tea at the Athol Palace Hotel, which was very nice. They did play an odd assortment of music for a old style British tea in a formal environment. Then we hit the road for a couple of odd places we had on our list: The Kelpies (think building sized water horses rearing out the water) and the Falkland Water Wheel. The water wheel picks a boat up in a large scoop and then turns, like a wheel, raising the bucket up to the canal eight double decker buses higher and it sails right on out.

My favorite picture so far! Taken at the castle where "Monty Python and the Search for the Holy Gail" was filmed (also some scenes in "Outlander"

It has been a busy week! Tomorrow morning is set aside for a leisurely breakfast and strolling about town here in Pitlochry. We had a great day today seeing the town of Culross and some nice Outlander filming sites. We also met a nice photographer and learned more about the area.

The birds continue to taunt me as I drive. Today a bird that looked like an owl swooped right in front of the car while I was going about 60 mph. Heart stopping to say the least! This evening we went to the Enchanted Forest, which was interesting, but too crowded.