\n\t\t\t\tAM & Maida\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\nOur first major trip since Covid has passed all too quickly and we\u2019re very relieved \u00a0that everything has gone so smoothly. \u00a0We continued to be blessed with very usable weather, having only had one wet day in our visit – as one friend put it \u201cyou\u2019ve had unseasonably good weather for Scotland!\u201d<\/p>\n
On leaving Inverness we headed along the Moray\u00a0Firth through Nairn and Elgin, stopping in Peterhead. \u00a0The old prison there has been converted to a museum with the cells pretty much in their original condition. \u00a0We saw several different areas in a visit that took over an hour, accompanied by an excellent audio commentary. \u00a0It was amazing that the cat o\u2019nine tails had been used as recently as the 1950s and that the focus of the prison was punishment, not rehabilitation. \u00a0We spent the night in Stonehaven, a small fishing town a little south of Aberdeen. \u00a0We were again somewhat surprised at the lushness of the countryside we drove through which looked as though it supported thriving agricultural businesses.<\/span><\/p>\nThe next three nights were spent in Coupar Angus where Alimay\u2019s sister Trisha\u2019s partner owns a large mansion. \u00a0We had a warm welcome from Trish and David there and\u00a0were able to visit several places of interest in Fife and Perthshire. \u00a0The latter is famous for its soft fruit and we were amazed at the flavour of the strawberries. \u00a0 One of the highlights of our time there was a visit to Falkland Palace, the site of the oldest tennis court in Europe.<\/span><\/p>\nNext stop was Edinburgh – familiar stomping grounds for both of us and probably our favourite city in Europe. \u00a0We had an AirBnB next to the Meadows in Morningside, right in the heart of our old haunts within easy reach of shops and buses. \u00a0The accommodation was very pleasant – a small self-contained building with all amenities in the garden of a larger house . \u00a0We visited old friends Alastair and Rhona Chalmers who date back to University days in the early 60s and spent some time with Alimay\u2019s cousin\u2019s cousin, Liz Black who came up from the Lake District to see us. \u00a0We also saw Linda Bauld, whom we have known since her childhood in Victoria. \u00a0She is\u00a0now a Professor in Edinburgh University and a senior advisor on health to the Scottish govt.<\/p>\n
This time the focus of \u00a0our trip was not gardens but we could not resist \u00a0seeing as many as possible as June is prime. \u00a0Undoubtably the high spot was our revisit to Branklyn. \u00a0This time we were fortunate to meet the head gardener, who was happy to spend time with us and answer our questions. \u00a0He had visited \u00a0Victoria just prior to Covid and planned to return with his wife. \u00a0Another high spot was Kailzie Gardens, which had a huge walled garden, with a laburnum allee, which was in full bloom. \u00a0The huge property was maintained by one gardener who had been there for thirty years. \u00a0Unlike several other properties we had visited this one was very well maintained and the herbaceous borders were at their best. \u00a0In the grounds was an ancient larch, the oldest in Scotland. \u00a0We also visited Dawyck Garden, another offshoot of the Edinburgh Botanical Garden, one which featured trees and rhododendrons which had been sourced by the early plant hunters in \u00a0China.<\/p>\n
Leaving Edinburgh to come back to Glasgow \u00a0we took the country roads and arrived in Glasgow \u00a0to a warm welcome from Maida.\u00a0 she certainly kept us busy for the last 3 days with a visit with a personal shopper at John Lewis where we were greeted with a glass of Prosecco to enhance our experience, a dinner at the Buttery with the family and a personal guide for a tour of the famous Glasgow Necropolis.<\/p>\n
It was really hard to say goodbye as we\u00a0 had such a lovely time.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Our first major trip since Covid has passed all too quickly and we\u2019re very relieved \u00a0that everything has gone so smoothly. \u00a0We continued to be blessed with very usable weather, having only had one wet day in our visit – as one friend put it \u201cyou\u2019ve had unseasonably good weather for Scotland!\u201d On leaving Inverness … <\/p>\n
Continue reading “Scotland 2022 – Second Half”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/robinmcneil.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1569"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/robinmcneil.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/robinmcneil.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/robinmcneil.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/robinmcneil.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1569"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"http:\/\/robinmcneil.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1569\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1608,"href":"http:\/\/robinmcneil.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1569\/revisions\/1608"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/robinmcneil.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/robinmcneil.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/robinmcneil.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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