Scotland - 2026 - Day 4 (September 21)

 Today was a travel day from Edinburgh to Fort William.  AA and DD got up and left the Airbnb at 8:00 to go to the airport and pickup the rental van.  The lady at the rental counter tried her best to upsell an upgrade, extra insurance and roadside assistance but AA held his ground.

Driving on the other side of the road was easier than AA expected.  Being on the right hand side of the car makes driving on the left hand side of the road feel almost natural.  Lola had a hard time adjusting for the first 30 mins of driving.

After getting to the house, the gang loaded up the van and locked up.  It's debatable if AA got a parking ticket - there was a parking officer walking around and AA talked to him, explaining he was having trouble with the parking app.  We will see what happens...

Today's drive was 3 hrs end to end.  With a couple stops and lunch, it was closer to 6 hrs.

The first stop was in Kilmahog, at Trossachs Woolen Mill.  AA saw some pictures online at a place near where he wanted to stop for lunch (well, where ChatGPT had planned that they stop for lunch) and thought this would be a good place to kill some time.  It was a hit.  MBM said this was perhaps the BEST unplanned roadtrip stop ever.

There were three Highland Cows!  DD and T went into the small shop to buy some food to feed to the "coos" (some carrots and turnips).  T loved feeding Hamish, Honey and Baxter.  B was nervous.  The cows definitely knew how to perform and would pose for pictures with you.  It was quite neat!

After a short walk through the gift shop, everyone piled into the van and it was a short 2 mins drive to The Lade Inn for lunch.  The food was delicious!  AA, B, DD and MBM all enjoyed soup (cream of broccoli with taragon) and a sandwich.  Lola had a half-pound burger on a gluten free bun (the patty was massive!) and T enjoyed his steak and ale pie with mashed potatoes.  The BR family also enjoyed their artisnal bread starter, especially the kids.

After everyone's bellies were full, it was time to start the 2 hrs (which ended up being closer to 4.5 hrs) drive to Fort William.  Stop 1 was at Loch Lubnaig where Lola and B put their feet in the water.

Stop 2 was at a view point overlooking Rannoch Moor.  The stop was timed well with no rain but with low level clouds.  It was very dramatic.

We drove by the "James Bond Skyfall" spot, where the iconic shot of James standing beside his Aston Martin DB5 on the side of the highway, overlooking the highlands.  Stop 3 was further up the highway, at the "Lost Valley Trail" where the kids both learned valuable lessons about how slippery the wet highland grass can be.  And how to change close discretely in the van.

After driving through Glencoe and Onich, we drove along Loch Eil up to Fort William to our Airbnb which was immediately a fan favourite.  Everyone has their own room (there is a room full of teenage books for B; a desk for DD to do some work, a view of the water for MBM and very nice blue wood batten board with a solid wood trim).  AA just likes that he doesn't have to drive for a little bit.

After a short unwind session at the house, everyone got their shoes and jackets on and walked 12 mins to a restaurant that was recommended by the Airbnb owners in their house guidebook - Sonas.  When we arrived at 6pm, we were the only ones there.  But by the time we left, the place was full, and for good reason.  4 of the 6 people had chicken schnitzel and fries.  B's chicken was easily twice the size of AA's, which was fine because AA didn't need to eat that much.  Lola had lamb chops - they were good she said, aprehensively.  Definitely not her favourite.  DD had some mushroom ravioli and was looking forward to the sticky toffee bread pudding for dessert.  For dessert, B and T devoured their sticky toffee bread pudding in minutes.

After supper, B, DD and MBM made their way back to the house while T, Lola and AA went to the grocery store to get some food for breakfast.

"Breakfast Food"

Now, back at the house, we are winding down, getting ready for tomorrow which is a surprise, much to the displeasure of T who doesn't like surprises.  We think everyone will have a good time on tomorrow's adventure ;)

PS - today, we learned that "someone" in the group thought that all cats were female and all dogs were male.  Hint - it wasn't the youngest people in the group...

Scotland - 2026 - Day 3 (September 20)

Sunday wasn't an early start for the crew, which was helpful as the adults had some trouble sleeping the entire night.  AA was up for a good portion between 10:30pm and 3:30am but slept hard the other times.  We got up and had some coffee and tea and made our way to find somewhere to have brunch because B was "starving", and so was Lola.

We found a place that was a short walk from our Airbnb, and even shorter walk to the bus stop - S&B Brunch Bar, where S&B stood for Sips and Barks.  MBM and DD enjoyed their chai teas, AA had a coffee and Lola had some apple juice.  Everyone enjoyed their breakfast except T - he didn't understand that "Small Brekkie" stood for "small breakfast" and was disappointed when his plate arrived with eggs in addition to the haggis, bacon, toast and beans (DD had the same but enjoyed everything about his breakfast).  Lola enjoyed her meal which was the "Big Brekkie", the same as T but larger size (and minus the haggis which wasn't gluten free).  B had the Maple Bacon Croffle (a waffle made with croissant batter) and MBM had eggs benedict.  AA had the oddest meal - the "Shakshuka" plate which was a poached egg with roasted tomato and red pepper and sourdough toast.  It was very good and had some spice to it.

After breakfast, we made our way to the bus stop to get down to the "old town" and explore the Edinburgh castle area.  We were early for our castle reservation so we went to take some photos at the Scottish Monument and then wandered around the Royal Mile before going inside the castle walls at 12:30.

The castle was very interesting, dating back to the 1100's and built on top of an extinct volcano.  The view of the city was spectacular and the weather made for a great afternoon learning about the history of Scottish army, military prisons, the Scottish Royal family and seeing the Royal Jewels (crown, staph and sword).  Like usual, T really enjoyed all the military history.  B was a trooper and indulged everyone with going along with the plan because "museums aren't really her thing", even though she enjoys reading all the displays.

Oldest Surviving building in Edinburgh (St Margret's Chapel) built in 1130.

At around 3pm, after seeing all the buildings in the castle, the gang was hungry and it was time to find somewhere to have some food.  Lola found a pizza restuarant that was near the castle and had gluten free crusts and dairy free cheese, so we made our way there.  Along the way, we found the hostel that MBM stayed at around 20 years ago when she came to Scotland with one of her friends - the Castle Rock Hostel.  She was pretty excited to reminisce.

The food was pretty good at Mammas American Pizza restaurant, although B was upset she couldn't order the panzerotti like she wanted.  Instead, she had mac and cheese, and some of T's nachos. And some of Lola's GF and dairy free pepperoni pizza.  MBM and DD shared a pizza (the Meteor) and AA enjoyed his small "Hot One" pizza.  

After refuelling, we made our way to the Scottish Whiskey Experience tour which was quite interesting to learn about the different regions and flavours that each typically include in their whiskey.  The tour also allowed some of the adults to taste some whiskeys and for B to try the local "Irn Bru" - a local brewed caffeinated beverage.

T didn't like the smells.

We decided we are all too much the same height for a good "ride" review.

After the tour, the crew made their way to see the Greyfriars Bobby statue and monument at the nearby church, AA and MBM both remember seeing him when they were in Edinburgh previously (on separate trips). 

Next, it was time to eat supper.  Almost everyone was hungry, just AA wasn't super hungry but got a starter size of the Haggis, Neeps and Tatties.  Lola had steak and boiled potatoes, T had bangers and haggis and mash.  B and DD enjoyed their beef pot pies with mashed potatoes and (whole) carrots.

By the time everyone finished their meals, they were starting to hit their wall and it was time to find a bus to take us back "home".  The bus ride wasn't very long but gave everyone a nice break from walking.

Back at the house, the kids got ready for bed and fell asleep pretty quickly while the adults were winding down.  Tomorrow is a travel day where AA will have to learn how to drive in the UK - wish him luck!