Scotland

From July 27th to August 4th, 2024

Day 1

Took the train from the Lake District in England (Windermere) to Gatwick Central train station
Took a 15 minute cab ride to the Kimpton Hotel
Hailey ran out to get an outfit for a concert that evening at a vintage shop named Frida and Coco.
Went out to an incredible Italian meal at Sugo Pasta
Took a 30 minute cab ride out to an industrial part of town for a SWG3 Above & Beyond concert
We heard our favorite music and made some friends
Went out for cocktails at a local bar after called Pot Still where we drank Scottish whisky (Arran 10 year, GlenDronach 12 year, Old Pulteney Huddart, Benromach 10 year), and watched a little bit of the olympics on TV

Day 2

We took it a little slow this day because of our late night the night before. Hailey started her day with shopping (picking up of kilts, picking up other items for the Royal Scotsman upcoming train ride), and Max started his day off with a burger from Bread Meats Bread
We walked around the city and toured around, stopped in a guitar store to play a little, took an excursion out to the The Barras McIvers Markets flea market style shopping stalls where you could buy anything from a teacup to a leather jacket.
Hailey got her nails down at a Vietnamese place, then opted for a hair treatment in their backroom.
We went back out for pizza that evening at Paesano Pizza, walked around some more after, went into Flight Club to try to play darts, went into a really cool 4 storey bar with live music inside where we concluded our evening at Waxy O’Connors

Day 3

We left in the morning and took a car ride from Gatwick to Edinburg to check in for our train ride this day. We checked into the Balmoral Hotel quickly and then quickly headed off to lunch at a place called Tipo that blew our minds. We ordered burrata, focaccia, cacio e Pepe pasta, and an insane paccheri. We then ran back to the Balmoral to catch our 1:45pm train adventure for the next few days!
As we walked to the train from the hotel, a Scottish native dressed in his traditional Scottish gear aired his bagpipes for the whole train station to hear.
We boarded the train, sipped on champagne and ate strawberries, rolled by the infamous Carnoustie golf course, and excitement was all around!
Around dinner time we dressed in our finest (as fine as possible in carry on suitcases), and headed to the drink cart to sip on cocktails before dinner. Many Manhattan’s later, we sat at dinner with 2 other couples: one from Canada and another from Germany. Smoked Scottish salmon was served as a starter. Feeling a bit like we overindulged, the train stopped and we went off to explore on foot the surrounding area. We stumbled upon a Glen Keith Distillery (Chivas).
We jumped back aboard, found ourselves back in the bar cart, listened to some live accordion music being played of old Scottish tales, and called it a night around midnight.

Day 4

This morning Hailey indulged in a facial at the Dior spa on the Royal Scotsman train.
Around 11am the train stopped and we got off to explore Inverness. A simple walk around town along the River Ness, across a few bridges, looking into some tourist shops, and then an emergency visit to Subway concluded our city tour. It was a beautiful day.
After lunch we stopped off at Plockton and took a ride around their lake with 2 locals. It was such a small and quaint village town where you imagine nobody locks their doors. We boated along, watched seals on the rocks, listened to the Scottish seamen sing Scottish songs, sipped on some local Scottish whisky, then walked around the town, adored the manicured flowers outside of peoples homes, found a bar, had a few drinks (Orkney Islands beer) as we watched the clouds roll around the blue sky.
That evening was the dressiest night, where Max tried on his kilt for the first time

Day 5

The Scotsman train had other plans for this day, but we went off to golf at the Royal Dornach because we saw how close it was to where we were going to be. We checked in early, made sure we were going to have club rentals (there was a bit of a mixup!), had a little bite to eat (tomato soup and cheese pizza), took a few practice swings into a net (there was no practice range), took a few practice chips and putts on the green, then took our clubs and trolleys and golfed as a two-some! It was a nice round of 18 holes, with probably 12 lost balls. Our best hole was 18! A par 3 and we both made the green.
We finished our round of golf off with a sticky toffee pudding dessert at the clubhouse.
On our way back to the train, we passed by the Cartridge, a beautiful old stone bridge that looks like a set from a movie.

Day 6

We started this morning at a shooting range in Aviemore - Glenmore
We stopped off at a local castle to have a cup of tea before boarding the train again for our final night
Back in our finest dress (Max in a kilt again), we opened a bottle of Dom Perignon (a gift from the Belmond) and shared with our friends on the train.
The train stopped at Dundee, where we all hopped off and were taught a traditional Scottish dance.

Day 7

We woke up this final morning back at the train station in Endiburgh and got off the train there, of course, with an entourage of percussion instruments.
We checked into our room at the Balmoral Hotel, walked by some street performances as the Fringe Festival was going on, stopped for a burger at August37, stopped by The Elephant House which is where JK Rowling wrote some of Harry Potter, then headed into the Edinburgh Castle for the Military Tattoo performance.

Day 8

Ireland