Hello, and welcome back to your annual story time of Ben and Sarah’s international adventures! Keeping with the tradition of the last few years, Sarah and I visited with her family, this year going back to Scotland.

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Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, 01 through 03-Jan-2020

 

After returning to Skye, we ate pizza.

Seriously – we had Dominos!  It was really cool, getting to see an American staple in the UK… it was different, to be sure, but in a lot of subtle ways… different general crust styles, different names for topping sets, that sort of thing.  Overarchingly though, it wasn’t different in any major ways.  Definitely not different enough that it wasn’t the perfect food to have after a long day on the road.

 

Our last few days in Scotland were pretty low key, and extremely relaxing.  A good rest before heading back to the hectic energy of the States, you know?

We did get up to a few good adventures though – both in Aberdeen, and around the surrounding countryside!

 

In Aberdeen itself, we spent some time city-ing, walking around and seeing the sights.  Of major note were the Maritime Museum and the Tollhouse museum – both of which gave really interesting backgrounds on the history of Aberdeen, and the entire surrounding area.

The Tollhouse museum focused more on the city itself, and how it grew and flourished from feudal times into the current era.  It was really cool seeing some of the old artifacts, but one quick spoiler to anyone going to visit?  Look out for the mannequins!

 

We didn’t just spend time in Aberdeen, though – on Thursday, we headed out into the country!  We got some views in, some nice hiking, and even saw a really cool old cattle rustling hideout!  I don’t know if I should technically use that term, since it’s Scotland and not the Wild West, but the idea is the same – it was a really cool geological formation where old-timey thieves would hide their take.

A quick summary of the places we explored:

• • Queens View
  • Tomnaverie Stone Circle
  • Muir of Dinnet – Burn O’Vat area (This is the Rustling spot!)
  • Lunch at The Boat Inn – A really cool small Scottish inn, with an excellent BLT!
  • Glen Tanar & St. Lesmo’s chapel
  • Hairy Coos!
  • Cullerlie Stone Circle!