Griswold road trip- Scotland

After months of careful planning John, Chich and I managed a birthday surprise for Sloane. They flew into London and met Sloane (who was so surprised he shut the door on them) at our flat, and then we all flew up to Inverness Scotland. We spent the night at a beautiful B&B in Inverness called the Bluebell before setting out the next day to St. Andrews.




On our way to St. Andrews we stopped at Loch Ness to try our luck at spotting the monster. You'd never know by the views that it was freezing cold and raining for most of the ride, but in the brief glimpses of sunlight the views of the countryside and of Urquhart castle were amazing.















On the highland road from Inverness to St. Andrews we saw some of the most amazing views. I really wanted to see a few of the fuzzy highland cattle but all we saw was sheep. Sloane and I both tried the haggis when we stopped for lunch (or I tried it and Sloane consented to have a bite), while I can't say I'd go out of my way to order it again I didn't find it all that bad.
















We stopped at the Blair Athol Distillery to sample the local sample the spirits. While the tasting rooms were closed the store was open and John and Sloane made sure not to leave empty handed.


We arrived in St. Andrews in time for dinner. We ate dinner at our hotel (The Inn on North Street) and John, Sloane and I went for drinks at the Rusacks Hotel (where John's father used to stay when he visted St. Andews). The next day we tried to get into the R&A Golf Club as John had a guest membership. I went to prostest the fact that I heard they still don't let women in, but as it turns out it didn't really matter because they wouldn't even let Sloane in with John. The three of us left cursing the exclusitivy of the golf world.














In addition to the golfing, St. Andrews also has beautiful coastal views and a historic abbey.









From St. Andrew's we headed south toward Edinburgh, stopping in Dunfermline where Sloane's Scotish ancestors lived. The abbey in Dunfermline is one of the most important abbey's in Scotland and is the burial site of Robert the Bruce as well as many other Scotish royalty.


We arrived in Edinburgh just in time to have the best dinner of the trip. We ate at a restaurant called the North Bridge Brasserie which is in the old Scotsman building. Both the ambiance and food were fantastic.

We finished ended the trip with a tour of Edinburgh castle and a whiskey tasting where Chich and my gags were met with a mixture of laughs (from the women) and scornful looks (from the men).



Scotland was beautiful and the people so friendly! On our Griswold family vacation (which I forgot to mention came complete with the rental station wagon) we managed to avoid any majorly catastrophic situations and arrived back in London just in time for Sloane's birthday (steak dinner obviously).

Venice!

In what was to be one of his last weeks at Thomson Reuters, Sloane was asked to go to a conference in Venice (nice going away present if you ask me!). Since he was staying in an amazing hotel (the Hilton Molino Stucky) when he suggested I meet him out there for the weekend it wasn't a hard sell.

October was beautiful in Venice, the weather was as warm as the hottest summer day we had in London, and when I arrived to meet Sloane on Friday night via ferry boat to the island I couldn't help thinking we had it made.


As we waited to be taken across the canal on Saturday morning, the Queen Victoria was making its way through Venice. It was amazing to see how the huge boat dwarfed the city.


We got up early on Saturday and headed to the Rialto food market.


Then we had what we both agreed was the best cup of coffee of our lives. We spent a half an hour searching for the place, but when we finally sat down with our capuccino's at cafe del doge it was more than worth it.

After the cafe we headed over the Rialto bridge...


...and into St. Marks square.




We spent the better part of the afternoon touring the Doge's Palace, walked over the bridge of sighs, and learned more about Venetian history than either of us expected for a weekend trip.

After our day of sight seeing it was time for us to check out of our luxury accommodations at the Hilton to accommodations more fitting of a couple in their mid-twenties...a hostel. On the boat trip to the hostel we saw the most amazing sun set.


While not quite as luxurious as the night before, the hostel was in the perfect location in the heart of Venice which made exploring on Sunday effortless.

Sunday was off to a great start as we grabbed a cup of coffee and pastries at a place across the street from the hotel


And then we hopped a boat to the island of Murano (the famous glass blowing island).


From Murano we tried to take another boat to Lido for a late lunch and a trip to the beach, but a mishap with the boat schedule (just because they say they stop at a certain place doesn't mean they actually do) was enough to throw off even the best laid plans. By the time we got to Lido all of the resturants were closing for siesta and our quest for a pizza lunch (we hadn't had a slice since we'd been there) when unfufilled. We grumpily settled for mediocre overpriced pasta and bad service, but the gelato after lunch was enough to cheer Sloane up.


The boat ride back into from Lido had some of the most spectacular views of the trip. We sat in the back taking in the views as the Vaporetto #1 which wound it's way through the city. We didn't go on a gondola ride and we never had a seconds regret about the decision to pass it up.


When we got back to the hostel to pick up our bags we had time for just one more gelatto before we had to head off to the airport!


The weekend was a perfect escape from rainy London and the perfect way to spend a weekend before we headed off on our next trip...even rainier Scotland!