As planned, I met my travel partners, Andi and Felicia, at our planned rondevue spot – a hotel at the airport and near the car rentals- the evening on May 11th. Andi and I did not want to make the 45 minute bus ride to Edinburgh and decided to brave the hotel restaurant. To our delight, the hot and creamy Macaroni and cheese was quite good.

Andi – having lived in U.K. and being familiar with driving on the left side- had reserved a rental car. Considering the amount time that we would be in the car, we decided to fork out a few extra pounds and upgrade to a larger car that happened to have a relatively dependable GPS 🤓 (Having a cell phone with t-Mobil unlimited international roaming services and access to the google map,as a back up, was very helpful.)

On our way to the cottage, in Turriff, we stopped at the charming fishing villages of Saint Monas, Pittenweem and Crail, where we sat on a sunny patio, with chilly and fresh sea breeze, wrapped in blankets (provided by the cafe) eating a delicious lunch of homemade soup and ham and Brie sandwich.

Our next stop was a visit to the V&A design museum in Dundee. The building is quite unique. There was not much of interest to see on the inside so we spend a bit of time enjoying the views of the city and the sea from the terraces and at the entrance of the building (the ship is RRS Discovery).

The drive from Dundee to our cottage was- like most of our drives- filled with breathtaking views of the vivid green pastures, hills, rivers and the indescribable patches of the bright yellow rapeseed fields. Pictures do not do the scenery and the contrast of colors justice.

Following the directions provided to us by the agency, we arrived at the gate of the estate but not realizing that our assigned cottage was immediately after the gate we had a wonderful half hour driving up and down the various paths of this enormous private estate and finally found the cottage.

The cottage, built in 1865 – fully equipped, with kitchen, washer and dryer, dishwasher, three bedrooms, one full and a half bathroom -was very comfortable for the the three of us and Diane, a frequent visitor to Scotland, a friend of Andi’s and now mine!

http://forglenlodge.com/forglen-lodge/

The second full day of our trip involved a drive and visit to the Glen-more Forest Park. The scenery along the way was beautiful. We stopped at Cairngorms National Park, Graintown-on-Spey, said hello and took phots of the beautiful and seemingly gentle, hairy cows in Aviemore and spent a good portion of time at the Glen-more park enjoying a good lunch and lunch and a short walk along the beautiful lake with majestic views of the snow covered peaks. And, I finally saw my first – very clever and polite- red squirrel🤓

Our third full day took us to Banff and the small, one of a kind village of Crovie (see link) and its neighboring village of Gardenstown.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crovie

Our next stop was Dunnottar castle in Stonehaven. This enormous castle is built on a beautiful spot on a cliff. The views are magnificent. We decided to skip visiting the interior of the castle (mainly ruins) and spend more time walking the trails and enjoying the glorious, sunny day, and the views.

We were back at the cottage a couple of hours before sunset so we decided to visit some of the significant landmarks within the estate, the chapel, the gardens and the charming fairy walk. There were many graves in the yard of the chapel and we wondered if the one marked “Robert Alexander Abercromby” (not Abercrombie) was a related to the owners of the clothing store, Abercrombie and Fitch.

Our last day was to be planned around our return to the hotel/car rental/airport. We decided to visit the Balmoral castle in Crathie, Ballatar, which is described as the “Scottish home to the Royal Family”. With the exception of a small ballroom filled with panels and photos, we could not see anything on the inside but the impressive castle, the grounds and the river was well worth our visit. The audio guide was very helpful.

Andi had heard about a unique church not far from the castle. After a wonderful lunch of chicken and avocado salad and fresh sweet sourdough bread with butter, we found the church but wait… it looks like it’s closed. Andi says: Missy, May be you can open it. I push on one door, no luck, push on the other door, no luck, pushed both doors at once and the door open. The church is simple but elegant and unique. A lady comes out from behind one of the doors and says: what are you doing here? How did you get it? Church is closed? I guess she feels our disappointment, as we had planned to offer a couple of prayers in a church before we leave Scotland, she softens her tone and very gently says: never mind, you can stay and begins giving us a wonderful private tour of the church. We find out the the church is visited by the queen when she is at the castle. She points out the bench covered with velvet where the queen sits. We learn that princess Ann was married in this church. The church is also special because it has an alter made of serpentine marble, a rare white with streaks of translucent green, with a natural cross in the center.  This comes from the isle of Iona, Scotland, where Saint Columba introduced Christianity from Ireland.  There are only 3 churches in the world where one can find this marble, including the Iona Abbey and Saint Andrews church in Jerusalem.

We offer prayers, thank the wonderful lady (the caretaker) and leave the church with hearts filled with appreciation for our friendship and the unexpected and welcomed wonders of the few days together.

Our last stops, before heading back to Edinburgh, were Saint Andrews Cathedral and Saint Andrews golf course.

I can not thank my two good friends -AKA: Scotland peeps- enough. If it was not for Andi’s advanced planning and capable and incident free driving, and Felicia’s “can do, easy going and mellow” attitude – in-spite of her allergies to the rapeseed flowers- we could have not been able to see so many, off the beaten path, locations and enjoyed managing our own time for rest, meals and the pitstops 🤓

And now the big questions: Where are we going to next, ladies?

Here is a link to more photos of our trip:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/QmrJLUQZCNWeijCU8

And my favorite album, the flowers of Scotland and Lake District, UK:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/7V8rtTHpyj7NBRCn6

PS: As I finish writing this blog post on my flight home, I look down at the iced-over mountains and river and I marvel at the enormity of our planet and can’t help saying a prayer for protection and peace for all😮

“O Thou kind Lord!  Thou hast created all humanity from the same stock.  Thou hast decreed that all shall belong to the same household.  In Thy Holy Presence they are all Thy servants, and all mankind are sheltered beneath Thy Tabernacle; all have gathered together at Thy Table of Bounty; all are illumined through the light of Thy Providence. 

O God!  Thou art kind to all, Thou hast provided for all, dost shelter all, conferrest life upon all.  Thou hast endowed each and all with talents and faculties, and all are submerged in the Ocean of Thy Mercy.

O Thou kind Lord!  Unite all.  Let the religions agree and make the nations one, so that they may see each other as one family and the whole earth as one home.  May they all live together in perfect harmony.

O God!  Raise aloft the banner of the oneness of mankind.

O God!  Establish the Most Great Peace.

Cement Thou, O God, the hearts together.

O Thou kind Father, God!  Gladden our hearts through the fragrance of Thy love.  Brighten our eyes through the Light of Thy Guidance.  Delight our ears with the melody of Thy Word, and shelter us all in the Stronghold of Thy Providence.

Thou art the Mighty and Powerful, Thou art the Forgiving and Thou art the One Who overlooketh the shortcomings of all mankind.”

‘Abdu’l-Bahá