Amanda Gets Her Afternoon Tea & Other Adventures In Scotland

Life Changing Mustard

Early on in our trip we dined at a restaurant that brought out a mustard dish and told us it was French Mustard, it was excellent.  Shortly thereafter we dined at another restaurant that brought out what they told us was English Mustard, once again, excellent.  And then on our next meal stop we found plain mass produced mustard packets out on the table, to our disappointment after succulent mustard experiences thus far... we were shocked to find that their fast food restaurant mustard packets pretty much blow away premium American Dijon mustards.  We ultimately resolved that we can't go back, and from now on we were going to have to buy imported English mustard.

The Drive to Stirling

We've been treated to some beautiful sights on the road thus far, but none beat the drive from Fort William to Stirling passing through the Glencoe Mountains. We didn't make very good time as we stopped about every 5 miles for about a 20 mile stretch.

And the amazing part is... these photos don't do it justice.

Amanda is doing a panoramic with her iPhone... I'm going to try to combine some pictures into a panoramic with third party software once I'm back in the Middle East.

Here is that panoramic shot. Click for full resolution.

More beautiful Scotland.

Amanda has pointed out that I make a face when I look in the mirror.  It always makes her giggle. This is me trying to replicate my mirror pose, and make her giggle.

Eventually we needed to stop pulling over every time there were pretty sights because... "It's Scotland... it's all pretty"

The 'How I Met Your Mother' Bet

For quite a while I have theorized the possibility, I stress possibility because I don't think I've ever claimed it to likely be correct, that the conclusion to 'How I Met Your Mother' might not have Ted ultimately end up with 'the Mother.' 

Components of this theory include the possibility that the children do not have the same mother, the mother dies a tragic death, and various other ridiculous theories I've had.

Thus Amanda and I have placed a bet...

At 30 to 1 odds Amanda has wagered that the following 3 conditions will not all be met...

1. 'The Mother' dies a tragic death. 
2. Ted ends up with Robin
3. Only the daughter is a biological child of 'The Mother.'

What we have not decided is what we are betting 30 x 1 and would love suggestions.  Please keep them PG.  Tickling for set periods of time has been considered, as I hate being tickled and Amanda loves tickling. I recently discovered a ticklish spot on Amanda and now finally have a chance to combat her.

More Castles

Upon reaching Stirling, and struggling to find parking in a thriving downtown wrapping around castle hill we enjoyed the sights of one of Scotland's most historic castles, and views of one of it's most important cities, Stirling.

The views of the city were excellent and it was interesting to see a royal castle restored to capture the living conditions of the time.

Here are some views we were able to take in.

One of the castle buildings and garden.  The queen could look down from this garden and watch her husband the king hunting in his own personal park below.

The William Wallace Monument in the distance.  After being here I can't wait to watch Braveheart again.

We headed off into the countryside for another night in a castle, this one a smaller castle that had been occupied by one of the regional lords. 

Culcreuch Castle is said to be haunted by a phantom harpist.  To Amanda's disappointment and my relief, we didn't see any ghosts or hear any harp music.

We hiked around the castle grounds and saw this rainbow.

And we saw these sheep.  Sheep aren't a rare site here, but Amanda had been wanting a good picture of sheep so we were excited to come across them.

No New Damage!!!

After breakfast in the castle we headed out for the final drive on our journey, the return to Edinburgh. It was by far the easiest drive we had done, as it was almost entirely major highways with medians.  We dropped off the rental car and held our breath as the car was inspected and the receipt handed over indicating no new damage.  (I had nicked a couple of curbs and the inspector took a pretty close look at my tire before finishing his assessment.

Tea Time at the Castle

Our final attraction to see in Scotland was Edinburgh Castle and it did not disappoint.   Another beautiful castle situated on a hill overlooking a picturesque landscape and beautiful Victorian and Gothic architecture, Edinburgh Castle surprisingly provided the one thing that had eluded us our entire trip thus far... a traditional afternoon tea service.

Amanda had indicated early in the trip that she would really like to have an afternoon tea service, but we never seemed to be in the right place at the right time, and despite several attempts it had eluded us thus far.  After our guided tour ended in Edinburgh we found it was 2:00 in the afternoon and the tour had ended right in front of the Tea Room.  It was the perfect day to wrap up our tour of Scotland.

Lady Luckie preparing her tea...

... and enjoying a cucumber sandwich. 

The menu.

At first I was intimidated by this pink coconut covered pastry.

But then I dove right in.

We spent our last night in Edinburgh climbing up to Carlton Hill Park and taking in views of the city.

We are on our way back to London now and don't expect to be able to blog again until Tuesday.  Scotland has been an amazing place to visit and will be a cherished memory for the rest of our lives.