Home Sweet Home

We rented a holiday cottage for our week in Scotland. It was the first time we've ever done such a thing and we're anxious to do it again. It was the perfect way to spend a vacation - with our own private space, a well-stocked kitchen (we saved a lot of money by eating meals in), and plenty of activities.

The highlight of the cottage - at least for the little girls - was Percy, the peacock, who visited us early each morning on the patio. The girls fed him breadcrumbs and he subsequently took a liking to them - following them around the farm whenever we were at "home."

Fochy Cottage is located 2 miles from Kinross, Northern Perthshire, Scotland: deep in the heart of an attractive rural area. We thoroughly enjoyed its peacefully idyllic setting by the tumbling Fochy burn (stream) on the Waulkmill Farm. The cottage itself is a conversion of an old mill and retains original beams; it's beautifully furnished and with a private patio, use of large woodland and grounds (complete with a hard tennis court and a games room), it offered us a tranquil home-away-from home.

Enjoy the tour!

Perfect holiday.... almost.

Our week in Scotland was ideal. We visited many historical sites including the famous Edinburgh Castle and William Wallace monument, enjoyed an indoor waterpark complete with waterslides and an outdoor pool (brr!), watched movies, read books, and played a lot of board games. We even went on a Highland Safari (kilted chap took us off-roading and hiking)!

The rule for the Safari was one I'd seen before "take only photos, leave only footprints." Good advice, and something we should have been careful to follow the whole trip...

I insisted we stop at Alnwick Castle on the way home (where the Harry Potter movies were filmed) and somehow or other, Matt inadvertently arranged for our camera to be left at the local Sainsburys (grocery store)...

I phrased that well, didn't I?

We didn't realize the mishap until we got home, though. After re-tracing our steps and a few phone calls we were relieved to find out that someone had found our camera and turned it in. Unfortunately - for no good reason at all - Sainsburys won't ship the camera to us (even though we offered to reimburse them for it). Being unwilling to drive the four hours back to Northumberland to reclaim the camera ourselves, we had to arrange for a courier service to deliver it to us later this week... I'm hopeful that it will arrive in one piece with all our photos in tact.

"Take photos, leave footprints" not "take photos, leave camera." Next time we'll have it straight.

Treasure Hunt

There were a couple of destinations in Scotland that we decided to hit because we were in the area, although we weren't sure how enthusiastic the children would be about it. The first of such locations was County Angus - the city of Dundee, in particular - which is home to ancestors on my dad's side of the family (their name was Fawns). There wasn't a lot of detail as to where in the city/county these ancestors lived, so we weren't able to pinpoint an exact house or church or anything, but thought it would be meaningful, nonetheless.

In order to make this family-history trip more enjoyable, we purchased a treasure hunt guide for Dundee. It contained a packet of questions/clues that took us on a 2-hour walking tour of the city. Two hours may seem long, but we took it at a leisurely pace and had lunch during that time as well. Nothing in particular stood out about Dundee, it is very similar to any other seaside town in the U.K., and along with that had some beautiful architecture and a lot of history.

Dundee City HallDeciphering clues...
Hmm... impressive!
More clues...

Downtown Dundee, Scotland

Dundee cemetary - gifted to the city by Mary, Queen of Scots

St. Paul's Cathedral in Dundee

Dundee High School

St. Andrews coastline

In the afternoon we headed for our second destination: St. Andrews, home to the world's oldest (and original) golf course. This, of course, was a destination requested by Matt and was of little importance to the female members of our family, however, we all agreed that the city itself was very pretty and the beach looked very inviting... if it had been a bit warmer!

Matt at the St. Andrews hotel

City of St. Andrews

The old course at St. Andrews.

St. Andrews clubhouse.

Our final stop for the day was Lochleven Castle. Securely located on Castle Island in Loch Leven (hence its name), it had an important role in Scotland's history for being Mary, Queen of Scots' prison from June 1567 to May 1568, and the place where she was forced to abdicate in favour of her infant son James VI on 24 July 1567. The ferry wasn't operating on this day, so we just viewed it from an old Bruce Family cemetary (as in "Robert the Bruce") on the shores of the Loch.

New Year's Day in the Highlands

Most everything was closed in Scotland on New Year's Day so we played it cool at our little cottage and enjoyed a day in the Scottish countryside. After exploring the farm we were staying at, we ventured up into the Highlands once again to see the scenery further north. We ended up about 60 miles south of Loch Ness and after much contemplation, decided we would save that trip for another time... maybe summer! We did, however, see some stunning scenery including this magnificent white castle.

EDINBURGH

Tues. morning (Dec. 30th) we drove across the Firth of Forth Bridge and into Edinburgh for the day. Our priority was the famous Edinburgh Castle, home to the Scottish Crown jewels and also Mons Meg, one of the world's largest cannons. This castle is home to more than 1,000 years of recorded history and sits perched upon volcanic rock.

Some Mons Meg trivia: this 22" caliber cannon fires shot that weigh up to 396 lbs. It can only be shot 8-10 times a day at most because of the tremendous heat generated by the powder charge. Of course, it hasn't actually been used for several hundred years!

Matt & the little girls outside the entrance to Edinburgh Castle.




We had a difficult time locating a good place to eat for lunch. At first, we entered a few pubs that ended up being licensed for "over 18" only. The few cafes we found that would allow children didn't exactly offer a menu our kids were crazy about. And every other pub was serving Haggis - special of the day - because of Hogmanay (Scottish New Year) and none of us were feeling that brave. So as we stood outside in the cold and wind, a lady came upstairs from Maxie's pub and invited us in to warm up. She brought cups of hot water for the girls to warm their hands on and promised that they could cook up something the kids would enjoy - even if it wasn't on the menu... so we tried it. And it was FABULOUS! Amy & I ordered an enchilada (to share) that was the best I've ever eaten. And although the sauce was a bit too spicy for Aimster, our server had another enchilada made with no sauce (and didn't charge us for it either!). Emily had pasta in cheese sauce - not on the menu - and it was very tasty. Matt just had a traditional British roast with potatoes, etc.
A big surprise at the end of our meal was when our server brought the girls ice cream sundaes... on the house! So even though we skipped the whisky and haggis... (or maybe because we skipped the whisky and haggis), we ended up having one of our best pub experiences ever.

When we were paying our bill, the man who owned the pub suggested we check out the Museum of Scotland because

it was nearby and "best of all," he said, "It's free." We love Scottish thrift!

We heeded the pub man's advice and after locating a parking space, we visited the National Museum of Scotland where, as you can see, we engaged in a lot of hands-on discovering.

Lest you think our children have been tortured by the amount of historical sites and museums we have visited in the last 4+ months, you might be interested to know that one of Amy & Emily's favourite activities these days is playing "museum." They set up their bedroom with stuffed animals, rocks, and Amy's collection of dinosaur skeletons (from those dino-dig kits) and then they give tours... for a fee, of course. Thankfully, their rates are much cheaper than real museums and their commentaries are definitely worth the 20-pence we have had to pay. It's really wonderful having children who enjoy our passion for culture and history!

A Very Special Birthday

For Emily's birthday (Dec. 29) we headed up into the Scottish Highlands for a forest safari trip led by our kilted guide, Bob. I know what you're thinking: it sounds so exciting up until the "Bob" part... why couldn't he have at least pretended his name was "Angus"?
Yes, that's snow on the mountain ahead of us there and we're disappointed to admit that it's the closest we got to snow this Christmas.

Bob taught the girls a lot about the trees and animals in the highlands. The only thing that Emily remembers, though, is not to play in the "bracken" (ferns) because of the multitudes of ticks that live there. Bob's detailed description of tick diseases definitely made an impression on them!


The white tower in the distance was commissioned by Queen Victoria who spent her honeymoon up in this area. In the end, Victoria settled on Balmoral as a vacation home instead, but it's hard to imagine any place as beautiful as this.

Before returning back to our cozy cottage for cake and presents, we spent the afternoon at the Perth Leisure Centre's indoor waterpark - complete with waterslides, a play park, lazy river, and even an outdoor pool (brr!) It was a busy day but lots of fun for all of us and certainly a special birthday for little Emily who turned 3... it's hard to believe she's that old already!

To clarify: Emily had a chocolate caterpillar cake with mini smarties (like M&Ms) on its back - it's hard to distinguish on the video. We had to keep it simple since we were away from home.

William Wallace monument

We began our trip to Scotland on the 27th of December, having packed our "people carrier" to the brim with warm clothes, games, books, movies and plenty of food. After settling into our cottage near Kinross, we began sight-seeing.

Our first stop was the William Wallace monument in Stirling where we reviewed the history of the infamous Battle of Stirling Bridge (Wallace led the Scots to victory over the English). Another highlight of the tower is the Hall of Famous Scots - two of which we recognized: James Watt (inventor of the steam engine) and John Knox (religious reformer). We enjoyed the tower - all 246 steps to the top (Matt & Amy counted) - and the views were well worth it, though it was quite chilly!

Hogmanay

We had been informed that "Hogmanay" (Scottish New Year) is a big deal for the Scots. Apparently, until the 1960's (officially), celebrating Christmas in Scotland was frowned upon by the National Presbyterian church... instead, people would engage in gift-giving and feasting at the New Year. Thus, many Scottish traditions have sprung up at Hogmanay time and Edinburgh stakes claim to hosting one of the world's largest New Year's celebrations each year.


Thankfully, we saw Edinburgh already so we opted for a quieter version of ringing in the New Year - as we usually do - and we drove the other direction to Falkirk to visit the Callendar House and the Falkirk Wheel (boat lock).

Situated amidst magnificent park and woodland, Callendar House tells stories spanning 600 years of Scottish history. Through wars, rebellions and the industrial revolution, the house has played host to many great historical figures over the centuries, including Mary, Queen of Scots, Oliver Cromwell and Bonnie Prince Charlie.
We particularly enjoyed the the 1825 kitchen where we were able to sample authentic Georgian food (mince pies) and learn the inner workings of a stately home from a servant's perspective (actress). The Forbes's Falkirk exhibition on the top floor of the house included costumed interpretation on early 19th century printing, clockmaking, and shopkeeping. The little girls particularly enjoyed assembling their own pendulum grandfather clock.

The Falkirk Wheel is described as "the world's first and only rotating boat lift." Quite simply, that's all it is too, aside from a pricy boat ride we opted out of. We did, however, enjoy a nice bowl of soup while watching it do its thing, then we headed back to the cottage where we enjoyed copious amounts of pizza, soda pop (New Year is practically the only time we drink pop) and plenty of snack food. We did enjoy watching the festivities in Edinburgh via the BBC!