Of course everyone wants to see the changing of the guard outside of Buckingham Palace at least once, but truth be told, it’s slightly overrated and a wee bit boring. The crowds are huge and unless you get there hours in advance to get right up to the gates or climb the fountain, you really can’t see very much. The royal police also herd everyone around like cattle so there is not a lot of […]
190. Abbey Road Crossing – Westminster, England
Probably the most famous road crossing in the world, Abbey Road was brought to popular attention when it became the location for the shooting of the cover of the The Beatles last album: Abbey Road. Each year millions of people (including us) try to recreate the photograph on the album cover depicting Paul, George, John and Ringo crossing the road much to the dismay of the locals and drivers trying to get through the crowded […]
189. The Lakes District – England
The Lakes District was the last stop on our 15 day tour of England and Scotland and one that I was pretty excited about. While I had been once before, I had never spent time exploring quite like this trip as we never had the luxury of a vehicle. Not that a car is a must – you can easily take a scenic boat ride across the lakes to visit some of the villages and […]
188. Kilchurn Castle – Loch Awe, Argyll and Bute, Scotland
This is a fairly well preserved castle in an impressive location. Unfortunately it is NOT well sign posted and not very easy to find (we drove past it the first time-just look for two small white posts off of A85). There is a small dirt parking area and from there the castle is just a short flat walk. Admission is free and there are no facilities but you are able to wander freely through the […]
187. Castle Stalker – Apin, Scotland
We stopped at this castle on our way to Glencoe. And by stop by, I mean we hiked a small path behind the Castle Stalker Cafe (very good food and gift shop), took a few photos, and left. We didn’t do the boat tour out to the castle so can’t speak to that but this is one of the most beautiful and photographed castles in all of Scotland so we couldn’t possibly miss it. Picturesquely […]
186. Jacobite Train Crossing the Glenfinnan Viaduct – Glenfinnan, Scotland
Glenfinnan is on the West Highland Railway, with daily services from Glasgow, Fort William, and Mallaig (which is where we dropped off Aunt Ethel and my mom to catch the train so we could run ahead of it and photograph them on their journey). I would add that Mallaig is well worth a short visit…..a cute little port town with nice restaurants and plenty of cute shops. Just before reaching Glenfinnan station, the Jacobite steam […]
185. Neist Point – Isle of Skye, Scotland
Neist Point is the most westerly point on the Duirinish Peninsula on the Isle of Skye, providing excellent views over Moonen Bay to Waterstein Head and out over the Minch to the Western Isles. It’s also regarded as the best place on Skye to see whales, dolphins, porpoises, and basking sharks (we didn’t see any of these things but were told when we arrived that we had just missed a couple of basking sharks) and […]
184. Dunvegan Castle & Seal Island – Isle of Skye, Scotland
We did not pay the entry fee for the castle but did enjoy the gardens which are wonderful, well laid out and with good paths easy for everyone to maneuver. One of my favorite pictures of the trip is of a red capped mushroom we saw just off the main path-so colorful and perfect that it almost looked fake and I had to touch it to see if it was real. Interestingly though, the castle […]