Aaron, Helen and Freya's Adventures: United Kingdom

Scotland

However we arrived in Aberdeen, Scotland, where it was a cold 6 degrees C - a drop of 30 degrees since Phoenix. We had thought that by May it would be warming up in Scotland (May 2012 had been very warm). So we didn't have a lot of warm clothes with us.

The thing about blogs is that it helps you to remember when you did things.... we realised that the last time we visited the UK was in October 2009 - 3 and a half years ago. Where did time go? The excuse for this trip was an invite to James Bostock's wedding just outside Inverness (Thanks James and Becca). It meant that all the Bostocks would be in one place and easy to catch up with everyone without having to travel around the whole of the UK - or near enough.

On the way up from Aberdeen to Inverness we had an obligatory stop at a whisky distillery - Glenfiddich Distillery and a wee taster or two.

Glenfiddich distillery

The wedding ceremony was in the church at Strathpeffer and the reception at Tulloch Castle in Dingwall. Aaron and I had dressed in our smart Tartan outfits - as befit the occasion. It wasn't really summer weather anyway.

Aaron standing in front of Tulloch Castle with his tartan waistcoat.

The wedding was followed by a Ceilidh (pronounced Kaylee), traditional Scottish dancing with a live band (a bit like American square dancing). The great thing about Ceilidh is that you don't have to be good at dancing and you can dance with anyone, in fact most of the time you are switching partners during the dance. However it is hard to take photos as it is very fast and there wasn't lots of light.

The next day there was an afternoon tea at Becca's parents house, and then most of the Bostocks went out for dinner at a local pub. Where Aaron got to try some haggis (traditional scottish food - mixed grains and seasoning, stuffed in a sheep's stomach - sometimes also doused in whisky). The day after we went for a rather wet walk in Glen Affic to burn off some of the calories, then we headed down to Loch Ness to hunt for the infamous and mysterious monster.

The monster in a pond?

Loch Ness - waiting for the monster to appear...

Another castle on the shores of Loch Ness

So Aaron got the true Scottish experience - rain, cold, whisky tasting, castles (more castles), ceilidh, haggis, and looking for the Loch Ness monster - the only monsters, our nieces (not really).

Our nieces Andrea and Annabel

Bristol

After a cold week in Scotland catching up with most of the Bostocks we had a couple of days in Bristol to see Helen's friend Laura. Unfortunately we both had colds and the weather was pretty awful, so we had a relatively quick look around Bristol and then just chilled out, including Laura treating us to the Lido pool and spa to warm up.

The iconic Clifton Bridge with Laura's flat at the base of the house just to the right.

The Chilterns

Our final stop on our quick UK tour was to catch up with the remaining Bostocks that couldn't make it to the wedding, Uncle Paul, Thalia, Christopher, Hattie and Sophie. It was great to finally meet Sophie who has just turned 3. We stayed with them over the weekend playing with the kids and visiting the hole in the ground - that will be their new home, hopefully in the not too distant future.... We are excited for you... we would have loved to have built a house from scratch.