Scotland? Check!

My last day in Scotland and after today I think I have seen the whole country.  Whew!

 So this morning I got a very exciting text message from Emma.  She knew I haven’t had internet access so I didn’t know that Briana Gray is engaged!!! Ahhh so exciting!  I was so excited that I made Emma look up Briana’s number so I could call her even though it was 2 am back in Birmingham.  Ha! Obviously she didn’t answer since she was asleep, but at least I tried!!

Well after Katie and I had breakfast at the B&B we were off for our tour around the east coast and Balmoral Castle.  Somehow we lucked out and got a private tour by an ex-royal police officer and drum major for a band that plays for the Queen and other royals.  He picked us up in a super nice Mercedes.  Katie informed me that the S class is top notch and really expensive (well she didn’t say it quite like that…my translation).  Well told Richard, our guide, that we had not seen much of St. Andrews so he gave us a quick tour of the town and would let us out to take lots of pictures.  Pretty much we saw the highlights of the city in one hour.  We even went to the St. Andrews student union to get a sweatshirt. 

 One of the quads on the University and i look like a fool

 a tower at St. Andrews Univeristy

 St. Andrews Cathedral

 Golf is kinda a big deal here...

pretty beaches!

Then it was time to start our tour.  We drove towards Dundee and stopped off at a few places.  We drove through the mountains towards Balmoral.  Along the way he stopped at all the picturesque spots so we could get some pictures.  He knew all the great places.  Around 12 we stopped in the city of Braemar to have a tea break at the Fife Arms Hotel.  I had a cup of tea and a scone which was delish!  Then after a few more pictures, we were off again.

Once at Balmoral Richard bought our tickets and audio guides and set us loose to explore the castle.  Balmoral is the Queen’s private estate where she goes on holiday from the first week of August until sometime in October.  Balmoral is one of the Queen’s favorite estates too!  It was beautiful! My favorite part was her garden with all the crazy beautiful flowers.  I also really enjoyed going into her ball room which had a couple of her ball gowns she has worn over the years. 

After Katie and I played around the castle, we met back up with Richard to start trekking back.  Of course he would stop at different places for us to take pictures since he headed back a different way. At one point we were driving through the mountains and drive right into a cloud.  It was so cool!  It is hard to grasp the cloudiness in the pictures we took, but you can kind of tell. 

We got back to St. Andrews around 6ish.  He dropped us off at the Grill House, a local restaurant that one of the ladies at the B&B recommended to us.  It was great and the best part was free wifi!!! We haven’t had internet access basically since we left London last Friday.  I have felt sooooo disconnected and it was great to check email, facebook, and twitter!!! Katie and I could not get off our ipods ha! I bet we were quite the sight sitting there both consumed by our ipods hahahah! Yay Americans! 

Well now we are back at the B&B watching Friends and staying dry because it is raining outside.  If it is not to rainy in the morning, we may try to head out to the beach before we head out.  Well cheers yall!