An Olympic Sized Holiday

A 40-day adventure by My Awesome Adventures Read more

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An Olympic Sized Holiday Traveler
The Beatles Story
August 21, 2024 in England ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C
Trust the Beatles to make me almost late for the bus! Last one on due to the gift shop assistant taking FOREVER (or that’s my story anyway and I’m sticking to it).

This was a great exhibition. Choosing only 10 photos is hard! The audio guide was fascinating and I could probably have spent another half hour or so in there.Read more
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An Olympic Sized Holiday Traveler
The Lake District
August 21, 2024 in England ⋅ 🌬 13 °C
Thank you very much Beatrix Potter, for preserving such a lovely area for us to enjoy.
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An Olympic Sized Holiday Traveler
Grasmere
August 21, 2024 in England ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C
This is the town William Wordsworth lived in. Therefore I got to “wander lonely as a cloud”. I didn’t spy any daffodils though - wrong time of year.

What I did see were two teenage girls in the memorial garden, reading the final stanza of the famous poem. They had obviously been learning about metre, as they were trying to rap it. It took them three tries but they finally succeeded. That’s when I stepped in to give them an A+ from a teacher. You should have seen the looks of horror on their faces when they realised someone had been listening!

The whole village is charming. This is also where Sarah Nelson created her gingerbread in 1854. The line up is HUGE! Luckily, I know a guy. Peter, our intrepid tour director, got us all some. We are not to eat it on the bus as apparently it crumbles everywhere. It smells so good though!Read more
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An Olympic Sized Holiday Traveler
Gretna Green
August 21, 2024 in Scotland ⋅ 🌧 16 °C
“I have run away to Gretna Green” - Miss Lydia Bennet.

We have arrived in Scotland to typical Scottish weather. Gretna Green is a tiny little grouping of buildings. I could take a photo of the famous blacksmiths shop, but couldn’t go inside to see the anvil. No weddings on today (and with the weather that’s probably a good thing!)Read more
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An Olympic Sized Holiday Traveler
Clayton Hotel - Glasgow
August 21, 2024 in Scotland ⋅ 🌧 16 °C
Either at Gretna Green, or on the bus, I lost one of the lovely earrings that I bought at Stonehenge. I’m definitely not a happy camper - they weren’t cheap!

The hotel is nice, though it is a bit confusing to navigate. We’re having dinner here tonight.Read more
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An Olympic Sized Holiday Traveler
Loch Lomond
August 22, 2024 in Scotland ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C
An early start this morning as weather conditions means the boat to the Isle of Skye has been moved up.

First stop, “the bonny bonny banks of Loch Lomond.” It’s very pretty! I stuck my hand in the water and it wasn’t too cold. I wouldn’t want to swim though!

I also got a close up of some Scottish thistle and even got up close and personal with a bumblebee! It landed on the back of a fellow traveler who was putting a jacket on, so I swooped in to save it. Kind of a big deal for me when I’m allergic to bees. Bumblebees are just so cute though and this one didn’t want to leave me.Read more
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An Olympic Sized Holiday Traveler
Scottish moors
August 22, 2024 in Scotland ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C
Check out the hint of a rainbow. It all feels very “Kate Bush” and “Wuthering Heights”. I think I’m liking this even more because it’s a drizzly day.
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An Olympic Sized Holiday Traveler
Three Sisters of Glencoe
August 22, 2024 in Scotland ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C
Absolutely stunning views. This is fantastic.

We’re learning that just about every valley has a sad tale and massacre to tell, but the scenery is amazing!
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An Olympic Sized Holiday Traveler
Ferry to the Isle of Skye
August 22, 2024 in Scotland ⋅ 🌬 13 °C
A bit smaller boat this time. A much shorter trip. Unfortunately there are high swells. Also, because the vehicle deck is exposed, the car alarms go off every few minutes.

Update: we’ve arrived! The swell was nowhere near as bad as I thought. It did rain on us a bit though and I am deeply regretting my choice to pack for summer. My Aran knit headband has well and truly paid for itself.Read more
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An Olympic Sized Holiday Traveler
Armadale Castle
August 22, 2024 in Scotland ⋅ 🌬 13 °C
A ruin which was a MacDonald stronghold. The gardens are lovely and the museum very interesting. We got a bit wet, but it really started to rain seriously as we got back on the bus.
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An Olympic Sized Holiday Traveler
Leaving Isle of Skye
August 22, 2024 in Scotland ⋅ 🌬 13 °C
A boat over and a bridge to get off. A lovely little trip in the meantime.
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An Olympic Sized Holiday Traveler
A trio of lochs plus a bonus castle
August 22, 2024 in Scotland ⋅ 🌬 13 °C
We made a brief stop where three lochs meet: Loch Long, Loch Duich and Loch Alsh. There’s another lovely castle for the day, Eilean Donan.
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An Olympic Sized Holiday Traveler
AC Marriott Inverness
Aug 22–24, 2024 in Scotland ⋅ 🌬 15 °C
Yay! More than one night in a hotel. I can rinse out some clothes. This also means that I can get up at a reasonable hour tomorrow, not at the crack of dawn.

Dinner in the hotel restaurant was nice. It was certainly served a lot quicker than last night’s meal.Read more
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An Olympic Sized Holiday Traveler
Clava Cairns
August 23, 2024 in Scotland ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C
These are ancient burial grounds with standing stones. Also a similar setting to “Outlander”. Our tour director was slightly concerned by the number of Outlander fans on the bus (as was I!)

They are fascinating. You can walk right up and into them, not like Stonehenge. From the way some people were behaving though, I wouldn’t be surprised if that changes soon.Read more
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An Olympic Sized Holiday Traveler
Culloden Battlefield
August 23, 2024 in Scotland ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C
This was a very interesting stop. The time it takes to walk around the battlefield that is accessible is about the same time that the battle took. I spent a little too much time in the visitor centre / museum, so I couldn’t go right to the back either the Jacobite army line, but I visited the burial sites and field hospital.

In the visitors centre they had a presentation on what happened to the prisoners post battle. That was fascinating. The presenter (in Scots regalia) nominated people to be prisoners, ran a trial and explained the possible outcomes. It was a great experience.Read more
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An Olympic Sized Holiday Traveler
Random Inverness Sightseeing
August 23, 2024 in Scotland ⋅ 🌬 15 °C
After our morning excursion, I wandered around Inverness and got some lunch.

I also did a bit more wandering for dinner.
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An Olympic Sized Holiday Traveler
Urqhart Castle
August 23, 2024 in Scotland ⋅ 🌬 13 °C
Now this is a cool ruined castle. It was actually the owners that did the final “blowing up” literally! They packed the guard house with kegs of gunpowder and blew it up so the Jacobites couldn’t have it.

Lots of great views (thanks Mother Nature for holding off the rain) as well as some friendly wildlife.Read more
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An Olympic Sized Holiday Traveler
Nessie Hunting
August 23, 2024 in Scotland ⋅ 🌬 13 °C
… I mean, a scenic cruise on Loch Ness, with informative commentary on the Jacobite rebellion.

Who am I kidding, we’re Nessie spotting! This Loch is enormous. Seriously huge. The water is absolutely black. Apparently it is consistently 5°C. Storm clouds are looming, but that adds atmosphere. Hmmm. There is an obnoxious screaming tween on the boat. I think I just found Nessie bait.Read more
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Scottish Moors and heather
August 24, 2024 in Scotland ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C
We have come through some lovely highland country with lots of heather. I didn’t realise that a lot of the heather was cultivated as it is the favourite food / habitat of the grouse, and grouse shooting remains somewhat popular with the rich.Read more
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An Olympic Sized Holiday Traveler
Pitlochry
August 24, 2024 in Scotland ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C
Morning stop in Pitlochry. A charming town. There is a dam and fish stairs just outside of town. I didn’t quite make it all the way there due to a spot of shopping. I did see a lovely sundial and enjoyed the woods. There was also a train carriages converted to a restaurant. The carriage, apparently, was used in a Mission: Impossible film.Read more
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An Olympic Sized Holiday Traveler
St Andrews
August 24, 2024 in Scotland ⋅ 🌬 15 °C
St Andrew’s was absolutely hectic! The Women’s Open is actually on, so there are people everywhere. Our poor tour director and driver had an extremely difficult time trying to find somewhere to drop us off. We finally got dropped off St Andrew’s Cathedral ruins. It was a long walk down to the beach and golf greens.

I really liked the town. As you walked through, you realised that practically the entire town is part of the university. Another lovely place.

We actually lost one of our tour group. He is a mad golf fan and managed to get a ticket to the open. He’s meeting us in Edinburgh. I wish him luck!Read more
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An Olympic Sized Holiday Traveler
1802 Courtyard Marriott - Edinburgh
Aug 24–26, 2024 in Scotland ⋅ 🌬 15 °C
Our new hotel. It’s very confusing because you pull up to reception, which is the 5th floor. My room is on the 3rd, so I have to take the stairs or lift down. It’s because the back half of the hotel has lower floors. Very confusing.Read more
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Edinburgh Military Tattoo
August 24, 2024 in Scotland ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C
This was absolutely amazing. The precision was fantastic and it was all very entertaining. I was a bit surprised by the number of performers that weren’t actually military, but I guess all traditions change over time. The - literally - flaming bagpipes were a bit of a stand out.Read more
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An Olympic Sized Holiday Traveler
Edinburgh sightseeing
August 25, 2024 in Scotland ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C
Our guided tour this morning was very interesting as we went through both the new town and some of the old town. It’s very weird to be in a place considered to be the “new town” when it was created in the 18th century!

We saw the Scottish First Minister’s official residence, the home of Robert Lewis Stevenson, the modern parliament building, Holyrood Palace, and plenty of other notable buildings that I forget the names of.

We ended up on the Royal Mile and continued our tour to Edinburgh Castle on foot.Read more
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An Olympic Sized Holiday Traveler
Edinburgh Castle
August 25, 2024 in Scotland ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C
I’m very glad we came early in the morning as it was getting very busy as I was leaving.

The castle is fascinating. The courtyard is quite small, but there is so much history. They still fire the one o’clock gun at - wait for it - one o’clock, but that doesn’t happen on Sundays.

The Crown Jewels were interesting. The sword used at King Charles’ coronation last year was there on display.

There were all sorts of interesting things to see, like a cemetery for military dogs. I also took photos looking back into where I sat in the stadium for the tattoo last night.

I had a lovely wander around and didn’t bother getting the bus back to the hotel. It’s much more fun to wander back down the Royal Mile. There’s plenty to see, particularly at this time of year when the International Festival is still on.Read more
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