In the middle of my second year of law school my father decided that since we have some manner of familial roots from Scotland, it would be a good idea to take the family on a whirlwind tour of the motherland after I graduated from Elon. But before I took the bar exam. The wisdom of that logic won't be known for at least another week or so, but let's hope I passed despite taking 12 days off.
After flying from scenic Greensboro to Atlanta, we boarded a KLM flight to Amsterdam around 9:30 PM EST. Our seats were terrific (business class seats turn into a bed and have their own video screens), and soon after hitting 40,000 feet we were able to order dinner which was tremendous (lobster, steak, apple pie, etc). I don't remember too much else because I spent the majority of the eight plus hour flight sleeping. When we got to Amsterdam, we (John & Tracy) veered off to London, while Dad and his crew headed to Switzerland. We planned to meet up five days later in Scotland.
At this point we encountered some problems. We were not on the flight from Amsterdam to London despite having tickets. And when we inquired if our bags (which had been checked through from Greensboro) would meet us in England we were told "hopefully". They weren't. Instead our bags apparently loved Dutch hospitality so much they decided to stay an extra day or so.
We stayed at the Chesterfield Mayfair Hotel. A great hotel in the heart of the town of ...oddly enough...Mayfair. After getting showered and settled we walked around before heading back. The next morning came early as we headed to King's Cross Station to board a train for Paris. Initially I wasn't overly thrilled with the idea of going, but Tracy wanted to see the city and I gave in. I'm glad I did. Frankly I've not seen a more beautiful city than Paris. Just an amazing place. Historical, artistic, and just incredible. We did all the touristy stuff. The Eiffel Tower. The Arc. Shopping. Cathedrals. We also bought Tracy some designer bag that cost more than any one item I possess. Seriously, I had to sit in line for the privilege of spending an obscene amount of money for what I was getting. The kicker? The French lady seemed put off that I didn't understand such an opportunity. Oh well...we had a train to catch in order to get back to London.
The rest of our time in London consisted of bouncing around the city. We hit all the tourist sites, but our meals were mainly American. We ate one night in the room, one night at the Rain Forest Cafe, and so on. One day we did make it out to Windsor Castle which was terrific. I'm a big fan of the old kings and queens it was great seeing where the historical figures lived. Windsor is a place I could have spent another 3-4 hours. But then again I'm a history nut.
Similar to Windsor was our tour of the Tower of London. Got to see where Queen Anne lost her head before walking inside and seeing the real crown jewels. One dress was so bedazzled with gems that it weighed something like 65 pounds. The crowns and other ornaments looked like they were dipped in glitter from all the diamonds sparkling. We left the tower on our last day before heading to Scotland.
The tour of the country lasted five days. We saw a ton of castles and even more mountains and lakes. There's not a ton in Scotland which is why it's so perfect. If Paris' beauty is measured in the architecture, gold statutes, and so on... Scotland's is measured in it's natural beauty. Everywhere we ventured - from Loch Lomond to the Isle of Skye to Loch Ness and back down toward St. Andrews - offered amazingly scenery that now appears on my screensaver and desktop. There were three distinct memories of Scotland for us:
1. Riding Horses - we were able to go on a private ride for 2 hours. Neither of us is a huge fan of horses, nor experienced riders. Thankfully our mounts were out of shape and just content to plod along and eat. This allowed us time to look around the vast lands that weren't touched by man.
2. Playing Golf at St. Andrews. The British Open prevented us from playing the Old Course, but in the end we got to play a new tract called the Castle Course. I'm not an avid golfer, but I do appreciate the game. I think I played well enough and got to experience Scottish golf.
3. The accommodations. The first night we stayed on Loch Lomond which was OK. The second night we stayed at Inverlochy Castle. A real, honest to goodness castle. It was fantastic. Third night we stayed in the Isle of Skye in a "luxury hotel". Apparently that has a different meaning to those people. But, the town was charming. The fourth night we stayed at Culloden House - another castle like structure. Then, the fifth night, we stayed at the Rusacks Hotel overlooking the 18th green of the Old Course. Each destination offered its own charm, but NONE of them had air conditioning. That wasn't a big deal, but there was a heat wave gripping the country at that time and our rooms were up near 80 during the day. That's a small price to pay for the experience, however.
We've been back a little over six weeks and since then I've obviously been very busy. Part of me regrets that I was somewhat distracted throughout the trip (reciting rules of law as best I could remember them). I do know that we both would like to return to each of the three countries for extended vacations. And, most importantly, we had fun.
