Whisky- check, Haggis- roger, Golf- affirmative

Weekend Excursions

Since coming back from recess, I’ve gotten to go on several awesome weekend excursions, between all that busy parliamentary business of course!

After returning from Paris I suddenly realized I only had a few weeks left at work and even less time to see more of Scotland! After a low-key weekend in Edinburgh, Brittany and I hit the road for St. Andrew’s. Brittany’s friend Phil met us at the train station and gave us the grand tour some of the highlights were:

The Old Course

The silly "Men Only" Club

Drinks at the Old Course Hotel

Taking a serious leap of faith at the Old Course

St. Andrew's Castle

After Saturday when we ate more than we should, and probably drank more than we should too, we hit the beach before catching the train (which turned out to be a bus, damn construction) back to Edinburgh.

The Beach

The next weekend, while the rest of the interns headed to Glasgow for what sounded like an awesome Blazing Fiddles show I took two trains and a ferry west to the Isle of Arran, a microcosm of all things Scottish from the scenery to the industry!

It was a gorgeous day as I boarded the ferry that would take me from Ardrossan to Brodrick the main port of Arran.

The hostel I was saying at was in Lochranza on the North end of the Island right near the ruins of a 13^th century castle:

Saturday afternoon I walked down the road to the Isle of Arran Distillery and toured their unique whisky-making facilities, the only one on the island.

On my way to dinner I even found a swing set, right next to the shore, such a gorgeous setting. They should put swing sets at scenic places, screw benches.

Sunday morning, before the bus arrived I took a stroll around the eastern side of Lochranza. This small town, like the rest of the island was home to many happy sheep. As a result, I now have more sheep photos than any person would ever need. A small sampling:

Sunday I spent most of the day at the Machrie Moor stone circles which are a short hike inland. It wasn’t quite as nice as Saturday but the showers held off and the valley the stone circles were in was quite serene, and filled with sheep.

I named it "Lone Stone"

Peanut butter sandwich on white bread at the standing stones!

After touring the circles I started walking south where the town of Blackwaterfoot was only three miles away, I ended up taking quite the detour over to the coast and awesome Kings Caves but it was well worth it.

The Stunners

The sun gradually began to set and myself, with two other hiking accomplices caught the bus around the southern end of the island, completing our tour, then back up to Brodrick to catch the ferry and begin the trek back to Edinburgh. It was a fantastic trip and all the sights on Arran were stunning, all-in-all I enjoyed traveling at a different pace than when you visit big cities. No wonder the sheep like it.