Scotland

The next morning came way too early. At 3:30am we were waking up and getting ready to meet everyone downstairs by 4:00. We pulled our suitcases two blocks to the bus stop and waited in the darkness till the bus came. We rode the bus to the airport in silence. Our 3-4 hour sleep wasn’t enough for anyone. We checked in on our last Ryanair flight of the week. This time they were a little more strict with the 15 kilograms weight limit and we had to unzip bags and take things out to add to our tired looking GAP carry ons. We got on the airplane and flew to Edinburgh, Scotland. I slept a little, which helped, since I was still feeling sick from the previous night. When we landed in Edinburgh there was a shuttle that took us straight to our hotel.

This time our hotel was not downtown, it was in the country... and I loved it.

We drove through green hills, windy roads and tons of trees. We saw sheep and other animals, cottages and barns… and then there we were… at our hotel… which was a castle! It was beautiful. All of our hotels were amazing. (Thank you Brian.) We stayed at the Marriot Dalmahoy Hotel and Country Club...an old castle they turned into a hotel. Click here for more pictures of it. It's location was amazing... all by itself in the country, surrounded by a beautiful golf course. I wish our weather was better just to show off this castle's beauty but it was grey and overcast almost the whole time we were there. Actually kind of fitting for Scotland.

(back of the castle with statue of the golf course architect)
(view from the front of the hotel)

We got there at 10:00am and our rooms were ready and waiting. We quickly scribbled down each others room number and separated. The girls headed straight for bed. I was asleep within minutes and slept three hours without even moving.

St. Andrews
Chris was too excited to sleep. He and the boys left in one of the rental cars for St. Andrews... St. Andrews Links in the town of St Andrews, Fife, Scotland, is regarded as the "home of golf". It is the oldest course in the world, where the game has been played since the 15th century. Today there are six public golf courses; Chris and the boys played the New Course, (still called the New Course even though it is the second oldest - built in the 1800's).

Chris said it almost felt like Christmas morning driving into the beautiful town. In his own words... "Playing the entire round felt surreal but I loved every single minute. The course was classic links golf with long rough that was almost impossible to hit out of, lots of other rough that made it impossible to find your errant ball, and occasionally rough in the middle of the fairway. The fairways weren't flat, but hilly, and the grass wasn't luscious green like US courses but was thin and a faded green. The sand traps were so deep, some taller than I. It was very nerve wracking the first attempt out of the sand. One of my shots ended up right against the 6 foot high back edge of the sand making a sideways shot back into the fairway the only possible play. The greens were challenging in design but rolled very true. The entire experience was amazing. I did well for the course. I can't wait till next time."

Edinburgh
After our much needed nap, the girls took off downtown to check out Edinburgh. We ate at a pub called Ryan's and then walked through the streets checking out fun shops and tartan stores. The buildings were large, the streets were wide... not near the same quaint feel as some of the other cities we'd visited. I loved the monuments and statues everywhere, the views of distant cathedrals, the open green parks full of trees, and of course the massive rock mountain jetting up in the middle of the city... home of the Edinburgh castle. We walked through a graveyard on our way out of the city. Mossy, weathered and somewhat abandoned... tall headstones sticking up in random order, and others forgotten and sitting askew alongside a dark stone wall.

We made it back to the hotel after driving around the city a few times (totally got lost) and headed to the cozy lounge for drinks and scones with 'clotted' cream and jelly. Yum. We sat and talked until the boys showed up exhausted but elated, and showed us all of their new st. Andrews golf hats, towels, ball markers etc. It was a nice day... one of Chris' favorites!