Author Archives: Jerry

Because our preferred airline for our Scotland trips is Aer Lingus, we always connect through Dublin. We discovered on an earlier trip that it is nice to spend a day or two in Dublin on our way home. Our departure from Glasgow to Dublin was scheduled for noon. On our last night in Glasgow, weContinue reading “Dublin, Ireland”

Glasgow Southside, the location of our new accommodations, had a different vibe and style than the neighborhood on the north side where we stayed earlier in our trip. It is comprised of several villages that were annexed into Glasgow in the late 19th century. Today’s objective was Pollok Country Park. Our hostess gave us directionsContinue reading “Surprises in Glasgow Southside”

There was a method to our madness when we designed this year’s trip. For Inverness, the goals were easy. Because we had never been there, and with the NC500 tour booked, the goal was to just let the city and this part of Scotland happen to us. Glasgow was a different story. We spent aContinue reading “Treasure Hunt in Glasgow”

(Note – due to a snaffu with WordPress, this post is out of order. We went to Urquhart the day after we finished the NC500. I got the post restored but it appears out of sequence with the trip) After our big adventure on the NC500, we had a couple more days planned in InvernessContinue reading “Urquhart castle on Loch Ness”

Earlier in this adventure when we had become fatigued walking all over Glasgow, I mentioned that I thought it might be nice to just stay in Inverness for the rest of this trip.  We stuck with our pre-planned plans but as we prepared to leave Inverness,  I would love more time there. What a greatContinue reading “Inverness Museum”

This is becoming a pattern for our travels. We went at it pretty hard the last 10 days with adventures that were demanding but tremendously rewarding.  But these adventures were a wee bit tiring for a couple of old people. So this next phase consists of most small day trips. This second day trip wasContinue reading “Off the Beaten Path – Elgin”

The third morning of our tour began in a dense fog that dominated the drive for a while.  This made us especially grateful to be in the care of a skilled tour bus driver to wrestle with that fog and those impossibly narrow roads. For context, Orkney is one of two large groups of islandsContinue reading “To John O’Groats and beyond!”

Day 2 of our North coast tour was a very long but full day. One thing we love about Rabbie’s is they take roads less traveled and are happy to stop and explore at the whim of the riders. Willie was great about letting our little group out of the bus to admire the wonderContinue reading “The North Coast”

Monday arrived and already we are having a great time.  Today begins the next big adventure of our journey, a 3 day tour of the north coast called the NC500. We use a tour service called Rabbie’s who we have used before. On any Scottish discussion board, anytime someone asked for recommendation for a tourContinue reading “The Highlanders”

After a rock solid sleep we arose raring to go on Sunday in Inverness. One item our checklist was to attend morning services in Inverness Cathedral. It was right up the street so rose early, enjoyed a cuppa (tea) and off we went. As we approached the cathedral we were welcomed by pealing bells. ThisContinue reading “Good Moorrrning Inverness!”

Saturday is departure day for Inverness to the north in the highlands. Our train to Inverness was  not until 3 p.m. so we had some time for a wee bit more exploration.  (Scots say “wee” a lot so one must blend in.) Being we were departing for points north, we checked out of our Airb&bContinue reading “Destination Inverness”

Our first Friday in Scotland was forecast to be rainy. Glasgow, we understand has some phenomenal museums so we have it in mind to explore them ourselves. As Thursday wound down, one delightful aspect of the day gives me joy looking back at it. We had a chance to meet and get to know someContinue reading “The Art of Glasgow”

We awoke VASTLY refreshed after sleeping 13 hours in our very cosy Airb&b.  The weather today promised to be perfect so we set out with renewed vigor to visit the legendary Loch Lomand. After rising a bit late, we started back toward the university and found a small local restaurant for breakfast with a veryContinue reading “The Bonnie Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomand”

The plan today was to complete our travels and start enjoying our first destination, Glasgow Scotland.  I speak of Monday and Tuesday as 2 days like normal people but we slept very little on the long flight overseas. After landing in Dublin,  the next jump was to Edinburgh. That was a short 1 hour flightContinue reading “Destination Glasgow”

Travel day is not that interesting.  We are excited to be on the way but the stuff of boarding passes, flight delays (minor) and airplanes. Not the stuff of good blogging. Our flight out of Tulsa was at 6 a.m. from Tulsa we went on to Dallas and Dallas to Boston.  Boston was where weContinue reading “Next Stop Dublin”

The time is upon us for our fourth trip to Scotland.  With it comes our fourth blog given the unimaginative title of Malcolms in Scotland 23. Our first trip focused mostly on Fife. Malcolminscotland.blogspot.com. Our second trip took us to Skye and the Oban and the western islands. Malcolmsinscotland2.home.blog. Our third trip took us toContinue reading “Here we go again.”