13 August 2019: Day 3 of our Grand Tour of Scotland: Part 1

Good day everyone,

At long last, we can start the next phase of our Grand Tour of Scotland. We will drive to St Andrew’s along the coast and spend the night at Knockhill Farm. I must admit I was very nervous on that Cloudy Tuesday morning. This would be my first time driving in Scotland, and I did not know what to expect. The only comfort for me was that I was used to driving on the left side of the road.

The driver that picked us up at the airport on Sunday gave me a few tips and told me to avoid the bus lanes and never to park in parking places for taxis. He also explained to me how the passing place works.

The people at Arnold Clark were very friendly, and before I knew it, we were on our way to Inverkeithing, our first stop.

We stopped in the first parking lot we could find, and from there we walked and explored for a while. While touring through Scotland, I fell in love with the buildings, the decor and details on the buildings, the shapes and sizes of the windows, the colorful and detailed doors, and lastly, the bright colors used to paint the houses and shops. I we could, I think we would have stayed much longer in the different towns, and I would have taken building by building, street by street, to make sure I captured every little detail… But we had to cover around 100 to 180 miles per day depending on our route, and we had to be at our final destination for the day at a certain time… This was one of the reasons we decided that our next tour of Scotland we will do in a campervan and we will stay in Scotland for about 76 days.

Queens Hotel
Central Bar
Queens Hotel
The Church of Scotland /Inverkeithing Parish Church Kirkyard
The Church of Scotland/Inverkeithing Parish Church
The Church of Scotland/Inverkeithing Parish Church
Memorial
Beautiful Buildings

It took me a while to get used to driving 20 miles per hour. But I made sure that I kept below the speed limit just to make sure I did not get a ticket. Now let me explain why the speed difference was so difficult. Here in South Africa, the speed limit in our towns is 60 Kilometers per hour which equals around 37 miles per hour. The most confusing part while driving is you get a sign that says 40 Miles per hour, then about 2 meters after that, it is either 30 or 20 miles per hour. For someone who is driving in Scotland for the first time, it is very nerve-wracking, but by the end of the day, I figured out the pattern…

20 Miles per hour….

In our rental car, we had a Tom Tom, and oh my word, did it frustrate the living daylights out of me. First, when I typed in a castle name or Church name, it kept saying not found. Before we came to Scotland, I mapped out our tour in Google Maps and saved it to my phone. All the places on our list were on google maps, but for some reason, I could not find it on the Tom Tom, not even when I typed in Street addresses. So, when I saw that some streets have more than one name, it started to make sense. I switched to google maps on my phone and only used the Tom Tom as a guide to the flow of the road ahead.

2 Street names next to each other. No wonder the Tom Tom got confused
2 Street names next to each other?
Red Door….
Window and Mustard Yellow Wall
Mercat Cross Circa 1400
Mercat Cross Circa 1400
Mercat Cross Circa 1400
Mercat Cross Circa 1400
Royal Mail Postbox
Welcome to Inverkeithing
Inverkeithing Civic Centre
Merchant Ships Canon
The Old Hospitium of the Grey Friars
The Old Hospitium of the Grey Friars
View from the garden at The Old Hospitium of the Grey Friars
View from the garden at The Old Hospitium of the Grey Friars
Garden at The Old Hospitium of the Grey Friars
Shed at The Old Hospitium of the Grey Friars
Beautiful door at The Old Hospitium of the Grey Friars
Wall and window at The Old Hospitium of the Grey Friars
The Old Hospitium of the Grey Friars
The Old Hospitium of the Grey Friars Garden entry
Divit Barbers

After exploring, we remembered the sign at the church that offered Tea, coffee, and home baking. Dad and I decided we still had time for a nice cup of tea before leaving for our next stop.

We were welcomed with open arms and felt right at home. We sat down at a table, and it was not even a few seconds when the first man came to greet us. He and Dad hit it off and talked about Scotland and South Africa. He was a retired doctor and came to visit a few times here in South Africa around 15 years back. Dad explained to him how everything has changed and that nowadays, one can’t just go out at night and walk as one pleases; it is too dangerous.

While Dad and the retired doctor talked, I excused myself and took photos of the church’s beautiful windows.


Thank you for reading my post, and I truly hope you enjoyed the photos. Our next stop is Dalgety Bay.

Till next time, stay safe…

Coreen

“If you can dream it, you can do it.” Walt Disney

The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo 2019…Part 3

Here is the last photos of The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo 2019….

I would like to thank the organizers and everybody that took part in this breathtaking event for making 2019 a year my dad and I will never forget.

That’s a wrap…. Hope you enjoyed the photos.

In my next post we will hit the road to our next destination Knockhill Farm in St Andrews sharing with you the places we stopped along the way.

Till next time, please keep safe.

Coreen

“If you can dream it you can do it.” Walt Disney

The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo 2019…Part 1

Good day everyone,

At long last I can post about our night at The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo…

Dad loves bagpipes since I can remember he played a 7 single with bagpipe music on it. He always said that before he closes his eyes permanently he want’s to go to the Edinburgh Military Tattoo…

Then in March 2018 he got very sick and was diagnosed with Myasthenia Gravis. One day out of the blue he asked me if I could choose any place overseas to visit where would I like to go… “I have a list as long as the National road” I told him…

Then I remembered his words and said Scotland. Dad asked me to see when the Military Tattoo is his only demand for our holiday was that it includes the Military Tattoo…. After doing some research I contact Nordic Visitor for a quote and put the plans in motion. Sarah told me that I better book our tickets for tattoo early because it sells out very fast. 24 January 2019 I booked our tickets for The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo in August 2019.

Dad was super excited and I could see in the way he walked that he could not get there fast enough… I did take some random photos while walking…

Sunflower
Ampersand
The Magnum
Dad on his way to the Military Tattoo
The Portrait Gallery
Portrait Gallery
Tram tracks
Tram tracks
Louis Vuitton
Oor Wullie Statue
Scott Monument
Oor Wullie Statue
Waverley Station Train tracks
Giant Wheel
The Mound – Black Watch Memorial

Dad was so excited that not even the stairs was to much for him. The closer we got the less dad talked… He was getting a bit emotional…

The views behind the stands was so beautiful I could not just pass. So while dad was visiting the bathroom before heading to our seats I took the opportunity to capture it.

Thank you for joining us on our way to the Military tattoo. I won’t be saying much in my next post. Will mostly be photos of the Tattoo.

Stay safe till next time…

Coreen

“If you can dream it you can do it.” Walt Disney

Fancy a scorpion for lunch?

While driving through Potsberg dad and I spotted a Cattle Egret looking for food. Not long afterwards it was successful and caught a scorpion.

We sat by the side of the road for quite a while watching it fight with the scorpion. This was a first for me. Even dad said he never saw one eat a scorpion before.

This is the reason why I love photography and spending time in nature. One always see something new and if you have your camera with you one can document what you saw…

Thank you for taking the time to read my post.

If you can dream it you can do it……