Grand Tour of Scotland: Day 10: 21 August 2019 ~Exploring the Isle of Lewis and Harris #510

March 11, 2023Posted in Isle of Harris and LewisTagged #2019, #alba, #CanonEOS7DMark II, #capetownbasedphotographer, #coreenkuhnphotography, #discoveringScotland, #explorescotland, #grandtourofscotland, #landscapephotography, #nordicvisitor, #scotland, #scotlandthroughmylens, #travelphotography2 Comments

Harris Hotel

Information about photo:

Location: Harris Hotel, Outer Hebrides, Isle of Lewis and Harris, Scotland, United Kingdom
Date Taken: 2019-08-21
Camera: Canon EOS 7D Mark II
Lens: Canon Zoom Lens EF-S 18-200 mm F/3-5.6 IS
Metering Mode: Center Weighted Average
Exposure Program: Manual
Image Quality: JPEG
F-Stop: f/5
Exposure Time: 1/40 sec
ISO Speed: ISO-16000
Focal Length: 50 mm
Handheld
Post Processing: Adobe Photoshop CS6
Photographer: Coreen Kuhn

Thank you very much for taking the time to join me on my travels through Scotland one Photo at a time. I hope you enjoyed it just as much as I did.

If you like what you see please press the like button, share, and leave a comment.

Have a Blessed day

Coreen

PS. ☕ I am busy saving for a few upcoming Landscape Photography Trips to Namibia and a few local National Parks here in South Africa. The most important one is honoring my promise to Dad to go back to Scotland and capture the beautiful landscapes and Puffins. Your help to make these trips a reality would be much appreciated in today’s economy.

Please support me on☕ Ko-Fi ☕

14 August 2019: Day 4 of our Grand Tour of Scotland: Part 5 – St Andrews

September 10, 2020April 12, 2023Posted in St AndrewsTagged #August2019, #canon18to200mm, #CanonEOS7DMark II, #capetownbasedphotographer, #capturingmemories, #coreenkuhnphotography, #discoveringScotland, #explorescotland, #fife, #grandtourofscotland, #scotlandthroughmylens, #Scotlandvacation, #summerinScotland, #travel, #travelingtheworld, #travelphotographyLeave a comment

Good day everyone,

It is a beautiful day here in South Africa. Hope you are all doing great and are staying positive.

Let’s continue our Grand Tour of Scotland and the last part of St Andrews. I know I did not cover all the attractions there is to see. This will be fixed in the future.

After we left St Andrews Cathedral we went to the Martyr’s Memorial and St James Church.

The Martyr’s Monument was built to commemorate the Protestant figures who was martyred in St Andrews during 1520 to 1560. It also highlights the important role the town St Andrews played in the Reformation. The views from the monument is beautiful. I can’t get over the beautiful architecture and colors of the buildings. The gardens are well maintained and beautiful.

Down the road from the Martyr’s Memorial I spotted the tower of the St James Catholic Church. I decided that I want to go and have a look at it. I was not disappointed. The only regret I had was all the cars in front of the Church.

Thank you for joining us on this last few minutes spent in the beautiful town of St Andrews.

Our next stop is in the Dairsie area.

Have a great day and stay safe. Till next time.

Coreen

14 August 2019: Day 4 of our Grand Tour of Scotland: Part 3 – St Andrews

August 9, 2020February 26, 2023Posted in St AndrewsTagged #2019, #alba, #August2019, #beautifulbuildings, #bucketlist, #canon18to200mm, #CanonEOS7DMark II, #capetownbasedphotographer, #capturingmemories, #coreenkuhnphotography, #dadandme, #discoveringScotland, #discoverscotland, #explorescotland, #fatheranddaughtertime, #grandtourofscotland, #lovemycanon, #lovemyjob, #lovetotravel, #mypassion, #nordicvisitor, #oorwullie, #oorwulliesbigbuckettrailstatue, #outdoors, #photosforsale, #placesofinterest, #placesvisited, #proudlyselftaughtphotographer, #scotland, #scotlandthroughmylens, #Scotlandvacation, #stAndrews, #summerinScotland, #townsivisited, #travel, #travelingtheworld, #travelphotography, #UK, #unitedkingdomLeave a comment

Good day everyone,
It is cold and wet here in South Africa this morning. Last year this time I was busy packing the last of my things and weighing our suitcases for our holiday in Scotland.

I can’t believe that the time went by so fast. The worst of it all is, I am not even halfway through editing all my photos. I better get working on that. I will still be posting about our first trip to Scotland for a long time. I am enjoying editing, posting photos, and stories of that day. It’s like I am back in Scotland.

Today I am going to share the rest of my photos of St Andrews.

The blue door of the Lions House caught my attention when I got closer to take a photo I saw the lions and the name of the house it is very appropriate.

My next stop was the Holy Trinity Church. Another beautiful church with lots of detail. It’s a shame I did not have enough time to capture every little detail as I would like too.

I love to capture the old buildings with their unique characteristics, for example, this corner bookstore.

Here are just a few more buildings that caught my eye on my way back to the car.

Our next stop the Blackfriars Chapel.

**Oor Wullie at the Blackfriars Chapel**

Thank you for joining me on my walk through St Andrews.
Our next stop was St Andrew’s Cathedral. But that is a post all on its own.

Till next time. Stay safe.

Coreen

14 August 2019: Day 4 of our Grand Tour of Scotland: Part 2 – St Andrews

July 31, 2020February 26, 2023Posted in St AndrewsTagged #2019, #alba, #August2019, #beautifulbuildings, #bucketlist, #canon18to200mm, #CanonEOS7DMark II, #canongirlforlife, #capetownbasedphotographer, #capturingmemories, #capturingscotland, #citiesvisited, #coreenkuhnphotography, #countriesvisited, #dadandme, #discoveringScotland, #discoverscotland, #explorescotland, #fatheranddaughtertime, #flowersofscotland, #grandtourofscotland, #lovemyjob, #lovetotravel, #nordicvisitor, #outdoors, #placesofinterest, #placesvisited, #scotland, #scotlandthroughmylens, #Scotlandvacation, #summerinScotland, #townsivisited, #travel, #travelingtheworld, #travelphotography, #UK, #unitedkingdomLeave a comment

Good day everyone,

Hope you are all still healthy. This week was very busy with my studies and finishing up editing work for clients.

For the next few days, I can concentrate on editing our Scotland vacation.
Let’s continue our Grand Tour of Scotland. Today I am sharing with you the photos I took while exploring St Andrews.

Dad was still not feeling up to walking, and he stayed in the car while I explored and took some photos of the surroundings.

My first stop was St Leonard’s Parish Church. On my next visit to Scotland, I am definitely going to make a point of it to go inside the churches to capture the interiors as well.

While I was exploring, I noticed the different types of stone and brick walls. It really stood out to me.

Up next are some random photos of the buildings and houses.

My next stop was the Victory Memorial Hall. The blue door and entry of the hall caught my eye immediately. I searched online for more information about the Victory Memorial Hall, but shockingly, I could not find any.

**Beautiful blue door of the Victory Memorial Hall**

St Andrews has so many beautiful churches, and I only walked down one street.

The Hope Park and Martyrs Parish Church have a spectacular exterior, I can just imagine how the interior must be. The beautiful flower baskets in front of the windows really caught my eye.

**Stunning Window of Hope Park and Martyrs Parish Church**

**Beautiful Hanging flower baskets of the Hope Park and Martyrs Parish Church**

**Stunning Blue door of the Hope Park and Martyrs Parish Church**

Thank you for exploring St Andrews with me. In my next post we will continue exploring.

Keep safe and healthy.

Till next time.

Coreen

14 August 2019: Day 4 of our Grand Tour of Scotland: Part 1 Knockhill Farm B&B

July 24, 2020February 26, 2023Posted in St AndrewsTagged #2019, #alba, #August2019, #bucketlist, #canon18to200mm, #CanonEOS7DMark II, #capetownbasedphotographer, #capturingmemories, #capturingscotland, #citiesvisited, #coreenkuhnphotography, #countriesvisited, #dadandme, #discoveringScotland, #discoverscotland, #explorescotland, #fatheranddaughtertime, #flowersofscotland, #flowersthroughmylens, #grandtourofscotland, #knockhillfarm, #landscapephotography, #lovemycanon, #lovemyjob, #lovetotravel, #nature, #nordicvisitor, #outdoors, #pinkflowers, #placesofinterest, #placesvisited, #purpleflowers, #scotland, #scotlandthroughmylens, #Scotlandvacation, #summerinScotland, #townsivisited, #travel, #travelingtheworld, #travelphotography, #UK, #unitedkingdomLeave a comment

Good day everybody,

I am feeling much better today. I hope you are all still healthy and enjoying life to the fullest.

WOW day two on the road, but first a little of our stay and warm reception at Knockhill Farm just outside St Andrews.

Linda Wood, the owner of Knockhill Farm B&B, made us feel right at home with her friendly reception. We ran late, and she was worried that something happened to us on the way there. She even went as far and contacted Nordic Visitor, our tour agent, to find out if they had heard something.

Linda showed us to our accommodation for the evening, and we talked a bit about our day. She then told us that breakfast will be served at 8:00 AM and showed us where we must go.

Our accommodation had a spacious lounge, with 2 comfortable couches, a television, and enough reading material to keep us busy for the night.
In the kitchen area, we had a variety of coffee and teas to choose from.

The bathroom was also very spacious and had a beautiful big walk-in shower. There were fresh bath sheets, face towels, shampoo, shower gel, and cream.

The spacious bedroom had two twin beds, cupboards and, a dressing table.

After a long warm shower, I put on my PJ’s and made myself and dad a nice cup of coffee. We sat down in the lounge, dad grabbed a book and started reading and I started writing a quick blog with photos I took on the road with my phone.
When I first anticipated writing a blog every evening, I did not factor in how tired I would be after a long day on the road.

We went to bed around 10:30 PM for a well-deserved rest.

At around 5:00 AM, I woke up refreshed. I got out of bed, got dressed, and gathered all my things. I grabbed my camera and headed outside to take some photos of the farm and its surroundings.
I made dad and myself a cup of coffee then I woke him up just after 6:30 AM, giving him ample time to get ready.

Dad finished with time to spare, and we decided to take a walk down the road.

Thank you for joining us at Knockhill Farm B&B. Hope you enjoyed your stay just as much as we did. Our next stop St Andrews.

Till next time. Stay safe.

Coreen

13 August 2019: Day 3 of our Grand Tour of Scotland: Part 7

July 17, 2020April 12, 2023Posted in AnstrutherTagged #2019, #alba, #August2019, #bucketlist, #canon18to200mm, #CanonEOS7DMark II, #canongirl, #capetownbasedphotographer, #capturingmemories, #coreenkuhnphotography, #dadandme, #discoveringScotland, #discoverscotland, #explorescotland, #grandtourofscotland, #knockhillfarm, #lovemycanon, #lovetotravel, #nordicvisitor, #outdoors, #placesofinterest, #placesvisited, #scotland, #scotlandthroughmylens, #Scotlandvacation, #summerinScotland, #townsivisited, #travel, #travelingtheworld, #travelphotography, #UK, #unitedkingdom1 Comment

Good day to my internet friends

I hope that you are all having a great week. Today’s post is going to be sweet and short.
I did not take a lot of photos in Anstruther, because we were running late and I could not phone the guesthouse where we were staying. I only had a data package, and it did not include airtime.
On our way to get supper, we stopped at St. Ayle Church. I took a few photos through the gate, and then we were on our way again.

Since I started planning this road trip through Scotland with dad in October 2018, I decided that we are going to visit Anstruther Fish Bar. I have seen so many posts on Instagram about this award-winning restaurant that we just could not pass through without trying out something on their menu for ourselves.
When we got there, the queue went out the door and down the sidewalk. It was late, but we were starving and decided to stay.

They did not disappoint. The food was delicious.

Just before we left, I took some photos of the harbor and surrounding buildings.

Thank you for joining us on this short visit to Anstruther.

Till next time. Stay safe and healthy.

Coreen

13 August 2019: Day 3 of our Grand Tour of Scotland: Part 6

July 14, 2020April 12, 2023Posted in St MonansTagged #alba, #August2019, #beautifulbuildings, #bucketlist, #canon18to200mm, #CanonEOS7DMark II, #canongirl, #capetownbasedphotographer, #capturingmemories, #capturingscotland, #coreenkuhnphotography, #countriesvisited, #dadandme, #discoveringScotland, #discoverscotland, #explorescotland, #grandtourofscotland, #graveyard, #kirks, #kirkyard, #landscapephotography, #lovemycanon, #lovemyjob, #lovetotravel, #mypassion, #mywork, #nordicvisitor, #outdoors, #placesofinterest, #placesvisited, #proudlyselftaughtphotographer, #scotland, #scotlandthroughmylens, #Scotlandvacation, #stmonans, #summerinScotland, #townsivisited, #travel, #travelingtheworld, #travelphotography, #UK, #unitedkingdom2 Comments

Good day everybody,

Hope you are all still healthy and staying safe. Today’s post is not going to be long. I would rather let the photos tell the story.

Our next stop on our Grand Tour of Scotland that we booked through Nordic Visitor is St Monans.

St Monans is a village and parish in the East Neuk of Fife and is named after Saint Monan.

It was raining when we arrived in St Monans but when we got to St Monans Kirk the sun was shining.

St Monans Kirk is situated on the west end of the village on the edge of a rock overlooking the ocean. They say that St Monans Kirk is the closest to the sea in the whole of Scotland.

Dad decided to stay in the car because the wind was just too cold. I grabbed my camera and walked around the Kirk trying to capture it from all angles.

**Beautiful Blue door of St Monans Kirk**

**View from slope of St Monans Kirk and Graveyard**

**View from parking lot of St Monans Kirk and graveyard**

Our next stop was St Monans harbor and the Wellie boot garden.

Next on my places of interest list was the Wellie Boot Garden. I have seen so many photos of it on Instagram and just had to capture it for myself. I had a bit of a struggle with the sun and the wet ground but I got it done in the end.

I just love the way they utilized the old Welly Boots as planters for the flowers.

The view from the slipway was also very beautiful. I just had to take some photos of the boats on the water.

Thank you for joining us for our visit to St Monans. Hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.

Till next time. Stay safe.

Coreen

13 August 2019: Day 3 of our Grand Tour of Scotland: Part 5

July 3, 2020April 12, 2023Posted in LargoTagged #alba, #August2019, #beautifulbuildings, #bucketlist, #canon18to200mm, #CanonEOS7DMark II, #capetownbasedphotographer, #capturingmemories, #capturingscotland, #citiesvisited, #coreenkuhnphotography, #countriesvisited, #dadandme, #discoveringScotland, #discoverscotland, #explorescotland, #grandtourofscotland, #landscapephotography, #lovemyjob, #lovetotravel, #Lower Largo, #malagan sculpture, #mywork, #nature, #nordicvisitor, #outdoors, #placesofinterest, #placesvisited, #scotland, #scotlandthroughmylens, #Scotlandvacation, #summerinScotland, #townsivisited, #travel, #travelingtheworld, #travelphotography, #UK, #unitedkingdomLeave a comment

Good day everyone,

I hope you are still healthy and safe.

Today’s post is not going to be that long. We did not spend much time at our next stop, Lower Largo, on our Grand Tour of Scotland. I would have liked to explore this little coastal town more, but time was not on our side.

While driving along the coastal road, we spotted this beautiful sculpture. At first, I thought it was the Robinson Crusoe Statue, but while I was doing my research for today’s blog post, I found out that it is actually The Malagan Sculpture. Well, now I know… I love the detail on the Sculpture and the entrance gate. I am law-abiding, but it took all my strength not to enter and take up-close photos of the statue.

**Entry to Malagan Sculpture in Lower Largo**

The views from here were also beautiful.

Across the road, I spotted a house with the most beautiful gate. It looked like a scene out of a storybook.

Once again I just can’t pass the opportunity to capture the house with the blue door and flower baskets on the windowsills.

I had to look twice before I realized that it was a toy skeleton of a prehistoric animal.

Thank you for joining us on our short visit to Lower Largo. I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.

Our next stop is Ruby Bay…

Till next time, please stay safe.

Coreen

13 August 2019: Day 3 of our Grand Tour of Scotland : Part 6

June 23, 2020May 7, 2023Posted in Leven Lethan Glen ParkTagged #alba, #August2019, #bucketlist, #canon18to200mm, #CanonEOS7DMark II, #canongirl, #canongirlforlife, #capetownbasedphotographer, #capturingmemories, #capturingscotland, #citiesvisited, #coreenkuhnphotography, #countriesvisited, #dadandme, #discoveringScotland, #discoverscotland, #explorescotland, #fatheranddaughtertime, #fife, #golfcourse, #grandtourofscotland, #landscapephotography, #Leven, #linksgolfcourse, #lovemycanon, #lovemyjob, #lovetotravel, #Lundin, #mywork, #nature, #naturephotography, #nordicvisitor, #outdoors, #scotland, #scotlandthroughmylens, #Scotlandvacation, #standingstonesoflundin, #summerinScotland, #townsivisited, #travel, #travelingtheworld, #travelphotography, #UK, #unitedkingdomLeave a comment

Good day everyone,

Oh my word this morning I am freezing. Hope you are all still healthy and staying safe.

Okay let’s continue our Grand Tour of Scotland.

Our next stop was Letham Glen. It was not even on my places of interest. In 2010 dad had his colon removed due to cancer. So if dad has to go there are not much time you must get him to a bathroom as soon as possible. This was also a reason why all our stops are so close together just in case.

I wondered around and took a few photo’s while waiting for dad.

The Sunken Garden at Letham Glen was the towns former swimmingpool in the 1930’s. They have turned it into a beautiful garden. I was impressed.

Our next stop was the standing stones of Lundin. But oh my hat did we struggle to get to it. First of all the GPS says your destination is on your left side, you have reached your destination. When we look around all we see is houses on the left and a golf club on the right hand side.

We drove past our destination at least 4 times when I told my dad that’s it I am not going to search anymore… Then I spotted it through one of the houses gates opening up on the golf course. Okay now we know where it is. Now how to get to it. So we followed a dirt road and there it was. But I had to go through someones backyard to get to the golf course. The groundskeeper told me the man get’s very difficult when he spots tourists in his backyard. But that’s the only way to get there….

I did not come this far just to give up. So dad waited in the car while I invaded the poor man’s privacy. Luckily he was not there so I climbed over the wall onto the golf course, took a few photo’s and climbed back again.

I got to the car and just as I pulled away the owner arrived…. That’s what I call timing…..

That’s all for now friends. Thank you for stopping by. Hope you are still enjoying our Grand Tour of Scotland with us.

Till Next time. Stay safe.

Coreen

13 August 2019: Day 3 of our Grand Tour of Scotland: Part 4

June 22, 2020April 12, 2023Posted in KirkcaldyTagged #alba, #August2019, #beautifulbuildings, #bucketlist, #canon18to200mm, #CanonEOS7DMark II, #canongirl, #capetownbasedphotographer, #capturingmemories, #capturingscotland, #citiesvisited, #coreenkuhnphotography, #countriesvisited, #dadandme, #discoveringScotland, #discoverscotland, #explorescotland, #fatheranddaughtertime, #grandtourofscotland, #Kirkcaldy, #kirks, #landscapephotography, #lovemycanon, #lovemyjob, #lovetotravel, #mypassion, #mywork, #nature, #naturephotography, #nordicvisitor, #onthebeach, #outdoors, #placesofinterest, #placesvisited, #raining, #Ravenscraig Castle, #scotland, #scotlandthroughmylens, #Scotlandvacation, #St Bryce Kirk, #summerinScotland, #townsivisited, #travel, #travelingtheworld, #travelphotographyLeave a comment

Good day everyone,

My fiancée’s daughter is visiting, and instead of planning and writing my blog, I spend my time playing teacher… I normally post on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but I have time, so here I am.

It started raining when we left Aberdour, and we skipped a few of the items on our list, and when we got to Kirkcaldy, it was coming down really hard.

I struggled to get to the park, and when I finally got a spot and got out of the car, it came down extra hard. I jumped back into the car, and we sat and waited. Dad still asked me what I was going to do. I told him Well, if I have to, I’ll take some photos through the window, but we can’t keep skipping places just because it is raining. We will have to skip more than 50% of our tour at that rate.

I spent many hours planning our vacation and researching the places we would like to visit and the places I would like to photograph.

The rain stopped for a while, and I exited the car and took photos of St. Bryce Kirk.

**St Bryce Kirk** **from across the road.**

As you can see, I just loved the church tower. I also took photos of the houses in the street we parked in.

We then headed to Ravenscraig Castle, but I only took photos from the parking lot. Time was running away with us, and due to the rain, it was really wet.

Crow on the beach at **Ravenscraig Castle**

Well, that is all for now. Thank you for stopping by.

Till next time, stay safe.

Coreen

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

June 11, 2020April 12, 2023Posted in AberdourTagged #alba, #August2019, #beautifulbuildings, #blueskies, #bucketlist, #canon18to200mm, #CanonEOS7DMark II, #canongirl, #capetownbasedphotographer, #capturingmemories, #capturingscotland, #citiesvisited, #coreenkuhnphotography, #countriesvisited, #dadandme, #discoveringScotland, #discoverscotland, #explorescotland, #fife, #flowersofscotland, #flowersthroughmylens, #grandtourofscotland, #graveyard, #historicscotland, #kirkyard, #landscapephotography, #lovemycanon, #lovemyjob, #lovetotravel, #mypassion, #mywork, #nature, #nordicvisitor, #outdoors, #pinkflowers, #placesofinterest, #placesvisited, #purpleflowers, #scotland, #scotlandthroughmylens, #Scotlandvacation, #stfillanschurch, #summerinScotland, #townsivisited, #travel, #travelingtheworld, #travelphotography, #UK, #unitedkingdom, #walledgarden2 Comments

Good day everyone,

Hope you are all still safe and healthy. Here in Cape Town, we are freezing our buds off. My hands feel like two ice cubes.

Our next stop was Aberdour Castle and Gardens. It was spectacular, and this was the first castle we visited on our Grand Tour of Scotland. Nordic Visitor arranged for explorer passes with Historic Scotland. This enables us to visit a wide range of places without standing in queues at ticket counters.

After getting our pass activated, we could go and explore. The only thing Dad wanted to explore was the shop and restaurant… But I got him to walk with me through the garden and grounds.

We had to walk through the Walled Garden to get to St. Fillan’s Church. It took me a while to get to St Fillan’s Church there were just too many beautiful flowers to capture…

I borrowed some information from the St. Fillans Churches website.

“St Fillan’s Church is one of Scotland’s finest examples of simple Norman architecture. To the south, it overlooks Aberdour Harbour; to the north and west, it is sheltered by the high wall of Aberdour Castle Garden; to the east, what was the Castle kitchen garden as early as 1390 St Fillan is mentioned as the church’s patron saint.

The entrance to the church and its old cemetery is from Hawkcraig Road along Kirk Wynd. On the right, the top of the Wynd is a door to the Castle grounds, above which the monogram of William, Earl of Morton, and his wife, Lady Anne, dated 1632. Further down the Wynd, on the left, is a collection of badly weathered old gravestones, some dating from the seventeenth century.

Initially, St Fillan’s consisted simply of a nave and the chancel, lit by deeply splayed windows, and remains much as it was in the 12th century. Sockets for the rood screen can still be seen.

The dedication to St Fillan probably came about through the influence of Robert I (the Bruce), who gave Aberdour to his close friend and supporter Thomas Randolph Earl of Moray. St Fillan was the king’s favorite saint and is credited with helping the Scots win the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314.

In the 15th century, the church was enlarged by adding the south aisle. This involved an arcade supported by the three pseudo-Norman pillars and lowering the floor to its present level.

St. Fillan’s Church will celebrate its 900th Anniversary in 2023.”

For more information, please go to St Fillans Church.

Entry to **St Fillans Church and Churchyard**

**View of Aberdour Castle from** **St Fillans Church and Churchyard**

Next, we walked around and came across the Terraced Garden.

**View of Aberdour Castle from Terrace Garden**

**View over Terrace Garden. Patterns on grass.**

Up next, we had a peek into the stables and then went for a nice cup of tea.

Teatime with a nice cup of English Breakfast tea…

After our tea break, I explored some more, and Dad went to the gift shop to look for fridge magnets for his collection.

Thank you for joining us on our walk through Aberdour Castle and the gardens. Hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.

Our next stop is Kirkcaldy.

Till next time… Stay safe.

Coreen

"If you can dream it, you can do it." Walt Disney

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

June 9, 2020May 7, 2023Posted in AberdourTagged #alba, #August2019, #beautifulbuildings, #bucketlist, #canon18to200mm, #canon7dmk2, #CanonEOS7DMark II, #canongirl, #canongirlforlife, #capetownbasedphotographer, #capturingmemories, #capturingscotland, #citiesvisited, #coreenkuhnphotography, #countriesvisited, #dadandme, #discoveringScotland, #discoverscotland, #explorescotland, #fatheranddaughtertime, #fife, #flowersofscotland, #flowersthroughmylens, #grandtourofscotland, #lovemycanon, #lovemyjob, #lovetotravel, #mypassion, #mywork, #nature, #nordicvisitor, #outdoors, #pinkflowers, #placesofinterest, #placesvisited, #purpleflowers, #scotland, #scotlandthroughmylens, #Scotlandvacation, #stcolumbaschurch, #summerinScotland, #townsivisited, #travel, #travelingtheworld, #travelphotography, #UK, #unitedkingdom1 Comment

Good day everyone,

Our next stop was a beautiful little town called Aberdour. Just as we entered the town I was taken with all the flowers and beautiful houses and their hanging basket gardens…. The streets are not really wide and the houses are on the street only a narrow sidewalk that separate them from the street. I saw only a few houses with nice front yards and the most beautiful gardens.

We stopped at a parking area near a garden and I took my camera and walked up the road to where we entered Aberdour.

I just love Hydrangea’s and the colors are to die for. I grew up with light pink and blue/purple Hydrangea’s. I just could not get enough of these pretty plants.

As you know by now I loved capturing Churches and Cathedrals even if they are closed. The architecture is just amazing. I love the colorful doors and the beautiful windows. I just wish we had enough time to go into every single one we visited. Also I know I missed a few too.

**St. Columba’s Scottish Episcopal Church**

Here are some photos taken on my walk back to the car.

Thank you for joining us on this short visit at Aberdour. Next up Aberdour Castle and Gardens.

Stay safe and have a Blessed day.

Till next time…..

Coreen

13 August 2019: Day 3 of our Grand Tour of Scotland : Part 2

May 25, 2020April 12, 2023Posted in Dalgetty BayTagged #alba, #August2019, #beautifulbuildings, #bucketlist, #canon18to200mm, #CanonEOS7DMark II, #canongirlforlife, #capetownbasedphotographer, #capturingmemories, #capturingscotland, #citiesvisited, #coreenkuhnphotography, #countriesvisited, #dadandme, #discoveringScotland, #discoverscotland, #explorescotland, #flowersofscotland, #grandtourofscotland, #kirkyard, #landscapephotography, #lovemycanon, #lovetotravel, #mypassion, #nature, #naturephotography, #nordicvisitor, #outdoors, #placesofinterest, #placesvisited, #redbridge, #scotland, #scotlandthroughmylens, #Scotlandvacation, #summerinScotland, #townsivisited, #travel, #travelingtheworld, #travelphotography, #UK, #unitedkingdom, #wildflowers3 Comments

Good day everyone,

Hope all of you are still in good health…

Without further delay, let’s continue our road trip to St Andrews and Knockhill Farm, where we will spend the night.

Our next stop was Dalgety Bay. The 8th largest town in Fife. We did not spend much time exploring Dalgety Bay due to a very long list of places to see. Also, at this stage, I struggled with the Tom Tom trying to get to the places of interest on our list… We were trying to find Donibristle Stable Block but ended up with a view of the Fourth Road Railway Bridge instead. Not that I am complaining. The views and flowers were stunning.

Our next stop on our list was Cornerstone Full Gospel Church. I got the names on my Google Maps when I planned our trip. What I did come to realize on our Grand Tour of Scotland was that the names on Google Maps and the names on the signboards are not always the same…

Dad and I saw the church on our way to Dalgety Bay, and on our way back, we took the turnoff to the church. Next to the church, I found this beautiful cottage with fields and sheep.

I walked up to the gate to see if I could enter, and it was open, so I walked inside and took a few photos. Now this is what I call a peaceful place. Normally I don’t like walking in graveyards, but one thing that stood out for me was how peaceful it was here. Maybe it is the surrounding pastures with sheep and horses grazing. One doesn’t even hear the cars passing on the road to and from Dalgety Bay.

***Cornerstone Church from the turnoff***

Thank you for visiting Dalgety Bay with us. Our next stop is Aberdour, and I look forward to sharing some of the photos taken in this beautiful town.

Please keep safe till next time.

Coreen

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

May 11, 2020April 12, 2023Posted in InverkeithingTagged #August2019, #beautifulbuildings, #bucketlist, #canon18to200mm, #canon7dmkii, #capetownbasedphotographer, #capturingmemories, #capturingscotland, #citiesvisited, #coreenkuhnphotography, #countriesvisited, #dadandme, #discoveringScotland, #discoverscotland, #explorescotland, #fatheranddaughtertime, #flowersofscotland, #grandtourofscotland, #inverkeithing, #kirkyard, #landscapephotography, #lovemycanon, #lovemyjob, #lovetotravel, #mercatcross, #monuments, #mypassion, #naturephotography, #nordicvisitor, #outdoors, #placesofinterest, #placesvisited, #queenshotel, #scotland, #scotlandthroughmylens, #Scotlandvacation, #speedlimit, #spendingtimewithlovedones, #summerinScotland, #thechurchofscotland, #theoldhospitiumofthegreyfriars, #townsivisited, #travel, #travelingtheworld, #travelphotography, #UK, #unitedkingdom, #windows5 Comments

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.

The Church of Scotland **/Inverkeithing Parish Church** **Kirkyard**

**The Church of Scotland/Inverkeithing Parish Church**

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…

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**

**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 Garden entry**

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

The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo 2019…Part 3

May 1, 2020Posted in NewsTagged #August2019, #bucketlist, #canon18to200mm, #canon7dmk2, #canon7dmkii, #CanonEOS7DMark II, #canongirl, #canongirlforlife, #capetownbasedphotographer, #capturingmemories, #capturingscotland, #citiesvisited, #coreenkuhnphotography, #countriesvisited, #dadandme, #discoveredinburgh, #discoveringScotland, #discoverscotland, #edinburgh, #edinburghcastle, #explorescotland, #grandtourofscotland, #lovemycanon, #lovemyjob, #lovetotravel, #mypassion, #mywork, #placesofinterest, #placesvisited, #scotland, #scotlandthroughmylens, #Scotlandvacation, #spendingtimewithlovedones, #summerinScotland, #theroyaledinburghmilitarytattoo2019, #townsivisited, #travel, #travelingtheworld, #travelphotography, #UK, #unitedkingdomLeave a comment

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 2

May 1, 2020February 26, 2023Posted in Royal Military TattooTagged #August2019, #bucketlist, #canon18to200mm, #canon7dmk2, #CanonEOS7DMark II, #canongirl, #capetown, #capetownbasedphotographer, #capturingmemories, #capturingscotland, #citiesvisited, #coreenkuhnphotography, #countriesvisited, #dadandme, #discoveredinburgh, #discoveringScotland, #discoverscotland, #edinburgh, #edinburghcastle, #explorescotland, #fatheranddaughtertime, #grandtourofscotland, #lovemycanon, #lovemyjob, #lovetotravel, #mypassion, #mywork, #placesofinterest, #placesvisited, #scotland, #scotlandthroughmylens, #Scotlandvacation, #summerinScotland, #theroyaledinburghmilitarytattoo2019, #townsivisited, #travel, #travelingtheworld, #travelphotography, #UK, #unitedkingdomLeave a comment

Good day everyone,

I am not going to say much. The photos can do the talking…. Hope you enjoy The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo with us….

To be continued…….

Coreen

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

The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo 2019…Part 1

May 1, 2020February 26, 2023Posted in Royal Military TattooTagged #August2019, #beautifulbuildings, #bucketlist, #canon18to200mm, #canon7dmk2, #canon7dmkii, #CanonEOS7DMark II, #canongirl, #canongirlforlife, #capetownbasedphotographer, #capturingmemories, #capturingscotland, #citiesvisited, #coreenkuhnphotography, #countriesvisited, #dadandme, #discoveredinburgh, #discoveringScotland, #discoverscotland, #edinburgh, #edinburghcastle, #explorescotland, #flowersofscotland, #grandtourofscotland, #landscapephotography, #lovemycanon, #lovemyjob, #lovetotravel, #milnescourt, #mypassion, #mywork, #nordicvisitor, #oorwullie, #oorwulliesbigbuckettrailstatue, #outdoors, #placesofinterest, #placesvisited, #portraitgalery, #scotland, #scotlandthroughmylens, #Scotlandvacation, #statues, #summerinScotland, #themoundblackwatchmemorial, #theroyaledinburghmilitarytattoo2019, #townsivisited, #travel, #travelingtheworld, #travelphotography, #UK, #unitedkingdom, #walkingthestreetsofedinburghLeave a comment

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…

***Dad on his way to the Military Tattoo***

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

Grand Tour of Scotland: Day 2 – Exploring Edinburgh Part 15

April 29, 2020February 26, 2023Posted in EdinburghTagged #August2019, #beautifulbuildings, #bucketlist, #canon18to200mm, #CanonEOS7DMark II, #canongirl, #canongirlforlife, #capetownbasedphotographer, #capturingmemories, #capturingscotland, #citiesvisited, #coreenkuhnphotography, #countriesvisited, #dadandme, #discoveredinburgh, #discoveringScotland, #discoverscotland, #edinburgh, #explorescotland, #fatheranddaughtertime, #flowersofscotland, #flowersthroughmylens, #grandtourofscotland, #haddingtonplace, #leithstreet, #lovemycanon, #lovemyjob, #lovetotravel, #mypassion, #mywork, #nature, #nordicvisitor, #omnicentre, #oorwullie, #oorwulliesbigbuckettrailstatue, #outdoors, #placesofinterest, #placesvisited, #scotland, #scotlandthroughmylens, #Scotlandvacation, #summerinScotland, #theaterroyalbar, #theglasshouse, #townsivisited, #travel, #travelingtheworld, #travelphotography, #UK, #unitedkingdom, #walkingthestreetsofedinburghLeave a comment

Good day friends,

Hope everyone had a good nights rest and ready for the day. I did not really sleep much. My brain is working overtime. I worry about COVID 19 interfering with our plans to visit Scotland again form May 2021 till August 2021. If we are not allowed to travel in 2021 then I must postpone it to April 2022 till July 2022. We have to travel in spring and summer because the main purpose of this trip is so that I can capture Puffins. We also would like to see the rest of Scotland that we missed….

Either way if I continue to post only now and then I will never finish in time before our next trip to Scotland even if we leave in 2022. I also still have some places I visited here in South Africa that I need to edit. But I work from first captured to last….

Here I am back again hoping to finish our walk back to our Guest house today. I still need to post about The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo also before we can hit the road and continue with the rest of our Grand Tour of Scotland.

***Two Giraffes in front of the Omni Centre***

***Oor Wullie in front of Omni Centre***

***Oor Wullie in front of The Glasshouse***

My first thought when I saw the Omni Centre and The Glasshouse was “WOW that’s a lot of Windows to keep clean…. How on earth do they do it? The Glasshouse is a beautiful building…

Just look at how busy the streets of Edinburgh is. We don’t even talk about parking that is one big headache… The best mode of transport might just be to Cycle from point A to B. I prefer to rather walk… I love cycling but my balance is not that great and when I see a robot, stop street or even a car I start to panic…. That is why I put my bicycle in my car and drive to a quiet road or a farm stall park there and cycle from there…

The Theater Royal Bar is situated next to the famous Playhouse Theater on Leith Walk. I just love the decor of this building…. The hanging flower baskets just makes one feel so happy.

Well just around the corner is Ben Cruachan Guest House on MacDonnald Street….

We had about two hours before we had to get ready for our walk back to Edinburgh Castle where The Edinburgh Royal Military tattoo was held…. I went outside and took a few photo’s of the garden before I made us a nice cup of coffee and we talked about the day and how excited we were to go see the Tattoo….

Thank you for joining us on this last stretch back to our Guesthouse. In my next post I will be sharing some photo’s taken on route to the Tattoo and of the Tattoo itself.

Till next time, have a wonderful day.

Coreen

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

Grand Tour of Scotland: Day 2 – Exploring Edinburgh Part 14

April 28, 2020February 26, 2023Posted in EdinburghTagged #August2019, #beautifulbuildings, #bencrauchenguesthouse, #bucketlist, #canon18to200mm, #CanonEOS7DMark II, #canongirl, #canongirlforlife, #capetownbasedphotographer, #capturingmemories, #capturingscotland, #citiesvisited, #coreenkuhnphotography, #countriesvisited, #dadandme, #discoveredinburgh, #discoveringScotland, #discoverscotland, #edinburgh, #explorescotland, #fatheranddaughtertime, #flowersofscotland, #flowersthroughmylens, #grandtourofscotland, #leithstreet, #lovemycanon, #lovemyjob, #lovetotravel, #monuments, #mypassion, #mywork, #nature, #nelsonmonument, #nordicvisitor, #outdoors, #placesofinterest, #placesvisited, #princessstreet, #rabbiestours, #scotland, #scotlandthroughmylens, #Scotlandvacation, #statues, #summerinScotland, #thebalmoralhotel, #thescotsmanhotel, #townsivisited, #travel, #travelingtheworld, #travelphotography, #UK, #unitedkingdom, #walkingthestreetsofedinburgh, #waterlooplaceLeave a comment

Good Morning friends and followers. I hope that your lockdown is also very productive. I must say mine has been so far. I ticked off a few task on my to do list so far.

I am busy reorganizing my kitchen one cupboard at a time. Still a few to go…

Since this weekend I have been organizing my photos of our Grand Tour of Scotland. Putting the photos into folders. This makes it easier for me to do my research on all the places we have visited and also to see 1400 photos in 1 folder for 1 day gets a bit overwhelming, but 150 photo’s is much better… I would like to finish editing before we go on our next Scotland Tour….

I have finished planning our route just need to fine tune it and do some more research on traveling in campervan and Wild Camping in Scotland. Any suggestions will be much appreciated.

Okay enough of that let’s get back to our walk back to Ben Cruachan Guesthouse…

The Balmoral Hotel is such a beautiful building. I wonder how it looks inside? In my imagination it would be fit for a King and Queen…. Next time I will arrange to have a peek inside….

**Corner of North Bridge and Princess Street**

***View of Nelson Monument on Carlton Hill***

***The Duke of*** *Wellington* **Statue**

Here is some information I got from the National Records of Scotland.

“The statue of the Duke of Wellington outside Register House was unveiled in a highly patriotic ceremony on 18 June 1852, the thirty-seventh anniversary of his greatest victory at Waterloo. Wellington’s defeat of Napoleon was regarded as ensuring the freedom not only of Britain but of Europe in general. “

***Waterloo Place Home of Rabbies Tours***

Dad and I encountered multiple meetings with one of Rabbies Tours tour busses while exploring Scotland and some of the islands. Only while editing I realized that I captured one of the buildings they occupied.

Walking down Leith Street was an experience. They were working on buildings and also the road. The beautiful hanging flower baskets caught my eye…. I just loved it…. But more next time….

I hope you enjoyed our short walk….

Till next time.

Coreen

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

Grand Tour of Scotland: Day 2 – Exploring Edinburgh Part 13

April 24, 2020February 26, 2023Posted in EdinburghTagged #August2019, #beautifulbuildings, #bencrauchenguesthouse, #bucketlist, #canon18to200mm, #CanonEOS7DMark II, #canongirl, #canongirlforlife, #capetownbasedphotographer, #capturingmemories, #capturingscotland, #citiesvisited, #coreenkuhnphotography, #countriesvisited, #dadandme, #discoveredinburgh, #discoveringScotland, #discoverscotland, #edinburgh, #explorescotland, #fatheranddaughtertime, #grandtourofscotland, #instagram, #livingstonestatue, #lovemycanon, #lovemyjob, #lovetotravel, #monuments, #mypassion, #mywork, #nordicvisitor, #oldwaverleyhotel, #oorwullie, #oorwulliesbigbuckettrailstatue, #outdoors, #placesofinterest, #placesvisited, #princessstreet, #royalbritishhotel, #scotlandthroughmylens, #Scotlandvacation, #scottmonument, #statues, #summerinScotland, #thescotsmanhotel, #townsivisited, #travel, #travelingtheworld, #travelphotography, #UK, #unitedkingdom, #walkingthestreetsofedinburgh, #waverleystationLeave a comment

Good day everybody. Hope you are all well and are staying safe. Let’s continue our walk…

We crossed the street and walked towards Waverley Station. I turned around just for a quick photo of Cockburn Street. Turning back I captured Scott Monument from a far… The road was very busy and my arms and back were beginning to ache. Carrying your camera in your hand the whole day is starting taking it’s toll….

Still walking towards Princess Street I kept taking photo’s of the buildings far away…. Scott Monument really stood out for me…

Oor Wullie’s Big Bucket Bucket Trails Statue Waverley Station

Back of Oor Wullie’s Big Bucket Trail Statue

It does not matter from what side you capture this monument the craftsmanship and detail are extraordinary. I am looking forward to our next visit…. We reached Princess Street not that far from our Guesthouse now….

Thank you for wandering the streets of Edinburgh with us…

Till next time…. Keep well and stay safe…

Coreen

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

Grand Tour of Scotland: Day 2 – Exploring Edinburgh Part 12

April 22, 2020February 26, 2023Posted in EdinburghTagged #August2019, #beautifulbuildings, #bencrauchenguesthouse, #blueskies, #bucketlist, #canon18to200mm, #CanonEOS7DMark II, #canongirl, #canongirlforlife, #capetownbasedphotographer, #capturingmemories, #capturingscotland, #citiesvisited, #coreenkuhnphotography, #countriesvisited, #dadandme, #discoveredinburgh, #discoveringScotland, #discoverscotland, #edinburgh, #explorescotland, #fatheranddaughtertime, #grandtourofscotland, #instagram, #kirks, #lovemycanon, #lovemyjob, #lovetotravel, #monuments, #mypassion, #mywork, #nordicvisitor, #placesofinterest, #placesvisited, #scotland, #scotlandthroughmylens, #Scotlandvacation, #summerinScotland, #theedinburghdungeon, #townsivisited, #travel, #travelingtheworld, #travelphotography, #UK, #unitedkingdom, #walkingthestreetsofedinburghLeave a comment

Good day to all my followers and internet friends. I hope that you are all well and staying safe…. Well let’s continue our walk back to our guesthouse…

Dad and I got thirsty and was looking for a place to sit and relax for a few minutes. All the places on the Royal mile was packed and we came across Kirks a very cozy bar/restaurant next to the stairs of the The News steps. We each had a glass of Coke and a well deserved rest.

The views outside was spectacular. You can see Carlton Hill from here.

We then tackled the The News Steps. It took dad a while till he reached the bottom. He joked about it and said he took it step by step…

We then reached Cockburn Street. I have seen so many photo’s on Instagram of this street that I put it on my list of places of interest…. Looking forward to exploring it some more on our next visit to Edinburgh.

Some of the views of Carton Hill and Beautiful buildings before crossing the street…. The Edinburgh Dungeon is also on our places of interest list for our 2021 Tour of Scotland.

That is all for now. Thank you very much for taking the time to join us and wander the streets of Edinburgh…

Have a wonderful day and please keep safe.

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

Grand Tour of Scotland: Day 2 – Exploring Edinburgh Part 11

April 13, 2020February 26, 2023Posted in EdinburghTagged #August2019, #beautifulbuildings, #bencrauchenguesthouse, #bucketlist, #canon18to200mm, #CanonEOS7DMark II, #canongirl, #canongirlforlife, #capetownbasedphotographer, #capturingmemories, #capturingscotland, #citiesvisited, #coreenkuhnphotography, #countriesvisited, #dadandme, #discoveredinburgh, #discoveringScotland, #discoverscotland, #edinburgh, #explorescotland, #fatheranddaughtertime, #grandtourofscotland, #HarryPotter, #lovemyjob, #lovetotravel, #monuments, #mypassion, #mywork, #nordicvisitor, #outdoors, #placesofinterest, #scotland, #scotlandthroughmylens, #Scotlandvacation, #statues, #StGilesCathedral, #summerinScotland, #townsivisited, #travel, #travelingtheworld, #travelphotography, #UK, #walkingthestreetsofedinburghLeave a comment

On our way back to our Guesthouse we passed the Elephant House. According to our planning we were supposed to have a cup of tea here, but there were not space for a mouse inside…. So instead I took a photo and said to myself next time….

As you can see it was difficult taking photo’s here in Old Town in Edinburgh. August is definitely an ideal time to visit Edinburgh to capture buildings. Don’t get me wrong I enjoyed my stay so much that we are planning to visit Edinburgh again in 2021, but this time in May and not for 1 day but at least 3 to 5 days… It all depends how my planning for the rest of our 76 days in Scotland goes… But I would really like to spend more time in this beautiful city…

Above is some photo’s I took of St Giles Cathedral. Would have loved to go inside, but the crowds was just to much and I am not really a fan of crowds of people. So till next time.

Thank you for joining us again wandering through the busy streets of Edinburgh….

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

Grand Tour of Scotland: Day 2 – Exploring Edinburgh Part 10

April 11, 2020February 26, 2023Posted in EdinburghTagged #August2019, #beautifulbuildings, #bencrauchenguesthouse, #bucketlist, #candlerow, #canon18to200mm, #CanonEOS7DMark II, #canongirlforlife, #capetownbasedphotographer, #capturingmemories, #capturingscotland, #citiesvisited, #coreenkuhnphotography, #countriesvisited, #dadandme, #discoveredinburgh, #discoveringScotland, #edinburgh, #explorescotland, #fatheranddaughtertime, #grandtourofscotland, #greyfriarsbobby, #johngray, #landscapephotography, #lovemycanon, #lovemyjob, #lovetotravel, #mypassion, #mywork, #nordicvisitor, #outdoors, #placesofinterest, #placesvisited, #scotland, #scotlandthroughmylens, #Scotlandvacation, #skyterrier, #statues, #summerinScotland, #townsivisited, #travel, #travelingtheworld, #travelphotography, #UK, #walkingthestreetsofedinburghLeave a comment

Thank you for wandering through the streets of Edinburgh with us. By now I could see that dad were getting very tired and due to the fact that the streets were so busy with thousands of festival goers we decided to rather move the walk up the Royal mile to the day we get back from our Grand Tour of Scotland…

The one thing that really upset me is the fact that the beautiful Cathedrals and Churches are turned into pubs….. I would rather use these beautiful buildings for something positive… Like shelters for abused woman and children, Coffee shops and a place for local artist to sell their goods or even as a workshop where artist mentor other people and share the secrets of their trade…. But a pub that is just not why these buildings was built. Wasn’t it built to be a safe place for people….

I did however chose a route back to our guesthouse where would still tick the boxes of some of the places to see on our list.

While walking down Candlemaker Row towards George IV Bridge we were searching for the Greyfriars Bobby Statue. I have no idea why I was looking for a big statue and walked passed it the first time. My GPS kept saying I must turn around and when I did I saw the statue…. It looked much bigger in the photos I saw on Instagram and the internet.

The story Of Bobby the Skye Terrier who Guarded the grave of his owner John Gray until his own death on 14 January 1872 is heartwarming and even if it is fabricated of a publicity stunt I still believe that mans best friend is loyal to a fault….

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

Grand Tour of Scotland: Day 2 – Exploring Edinburgh Part 9

April 7, 2020February 26, 2023Posted in EdinburghTagged #August2019, #beautifulbuildings, #bencrauchenguesthouse, #bucketlist, #canon18to200mm, #CanonEOS7DMark II, #canongirlforlife, #capetownbasedphotographer, #capturingmemories, #capturingscotland, #citiesvisited, #coreenkuhnphotography, #countriesvisited, #dadandme, #discoveredinburgh, #discoveringScotland, #discoverscotland, #edinburgh, #edinburghcastle, #explorescotland, #fatheranddaughtertime, #grandtourofscotland, #graveyard, #greyfriarskirkyard, #lovetotravel, #mypassion, #nordicvisitor, #outdoors, #placesvisited, #scotlandthroughmylens, #Scotlandvacation, #townsivisited, #travel, #travelingtheworld, #travelphotography, #UK, #walkingthestreetsofedinburghLeave a comment

After a quick visit to the Ross Fountain we headed to Edinburgh Castle, but Dad was to tired and did not have the strength to go up all the stairs. So we decided to take the long route to the Royal Mile that leads to the Castle.

I still have no idea where we ended up some square with allot of restaurants and pubs…. Next time we are in Edinburgh I would like to go again . If all goes according to plan and this COVID-19 Virus is under control we will visit again in May 2021.

Our next stop was the Greyfriars Kirk yard.

I discovered the Flodden Wall and took some photos of the Edinburgh Castle and surrounding buildings through a gate….

Here are some information I got from Wikipedia in connection to the Flodden Wall.

“On 9 September 1513, the Scots met the English at the Battle of Flodden, and were heavily defeated, with King James killed on the field. An English invasion was widely expected, and in Edinburgh it was resolved to build a new town wall. Construction began the following year, but was not completed until 1560.

The Flodden Wall, was around 1.2 metres thick and up to 7.3 metres high. The Flodden Wall began at the south side of the castle, running south across the west end of the Grassmarket, where the West Port was located, and continued uphill along the Vennel. A watch-tower or bastion survives at this, the south-west extent of the wall. It then ran east, wrapping around Greyfriars Kirkyard, to the Bristo Port and the Potterow Port, both located in the vicinity of the National Museum of Scotland. Continuing east, the wall passed the Kirk o’ Field, where the Old College now stands, and ran along Drummond Street, turning north at the Pleasance to enclose the former Blackfriars Monastery. The Cowgate Port was located at the foot of the Pleasance, and the wall then ran up the line of St Mary’s Street, where it was formed by strengthening existing walls rather than new walling, to the Netherbow Port, which stood across what is now known as the Royal Mile The wall continued north to the Nor Loch, since replaced by Waverley railway station, terminating at the New Port. “

By now dad was really tired and we decided to rather head back to the Guest House so that he can rest up. Because we still had to walk all the way back to Edinburgh Castle to watch the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo that evening.

Thank you for walking with us….

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

Grand Tour of Scotland: Day 2 – Exploring Edinburgh Part 8

February 28, 2020February 26, 2023Posted in EdinburghTagged #August2019, #bucketlist, #canon18to200mm, #CanonEOS7DMark II, #canongirl, #canongirlforlife, #capetownbasedphotographer, #capturingmemories, #capturingscotland, #citiesvisited, #coreenkuhnphotography, #countriesvisited, #dadandme, #discoveredinburgh, #discoveringScotland, #discoverscotland, #edinburgh, #edinburghcastle, #explorescotland, #fatheranddaughtertime, #grandtourofscotland, #landscapephotography, #lovemycanon, #lovemyjob, #lovetotravel, #monuments, #mypassion, #mywork, #nordicvisitor, #placesvisited, #princessstreet, #princessstreetgardens, #rossfountain, #rossfountainarchives, #scotlandthroughmylens, #Scotlandvacation, #summerinScotland, #townsivisited, #travelingtheworld, #travelphotography, #UK, #walkingthestreetsofedinburgh, Castles, outdoors, TravelLeave a comment

Here is some information on The Ross Fountain I got from Wikipedea and articles from the Ross Fountain Archives of The Ross Development Trust.

The Ross Fountain was produced at the iron Foundry of Antoine Durenne in Sommevoire, France. It was an exhibit at the Great Exhibition of 1862.

A gunmaker Daniel Ross bought it in 1862 for £2,000 and subsequently gifted to the city of Edinburgh. It was transported to Leith in 1869 in 122 pieces. It was only installed in its current position in 1872. . The Ross Fountain had some major restoration work done and was only completed in 2001.

Its sculptures include mermaids with four female figures depicting science, the arts, poetry and industry. A further large female figure stands at the center of the fountain.

During 2018 another major renovation project was launched and after a lot of research they decided on a turquoise, gold and brown pallet for the fountain.

I must say it looks beautiful and according to them this paint will last at least for 20 years….

I hope you enjoyed this post on the Ross Fountain. Please go visit Ross Fountain Archives for more details on the restoration.

Thank you for stopping by and reading my post.

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

Grand Tour of Scotland: Day 2 – Exploring Edinburgh Part 7

February 28, 2020February 26, 2023Posted in EdinburghTagged #August2019, #beautifulbuildings, #bucketlist, #canon18to200mm, #CanonEOS7DMark II, #canongirl, #canongirlforlife, #capetownbasedphotographer, #capturingmemories, #capturingscotland, #citiesvisited, #coreenkuhnphotography, #countriesvisited, #dadandme, #discoveredinburgh, #discoveringScotland, #discoverscotland, #edinburgh, #edinburghcastle, #explorescotland, #fatheranddaughtertime, #flowersofscotland, #grandtourofscotland, #graveyard, #landscapephotography, #lovemycanon, #lovemyjob, #lovetotravel, #monuments, #mypassion, #mywork, #nordicvisitor, #placesvisited, #princessstreet, #scotland, #scotlandthroughmylens, #Scotlandvacation, #sirjamesyoungsimpsonmonument, #statues, #Stcuthbertschurch, #summerinScotland, #townsivisited, #travelingtheworld, #travelphotography, #UK, #walkingthestreetsofedinburgh, Castles, outdoors, TravelLeave a comment

As promised I am trying to make up for being so busy over the past few weeks. Let’s continue our walk along Princess Street and crossing the road to Princess Gardens…

I have to say the grass is always greener on the other side…. I took some photo’s of the Princess Gardens over the fence. In our original planning we would only visit the gardens when we came back to Edinburgh after our tour. But plans changed and I am glad I have a few photos of the gardens and the statues. But Edinburgh is definitely on our itinerary for our next visit but this time we are staying a week at least….

I just loved the Sir James Young Simpson Monument sitting in the shade of the trees…

I had to go to visit the ladies room and saw the sign for it, but I took the wrong set of stairs and ended up in the graveyard of the St Cuthbert’s Church. Normally I so not like to take photo’s of graves, but these were so beautiful that I just had to capture them.

St Cuthbert’s are situated at the western foot of Castle Rock and at the west end of Princess Street. You have a beautiful framed view between the trees of the Castle from here…

You also have a very nice view of St Cuthbert’s from Princess Gardens side.

The view of Castle Rock from inside Princess Gardens is spectacular….

Thank you for this short walk through St Cuthbert’s next post will be mostly about Ross Fountain…

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

Grand Tour of Scotland: Day 2 – Exploring Edinburgh Part 6

February 28, 2020February 26, 2023Posted in EdinburghTagged #August2019, #beautifulbuildings, #bucketlist, #canon18to200mm, #CanonEOS7DMark II, #canongirl, #canongirlforlife, #capetownbasedphotographer, #capturingmemories, #capturingscotland, #citiesvisited, #coreenkuhnphotography, #countriesvisited, #dadandme, #discoveredinburgh, #discoveringScotland, #discoverscotland, #edinburgh, #edinburghcastle, #explorescotland, #fatheranddaughtertime, #grandtourofscotland, #lovemycanon, #lovemyjob, #lovetotravel, #mypassion, #nordicvisitor, #placesvisited, #princessstreet, #puffins, #redfoodtruck, #scotlandthroughmylens, #Scotlandvacation, #spendingtimewithlovedones, #streetentertainer, #summerinScotland, #townsivisited, #travelingtheworld, #travelphotography, #UK, #vodashop, #walkingthestreetsofedinburgh, #williestatue, Castles, outdoors, TravelLeave a comment

Good day everyone, sorry I have been a bit busy with studies and work over the past few weeks. But I hope to make it up to you today.

Where were we? Oh yes turning into the very busy Princess Street…

As we turned I immediately saw the street entertainer with his accordion. I did some window shopping as well. I just love all the Willie Statues all over Edinburgh and later on our travels we will encounter much more… Princess Street was extremely busy and it was difficult capturing the beautiful buildings through the crowds and all the buses and trams passing by. Hopefully next time I will have much more time to explore and take more detailed photos.

I was looking for a Vodashop when we turned into Princess street. I had to get a data sim card. At this stage of our visit we were just winging it. I had no idea where all the buildings and statues was that I wanted to capture and visit. We lost a lot of time wandering around but we also saw much more than I have bargained for.

Well let’s get back to Princess Street… I heard bagpipes and dad also heard it well I must say dad’s hearing is not that great these days, but he loves bagpipes and of course he heard it also over the hustle and bustle of Princess street. Then we spotted him across the road another street entertainer in his traditional Scottish outfit and playing the bagpipes….

I found a Vodashop and took out a 40 Gig contract for our remaining 17 Days in Scotland. We spend about 1 hour in the shop, but not due to bad service just the opposite. The salesman who helped me was supper friendly and he helped me to set up a hot spot on my extra phone so that I can still use my SA number. He also told me about his favorite places to visit and I made notes on my phone of course. Had to make sure we see everything we can fit into our Grand Tour of Scotland When we walked out of the store I saw Edinburgh Castle in all his glory….. Wow what a sight. I could not believe that I missed it while walking down Princess Street. Okay maybe I can I was so focused on that Vodashop I think I missed a lot more….

Around the corner there were a market with Stalls and dad bought his first gifts to bring back home to South Africa… I got so excited when I saw an exhibit on Wildlife and of course Puffins I asked the man where is the best place to spot Puffins and he gave me some very bad news…. “Sorry mam you have just missed them they start migrating end of July.” I was devastated, I was so looking forward to capturing these beautiful birds…

Dad thought it was a big joke and told me to take a photo of the stuffed Puffin at least I will have one photo of one…. Even the Willie statue looked liked it was laughing extra hard at my misfortune….

Thank you for joining us on our walk, we are not yet finished with Princess Street. Up next we will cross the street to Princess Gardens…

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

Grand Tour of Scotland: Day 2 – Exploring Edinburgh Part 5

January 28, 2020February 26, 2023Posted in EdinburghTagged #August2019, #beautifulbuildings, #bucketlist, #canon18to200mm, #CanonEOS7DMark II, #canongirlforlife, #capetownbasedphotographer, #capturingmemories, #capturingscotland, #citiesvisited, #coreenkuhnphotography, #countriesvisited, #dadandme, #discoveredinburgh, #discoveringScotland, #discoverscotland, #edinburgh, #explorescotland, #fatheranddaughtertime, #grandtourofscotland, #jenners, #landscapephotography, #lovemycanon, #lovemyjob, #lovetotravel, #melvillemonument, #mypassion, #mywork, #nordicvisitor, #placesvisited, #portraitphotographer, #scotland, #scotlandthroughmylens, #Scotlandvacation, #StAndrewsquare, #summerinScotland, #townsivisited, #travelingtheworld, #travelphotography, #UK, #walkingthestreetsofedinburgh, TravelLeave a comment

Let’s continue exploring Edinburgh… We turned right onto North St. David Street walking past St Andrews Square and many beautiful buildings and Statues….

St Andrew Square are situated at the east end of George Street. The gardens are owned by private owners and are opened to the public since 2008. In the center of the square is the fluted column of the Melville Monument, commemorating Henry Dundas, the first Viscount Melville.

Surrounding the square is a lot of office buildings and shops.

When you look down to the bottom of the street you see the majestic Scott Monument….

Walking down to Princess Street I got so caught up in all the details of the buildings and all the people walking. Some walked with luggage either coming to stay in or leaving the city. Some are tourists and well some are local….

Then we reached Princess Street and Scott Monument…

In my next post we will be walking down the very busy Princess Street.

Thank you for joining us on our walk through the busy streets of Edinburgh… Hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.

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

Grand Tour of Scotland: Day 2 – Exploring Edinburgh Part 4

January 7, 2020February 26, 2023Posted in EdinburghTagged #beautifulbuildings, #bucketlist, #canon18to200mm, #CanonEOS7DMark II, #capetownbasedphotographer, #capturingmemories, #capturingscotland, #citiesvisited, #coreenkuhnphotography, #countriesvisited, #dadandme, #discoveredinburgh, #discoveringScotland, #discoverscotland, #edinburgh, #explorescotland, #fatheranddaughtertime, #grandtourofscotland, #lovemycanon, #lovemyjob, #lovetotravel, #nature, #nordicvisitor, #outdoors, #placesvisited, #purpleflowers, #queenstreet, #scotlandthroughmylens, #Scotlandvacation, #sculptures, #summerinScotland, #townsivisited, #travel, #travelingtheworld, #travelphotography, #UK, #walkingthestreetsofedinburgh6 Comments

Dad went to sat down on a bench after the steep uphill and I took the opportunity to capture our surroundings. I loved taking photo’s of the taxi’s some are so colorful. After dads rest we walked past the Irish Embassy down Randolph Crescent….

Due to the fact that my google maps did not work at that stage I tried to follow a map in a booklet. Later we decided that we are just going to walk and see where we end up. Luckily for us we ended up in North Charlotte Street….

We had our morning tea at a cute little coffee shop named Fortuna Coffee Bar situated on Queen Street. After our tea break we walked down Queen Street admiring the architecture….

If we had time I think I would have taken much more photos of the sculptures on the buildings. But that would have meant I would at least spend 30 minutes maybe more per building. I think some would have taken me up to an hour just to capture all the detail…. Dad did some window shopping while I was getting “trigger” happy.

Here’s some more photos taken of the buildings…

Thank you for joining us on our walk down Queen Street.

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

Grand Tour of Scotland: Day 2 – Exploring Edinburgh Part 3

December 14, 2019February 26, 2023Posted in EdinburghTagged #August2019, #beautifulbuildings, #bucketlist, #CanonEOS7DMark II, #capetownbasedphotographer, #capturingmemories, #capturingscotland, #coreenkuhnphotography, #countriesvisited, #dadandme, #discoveredinburgh, #discoveringScotland, #discoverscotland, #edinburgh, #explorescotland, #flowersofscotland, #flowersthroughmylens, #grandtourofscotland, #landscapephotography, #Lindsaysmill, #lovetotravel, #millstones, #mypassion, #mywork, #nature, #naturephotography, #nordicvisitor, #outdoors, #placesvisited, #scotland, #scotlandthroughmylens, #Scotlandvacation, #stbernardswell, #stgeorgeswell, #summerinScotland, #townsivisited, #travel, #travelingtheworld, #travelphotography, #walkingthestreetsofedinburgh6 Comments

Our next stop on our itinerary was the Water of Leith Walkway. It is a beautiful public footpath and cycleway that runs alongside the Leith River . The Leith River runs from Balerno to Leith through Edinburgh.

Along the way we walked past a few joggers and a one or two cyclists. The scenery along the way is breathtaking.

Luckily there are a lot of benches on the walkway so dad could rest up while I was clicking away.

I love bird watching and although I am not all clued up on all the names I still love capturing them. I saw a Grey Heron on the river bank searching for food.

The Thistle is Scotland’s national flower and it is everywhere. I can see why the Scottish people love this weed so much it is really beautiful…. Along the footpath I saw so many beautiful plants, and for the first time I saw Mistletoe as plant and not just a decoration on a cake or wrapping paper. It is such a beautiful plant and I wonder if it will grow here in South Africa.

St Bernards Well is a Greco-Roman structure that houses a well that the people believed have healing powers. It looks a lot like a temple with its Doric columns and on the top of the dome is a golden pineapple. In the middle of the building is a statue of Hygieia, the Greek and Roman goddess of health.

I could not get enough of how green the surrounding on the path was. It was truly breathtaking and I would have liked to spend a little more time exploring. Next stop St Georges Well also known as Inky Well. This well-house was build in 1810 over a spring and was named after George III to mark the Jubilee or 50th anniversary of his reign.

The Dean Bridge was our next stop. The Dean Bridge spans over the Water of Leith and was designed by Thomas Telford a bridge designer and civil engineer. The bridge was completed in 1831 when Thomas Telford turned 73.

I spotted these Millstones next to the Water of Leith. They were situated on the site of the former Lindsay’s mill. These stones are made from a very hard stone that was specially imported from France. The mill was one of seventeen in the vicinity in the 17th Century.

Next on our itinerary Miller Row in Dean Village….

We took a steep uphill walk to get to the top of the Dean Bridge. The buildings and views from Dean Bridge and Queensferry Road was so majestic. I love the detail on the buildings.

From here we headed back to the chaos of the busy city…. If I look at the photo’s on the internet and Instagram I get jealous because 95% of the buildings that I wanted to photograph I could not get a good angle because of the thousands of tourists, busses, taxi’s and cars.

Thank you for joining us on our walk…

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

Grand Tour of Scotland: Day 2 – Exploring Edinburgh Part 2

December 4, 2019February 26, 2023Posted in EdinburghTagged #beautifulbuildings, #bucketlist, #canon18to200mm, #CanonEOS7DMark II, #capetownbasedphotographer, #capturingmemories, #capturingscotland, #citiesvisited, #coreenkuhnphotography, #countriesvisited, #dadandme, #discoveredinburgh, #discoverscotland, #edinburgh, #explorescotland, #fatheranddaughtertime, #flowersofscotland, #flowersthroughmylens, #grandtourofscotland, #lovemyjob, #lovetotravel, #mypassion, #mywork, #nature, #nordicvisitor, #outdoors, #pinkflowers, #placesvisited, #purpleflowers, #scotland, #scotlandthroughmylens, #Scotlandvacation, #spendingtimewithlovedones, #stockbridge, #ststephens, #stvincentschapel, #summerinScotland, #townsivisited, #travel, #travelingtheworld, #travelphotography, #walkingthestreetsofedinburghLeave a comment

Next on our Itinerary was the famous Circus Lane but first we stopped for a little break and there we discovered St Vincent’s Chapel and St Stephen’s in Stockbridge. Along the way I captured some beautiful Lilies and of course some more buildings and streets or Lanes.

St Vincent’s Chapel is such a beautiful building and I just love the red doors. When I visit Edinburgh again I am definitively going to stay longer than one day. Due to our tight schedule and sooo many places to see we could not go into all the chapels and museums we wanted to. I am already planning our next trip and this time we are taking our time to explore properly.

St Stephen’s Church is no longer used for Sunday services, currently it is used for community events, a daycare, performances, and private and commercial events. The best of all I had St Stephen’s Church on my list but when I could not find it I did not tick it off. Only while doing my research on the places I photographed I was shockingly surprised that I did see it. One of our hosts on holiday told us that many churches and chapels have been sold and some even used as pubs… On our journey we did see that a lot. It is sad if you think about it but on the other hand at least the buildings are getting used and some even restored. They are given a new lease on life…

When I did my planning for our trip I went on Instagram and search anything to do with Edinburgh and the other towns we were going to visit. Circus Lane was the one place I just had to go and see for myself and I was not disappointed. It is magical. All the detail and oh my word all the flowers I just could not stop clicking away….

Thank you for taking the time to walk through the streets of Edinburgh with us. Hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.

Our next stop Water of Leith Walkway…

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

Grand Tour of Scotland: Day 2 – Exploring Edinburgh Part 1

December 3, 2019February 26, 2023Posted in EdinburghTagged #beautifulbuildings, #bencrauchenguesthouse, #bucketlist, #capturingmemories, #capturingscotland, #coreenkuhnphotography, #countriesvisited, #discoveredinburgh, #discoveringScotland, #discoverscotland, #edinburgh, #explorescotland, #fatheranddaughtertime, #flowersofscotland, #flowersthroughmylens, #grandtourofscotland, #lovetotravel, #Mansfieldtraquair, #nature, #nordicvisitor, #outdoors, #placesvisited, #portraitphotographer, #scotland, #scotlandthroughmylens, #Scotlandvacation, #spendingtimewithlovedones, #summerinScotland, #townsivisited, #travel, #travelingtheworld, #travelphotography, #walkingthestreetsofedinburghLeave a comment

Dad and I slept like logs. I woke up around 5:00 AM long before my alarm. I got dressed looked out of the window and was very happy to see that it stopped raining. I then woke up my dad around 6:15 AM so that he could get ready.

While waiting for dad I made us a cup of coffee and took some photos of the birds in the garden through our bedroom window.

Took some photos out of our bedroom window of the birds in the garden.

Breakfast was only served at 8:00 AM and dad and I was finished and ready by 7:05. So we decided to go outside and take some photos of our surroundings before we went for breakfast. There were a slight breeze and a bit cold outside but we soon warmed up from all the exploring.

We went down stairs to the cozy dining room and sat down at a table in the corner. We both started with a cup of coffee and then a bowl of porridge. In South Africa we also eat porridge but we prepare it different and I must be totally honest with you I prefer the Scottish method. The porridge is so creamy and with the honey it is even better. Dad ordered a Scottish breakfast consisting of Eggs, Bacon and Sausage and I ordered Pancakes with Bacon, Banana and Syrup. It was absolutely divine.

After Breakfast we got our “Goody bag” from Nordic Visitor with all our holiday arrangements and also a map of Edinburgh. For the first part of the day I had to navigate our way around Edinburgh with a map the old fashioned way. Only later in the day did I went to a Vodashop to buy a data contract so that I can use my google maps with our pre-programmed routes.

We left the Guesthouse around 8:45 AM on our way to our first stop on our list of places to visit Mansfield Traquair. As you will see I could not get enough photos of the beautiful flowers and the Architecture.

Our first place of interest was Mansfield Traquair. A beautiful chapel and Wedding Venue. Due to our tight schedule I could not go inside. For more information on the Mansfield Traquair please visit their website.

As we walked to our next stop on our itinerary I capture some of our surroundings…

Thank you for exploring Edinburgh with us. Hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. Have a look out for part 2

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

Grand Tour of Scotland: Arrival Day: 11 August 2019

October 6, 2019February 26, 2023Posted in EdinburghTagged #beautifulbuildings, #bencrauchenguesthouse, #bucketlist, #CanonEOS7DMark II, #canongirl, #capturingmemories, #capturingscotland, #discoveringScotland, #edinburgh, #explorescotland, #grandtourofscotland, #Heathrow, #lovetotravel, #mywork, #nordicvisitor, #outdoors, #pinkflowers, #scotland, #scotlandthroughmylens, #Scotlandvacation, #townsivisited, #travelingtheworld, Canon 7D, Canon EF 18-200mm lens, Coreen Kuhn Photography, Nature/Travel Photography, Photographer, Travel, Travel Photography, www.coreenkuhnphotography.com1 Comment

I finally finished up with our first day in Edinburgh and is busy with day 2… I still have not decided how I am going to post it because there are thousands of photos and I would really like to share them all with you…

Now just to let you know, every evening I made notes on my phone about the day we had all the ups and downs all the interesting facts we learned but due to the theft of my phone all that information is gone along with the photo’s of our rooms, decor and selfies of dad and myself. I am just glad I posted a few photos on my blog so you will see some of them again to fill in the gaps of our days.

When we landed in Edinburgh the rain was really coming down hard and I realised that my planning for day 1 won’t be possible… But I was positive that maybe it will stop and we could at least see something on day 1.

Sarah from Nordic Visitor arranged a driver for us from the airport to our Guesthouse. I started stressing when our flight got delayed by nearly an hour. What if the driver had other appointments and had to leave…. But as per usual I stressed for nothing.

After collecting our luggage we head to the arrival hall and there he was. Unfortunately I can’t remember his name lost that information too… Neatly dressed in his black suit, white shirt and black tie. Well this is not something you see in South Africa only if you hire a limousine maybe.

He was really enthusiastic about his city and the history behind it. He asked me what our plans was while staying in Edinburgh I told him all about my research and the places I would like to see. He then said if we are not in a hurry he will show us some of the places and also a few more. I was overwhelmed hoping I remember all the places and streets. He gave us an information overload and I started taking notes like mad. I have a good memory but between the information, traffic rules and beautiful buildings I knew I would forget some of it.

Funny how a person’s memory works, While I am busy editing some information comes back and some I just can’t seem to remember.

Our driver dropped us off at Ben Cruachan Guesthouse and we were received by our hostess…. Oops I forgot her name now…. Well hopefully it will come back to me.

This would be our home away from home for 2 nights. Well our room was so beautiful and had a nice view of the garden. It was really coming down and dad and I first had some coffee and relaxed before we decided to go for a walk in the rain in Edinburgh.

We put on our rain jackets, took the umbrella and of course I took my camera…. We changed our plans a bit we were just going to explore some of the streets around the Guest House….

While walking and taking photos it started raining very hard and we saw a Pub that is open and we headed in for a nice dinner and hopefully it will have stopped raining when we were finished.

Bushwick Pub and Grill was very cozy but not very busy. The waiter gave us a window seat. I think he saw the camera and knew that I would like to take some photos. Dad ordered a draft and I ordered a Banana Milkshake….. When the waiter put down the milkshake in front of my my jaw dropped I did not expect a mega mega Milkshake…. I could not even finished it… So sad though it was delicious and I will definitely go there again if I am ever in Edinburgh again. That is if they are still there of course. We also ordered a burger and chips and when the waiter put it down in front of us dad and I just looked at each other and right there we decided that the people at Bushwick don’t believe in normal they go big…..

Well needless to say I could not finish my dinner. I ate my chips and drank my milkshake as far as I could. I asked if they can put my burger in a takeaway container so that I can enjoy it a bit later.

It stopped raining and dad I headed back to the guesthouse I took some more photos and when we got “home” I took a nice hot shower and had a glass of sherry to keep me warm. After my shower I tackled my burger and I could not finish it….

We were very tired after the flight and went to bed just after 10 pm.

Thank you for exploring Scotland with us. I hope you enjoyed our first day just as much as we did.

Grand Tour of Scotland 26 & 27 August 2019: Day 16 and 17 – Isle of Mull to Edinburgh

September 2, 2019April 12, 2023Posted in ScotlandTagged #2019, #bucketlist, #capetownbasedphotographer, #capturingmemories, #capturingscotland, #coreenkuhnphotography, #dadandme, #discoveringScotland, #explorescotland, #fatheranddaughtertime, #grandtourofscotland, #huaweip10, #isleofmull, #landscapephotography, #lovemyjob, #lovetotravel, #mypassion, #mywork, #naturephotography, #nordicvisitor, #oban, #poppieshotel, #scotlandthroughmylens, #Scotlandvacation, #summerinScotland, #townsivisited, #travelingtheworld, #travelphotography, cameraphone, Castles, Craignure, Happy, nature, outdoors, Travel1 Comment

Good day,

Sorry I have not been posting the past few days.

When we got to Edinburgh on the 27th my phone got stolen along with my credit card and drivers license. I lost over 800 photo’s and memories taken with my phone.

Everything is replaceble except my memories. All the selfies of dad and myself… Gone due to one or other person with long fingers.

On the positive side I got a new phone, new card and new photo on my driver’s license… And I still have 17000+ photos to edit taken with my camera.

Please be patient over the course of the the next few months I will bombard you with all the beautiful sights of Scotland.

Thank you for taking the time to discover Scotland with us.

Grand Tour of Scotland 25 August 2019: Day 15 – Fort William to Isle of Mull

August 25, 2019April 12, 2023Posted in ScotlandTagged #2019, #bucketlist, #capetownbasedphotographer, #capturingmemories, #capturingscotland, #coreenkuhnphotography, #dadandme, #discoveringScotland, #explorescotland, #fatheranddaughtertime, #fortwilliam, #grandtourofscotland, #huaweip10, #isleofmull, #landscapephotography, #lovemyjob, #lovetotravel, #mypassion, #mywork, #naturephotography, #nordicvisitor, #oban, #scotlandthroughmylens, #Scotlandvacation, #summerinScotland, #townsivisited, #travelingtheworld, #travelphotography, cameraphone, Happy, nature, outdoors, Travel1 Comment

We left Fort William very early around 6:00 because it is approximately one hours drive without any stops. And as you know by now that won’t sit right with me. We had to be in Oban at 9 to board the ferry to Isle of Mull.

Tonight we are spending the night at The Tobermory Hotel.

All photos taken with my Huawei P10 cellphone.

Thank you for taking the time to discover Scotland with us.

Grand Tour of Scotland 24 August 2019: Day 14 – Travel from Skye to Fort William

August 25, 2019April 12, 2023Posted in ScotlandTagged #2019, #bucketlist, #capetown, #capetownbasedphotographer, #capturingmemories, #capturingscotland, #coreenkuhnphotography, #dadandme, #discoveringScotland, #explorescotland, #fatheranddaughtertime, #fortwilliam, #grandtourofscotland, #huaweip10, #isleofskye, #landscapephotography, #lovemyjob, #lovetotravel, #mypassion, #mywork, #naturephotography, #nordicvisitor, #scotlandthroughmylens, #Scotlandvacation, #summerinScotland, #townsivisited, #travelingtheworld, #travelphotography, cameraphone, Castles, Happy, nature, outdoors, Travel1 Comment

We left Skye over the long and beautiful Skye bridge to get on the Mainland as they call it. We did some exploring on our way to to Fort William.

Tonight we are spending the night at The Moorings Hotel.

All photos taken with my Huawei P10 cellphone.

Thank you for taking the time to discover Scotland with us.

Grand Tour of Scotland 23 August 2019: Day 13 – Exploring Isle of Skye

August 25, 2019April 12, 2023Posted in ScotlandTagged #2019, #bucketlist, #capetownbasedphotographer, #capturingmemories, #capturingscotland, #coreenkuhnphotography, #dadandme, #discoveringScotland, #explorescotland, #fatheranddaughtertime, #grandtourofscotland, #huaweip10, #isleofskye, #landscapephotography, #lovemyjob, #lovetotravel, #mypassion, #mywork, #naturephotography, #nordicvisitor, #scotlandthroughmylens, #Scotlandvacation, #summerinScotland, #townsivisited, #travelingtheworld, #travelphotography, cameraphone, Castles, Happy, nature, outdoors, Travel1 Comment

Today was our last day on Isle of Skye and we did some more exploring.

Just a few random photos of our day…

All photos taken with my Huawei P10 cellphone.

Thank you for taking the time to discover Scotland with us.

Grand tour of Scotland 22 August 2019: Day 12 – Exploring Isle of Skye

August 25, 2019April 12, 2023Posted in ScotlandTagged #2019, #bucketlist, #capetownbasedphotographer, #capturingmemories, #capturingscotland, #coreenkuhnphotography, #dadandme, #discoveringScotland, #explorescotland, #grandtourofscotland, #huaweip10, #isleofskye, #landscapephotography, #lovemyjob, #lovetotravel, #mypassion, #mywork, #naturephotography, #nordicvisitor, #scotlandthroughmylens, #Scotlandvacation, #summerinScotland, #townsivisited, #travelingtheworld, #travelphotography, cameraphone, Happy, nature, outdoors, Travel1 Comment

Today we explored Isle of Skye.

Here are some random photos of our day. More to come when I have edited the rest.

All photos taken with my Huawei P10 cellphone.

Thank you for taking the time to discover Scotland with us.

Grand Tour of Scotland 21 August 2019: Day 11 – Exploring Harris and do some island hopping….

August 25, 2019April 12, 2023Posted in ScotlandTagged #2019, #bucketlist, #capetownbasedphotographer, #capturingmemories, #capturingscotland, #coreenkuhnphotography, #dadandme, #discoveringScotland, #explorescotland, #fatheranddaughtertime, #grandtourofscotland, #huaweip10, #isleofskye, #landscapephotography, #lovemyjob, #lovetotravel, #mypassion, #mywork, #naturephotography, #nordicvisitor, #orchardhouse, #Portree, #scotlandthroughmylens, #Scotlandvacation, #summerinScotland, #townsivisited, #travelingtheworld, #travelphotography, cameraphone, Happy, nature, outdoors, Travel1 Comment

Today was our last day on Isle of Harris so we did some more exploring before heading to Cal Mac Ferries in Tarbert. It was raining cats and dogs when we left Harris

We then traveled to the Isle of Skye where we will spend 3 nights at Orchard House Bed and Breakfast in Portree.

Here are some random photos of our day…

All photos taken with my Huawei P10 cellphone.

Thank you for taking the time to discover Scotland with us.

Grand Tour of Scotland 20 August 2019: Day 10 – Exploring Isle of Harris and Lewis

August 20, 2019April 12, 2023Posted in ScotlandTagged #2019, #bucketlist, #capetownbasedphotographer, #capturingmemories, #capturingscotland, #coreenkuhnphotography, #dadandme, #discoveringScotland, #explorescotland, #fatheranddaughtertime, #grandtourofscotland, #huaweip10, #isleofharris, #isleoflewis, #landscapephotography, #lovemyjob, #lovetotravel, #mypassion, #mywork, #naturephotography, #nordicvisitor, #scotlandthroughmylens, #Scotlandvacation, #townsivisited, #travelingtheworld, #travelphotography, cameraphone, Happy, nature, outdoors, TravelLeave a comment

Good evening everyone,

Today we did 2 circle routes today. Covering Lewis and Harris.

The photos are random and not in a particular order.

Cream cheese with matured salmon on bagel with salad

Beer battered Haddock with peas and chips

Sticky toffee pudding with butterscotch sauce and ice cream

All photos taken with my Huawei P10 cellphone.

Thank you for taking the time to discover Scotland with us.

Grand Tour of Scotland 19 August 2019: Day 9 Ullapool to Isle of Harris

Good evening everyone,

We left Ullapool on the ferry to Stornoway on Isle of Harris.

We then traveled via the coastline to Tarbert. We are staying at The Harris Hotel for 2 nights.

Photos are random and not in the order we have traveled.

All photos taken with my Huawei P10 cellphone.

Thank you for taking the time to discover Scotland with us.

Grand Tour of Scotland 18 August 2019: Day 8 – Travel from Orkney to Ullapool

August 20, 2019April 12, 2023Posted in ScotlandTagged #2019, #bucketlist, #capturingmemories, #capturingscotland, #coreenkuhnphotography, #dadandme, #discoveringScotland, #explorescotland, #fatheranddaughtertime, #grandtourofscotland, #huaweip10, #landscapephotography, #lovemyjob, #lovetotravel, #mypassion, #mywork, #naturephotography, #nordicvisitor, #orkney, #scotlandthroughmylens, #Scotlandvacation, #townsivisited, #travelingtheworld, #travelphotography, cameraphone, Happy, nature, outdoors, TravelLeave a comment

Good day, just a heads up that the photos are random and not in the order it was taken. I am going to write a blog about our trip and what happen each day when I get back home.

We left Orkney Island on the ferry to Scrabster. We then traveled via the coastline to Ullapool. We got lost but more on that in my blog with edited photos. We tried to cover as much as we could.

All photos taken with my Huawei P10 cellphone.

Thank you for taking the time to discover Scotland with us.

Grand Tour of Scotland 17 August 2019: Day 7 – Exploring Orkney

August 20, 2019April 12, 2023Posted in ScotlandTagged #2019, #bucketlist, #buttonbenguesthouse, #capetownbasedphotographer, #capturingmemories, #capturingscotland, #coreenkuhnphotography, #dadandme, #discoveringScotland, #explorescotland, #fatheranddaughtertime, #grandtourofscotland, #huaweip10, #landscapephotography, #lovemyjob, #lovetotravel, #mypassion, #mywork, #naturephotography, #nordicvisitor, #orkney, #scotlandthroughmylens, #Scotlandvacation, #spendingtimewithlovedones, #townsivisited, #travelingtheworld, #travelphotography, cameraphone, Happy, nature, outdoors, TravelLeave a comment

I have been struggling with uploading to my blog the past few days. Please let me know if you can’t see the photos. The photos are random and not in order of how our day went.

Today dad and I drove all over exploring Orkney Island from north to south and east to west. We tried to cover as much as we could.

ll the photos was taken with my Huawei P10 cellphone.Thank you for taking the time to discover Scotland with us.

Grand Tour of Scotland 16 August 2019: Day 6 – Inverness to Orkney Island

August 17, 2019April 12, 2023Posted in ScotlandTagged #2019, #bucketlist, #capetownbasedphotographer, #capturingmemories, #capturingscotland, #coreenkuhnphotography, #dadandme, #discoveringScotland, #explorescotland, #fatheranddaughtertime, #grandtourofscotland, #huaweip10, #landscapephotography, #lovemyjob, #lovetotravel, #mypassion, #mywork, #naturephotography, #nordicvisitor, #scotlandthroughmylens, #Scotlandvacation, #spendingtimewithlovedones, #townsivisited, #travelingtheworld, #travelphotography, cameraphone, nature, outdoors, TravelLeave a comment

Good evening everyone,

Today dad and I drove Inverness along the coast to Scrabster where we got on a ferry to Orkney Island.

We had rain, strong wind, fog and sunshine all in one day….

All photos taken with my Huawei P10 cellphone.

Thank you for taking the time to discover Scotland with us.

Grand Tour of Scotland 14 August 2019: Day 4 – St Andrews to Aberdeen

August 17, 2019April 12, 2023Posted in ScotlandTagged #bucketlist, #capetownbasedphotographer, #capturingmemories, #capturingscotland, #coreenkuhnphotography, #dadandme, #discoveringScotland, #explorescotland, #fatheranddaughtertime, #grandtourofscotland, #huaweip10, #landscapephotography, #lovemyjob, #lovetotravel, #mypassion, #mywork, #naturephotography, #nordicvisitor, #scotlandthroughmylens, #Scotlandvacation, #spendingtimewithlovedones, #townsivisited, #travelingtheworld, #travelphotography, cameraphone, Happy, nature, outdoors, TravelLeave a comment

Good day everyone,

We drove from St Andrews along the coast to Aberdeen.

It was hectic, we got lost, gps took us round and round. We lost alot of time and ended up not doing half the places on our itinerary.

The positive side is I saw a lot of places not on our itinerary…

I did not capture that much on my phone. But here are some random photos.

All the photos were taken with my Huawei P10 phone.

Thank you for taking the time to discover Scotland with us.

Grand Tour of Scotland 15 August 2019: Day 5 – Aberdeen to Inverness

August 16, 2019April 12, 2023Posted in ScotlandTagged #2019, #bucketlist, #capetownbasedphotographer, #capturingmemories, #capturingscotland, #coreenkuhnphotography, #dadandme, #discoveringScotland, #explorescotland, #fatheranddaughtertime, #grandtourofscotland, #huaweip10, #landscapephotography, #lovemyjob, #lovetotravel, #mypassion, #mywork, #naturephotography, #nordicvisitor, #scotlandthroughmylens, #Scotlandvacation, #spendingtimewithlovedones, #townsivisited, #travelingtheworld, #travelphotography, cameraphone, nature, outdoors, TravelLeave a comment

Good evening everyone,Yesterday we drove from Aberdeen inland through to Inverness. I did not take a lot photo’s while driving. The roads were very busy.Here are some random photos of our day.

My breakfast

Dad’s breakfast

All the photos were taken with my Huawei P10 phone.Thank you for taking the time to discover Scotland with us.

Grand Tour of Scotland 13 August 2019: Day 3 – Edinburgh to St Andrews

August 13, 2019April 12, 2023Posted in ScotlandTagged #2019, #bencrauchenguesthouse, #bucketlist, #capetownbasedphotographer, #capturingmemories, #capturingscotland, #coreenkuhnphotography, #dadandme, #discoveringScotland, #edinburgh, #explorescotland, #fatheranddaughtertime, #grandtourofscotland, #huaweip10, #landscapephotography, #lovemycanon, #lovemyjob, #lovetotravel, #mywork, #nordicvisitor, #scotlandthroughmylens, #Scotlandvacation, #spendingtimewithlovedones, #townsivisited, #travelingtheworld, #travelphotography, cameraphone, TravelLeave a comment

Good evening everyone,Today we drove from Edinburgh along the coast to St Andrews.Here are just some random photos. More detail about our day when I post the edited photos.All the photos were taken with my Huawei P10 phone.Thank you for taking the time to discover Scotland with us.

Grand Tour of Scotland 12 August 2019: Day 2 – Exploring Edinburgh

August 13, 2019April 12, 2023Posted in ScotlandTagged #2019, #bucketlist, #capetownbasedphotographer, #capturingmemories, #capturingscotland, #coreenkuhnphotography, #dadandme, #discoveringScotland, #edinburgh, #explorescotland, #fatheranddaughtertime, #grandtourofscotland, #huaweip10, #landscapephotography, #lovemyjob, #lovetotravel, #mypassion, #mywork, #naturephotography, #nordicvisitor, #scotlandthroughmylens, #Scotlandvacation, #spendingtimewithlovedones, #townsivisited, #travelingtheworld, #travelphotography, cameraphone, outdoors, TravelLeave a comment

Good evening everyone,Today Dad and I walked 21 kilometers in total….Sorry I did not post last night but we only got to the guest house just before midnight. We where tired and cold.I did not take a lot of photos with my phone due to the fact that we had to fit in the previous days route also. When we got to the Royal Mile we could not even walk up to the castle. Royal mile was closed for a festival so we decided to do it the day we return to Edinburgh.Also dad had a hard time with all the steps and uphills. So we had to take it slow. More about our day when I post my edited photos. Here are just some random photos.

Pancake with bacon, banana and syrup for me

All the photos were taken with my Huawei P10 phone.Thank you for taking the time to discover Scotland with us.

Grand Tour of Scotland 11 August 2019: Day 1 – From Cape Town to Edinburgh

August 11, 2019August 11, 2019Posted in ScotlandTagged #2019, #bencrauchenguesthouse, #bucketlist, #capetownbasedphotographer, #capturingmemories, #capturingscotland, #coreenkuhnphotography, #dadandme, #discoveringScotland, #edinburgh, #explorescotland, #fatheranddaughtertime, #grandtourofscotland, #huaweip10, #landscapephotography, #lovemycanon, #lovemyjob, #lovetotravel, #mywork, #nordicvisitor, #scotlandthroughmylens, #Scotlandvacation, #spendingtimewithlovedones, #townsivisited, #travelingtheworld, #travelphotography, cameraphone, TravelLeave a comment

Good evening everyone,

Well from the word go things did not go according to the schedule of our trip.

We got to Cape Town International just after 16h00 yesterday afternoon. Everything went smooth till we had to go through security… I was called aside and they patted me down… I am innocent but at that moment I felt guilty of whatever they thought I did wrong…

Dad and I went to drink some coffee and juice before we boarded. After boarding we waited for 19:30 but nothing happened the pilot then made an announcement that there was some technical issues with the plane and they are working on it…. In the end we took of at 20:27 an hour late.

The flight was not very comfortable it was hot for an international flight the space are not much. I developed a headache of the heat and short bursts of sleep.

We landed at Heathrow and the bus took us to terminal 5. The driver drove like a maniac. I must say the staff at Heathrow is not very friendly and they have no respect for tourists. It is a shame that my first encounter with them were not that great. Here in South Africa we don’t have all the technology that they have and they expect you to know what to do and when. That in my books are not on.

You are tired after a 12 hour flight and then they give you attitude when you ask them for help.

Dad and I had some breakfast at Wetherspoon and walked around for a bit before we went to security.

Oh and the best of all I got called aside again… This time I had to stand in a cubicle while they exrayed you or something. The best of all only woman on the big side had to go through. While standing there not one man was called to go through it.

Then to top it all our flight got delayed for 20 minutes….

Luckily not all was bad. When we arrived in Edinburgh everything went smooth we got our luggage and our driver was waiting pasiently for us. It was raining cats and dogs outside when he took us to Ben Cruachan Guesthouse.

He realy went the extra mile and showed us around telling us a bit of Edinburgh and its buildings. He also gave me some driving tips.

Dad and I wanted to cover the 8 km exploring of today but it was not very enjoyable. We ended up having dinner at a restaurant. We will try to fit todays route in with tomorrow’s. And if I have to I will fit it in when we return to Edinburgh at the end of our trip.

Scotland are you ready for us?

August 8, 2019February 26, 2023Posted in ScotlandTagged #2019, #August2019, #bucketlist, #canongirlforlife, #capetown, #capetownbasedphotographer, #capturingmemories, #coreenkuhnphotography, #discoverscotland, #edinburgh, #explorescotland, #fatheranddaughtertime, #grandtourofscotland, #Heathrow, #huaweip10, #scotland, #Scotlandvacation, #travelingtheworld, #travelphotography2 Comments

In two days and a few hours we will be on our way with British airways from Cape Town International to Heathrow London where we have a 5 hour layover before we depart for Edinburgh.

My suitcase have been packed since Monday and in the meantime I have added and taken out clothes. Just to put them back again…. I probably have to much clothes but rather to much than too little…. I am on a very tight budget and can’t afford to have to buy something I already have at home… Dad already dreamed he had to buy some warm jackets and shoes….

I am not going to lie to you I am a bit nervous this will be my first trip overseas and I have no idea what to expect. But that is the cool thing of going to explore other countries of even provinces in your own country. I had a few nightmares about this trip… One was I lost my father he wandered off into a antique shop while I was taking photos of the old buildings in Edinburgh…. Another one was I dreamed I forgot my camera battery charger at home and I could not find a charger anywhere…. At 3 in the morning I woke up and took my spare charger and put it in my camera bag…. The same happened when I dreamed that dad and I walked and it started coming down on us. My camera bag was soaking wet and everything inside too. I woke up went to the drawer where I put all my camera accessories took out the raincover and put it in my camera bag…. I spoke to my sister in law who travels alot for her work and she said I have travel anxiety….

Since we have booked this holiday I have been travelling through Scotland through other people’s eyes and camera lenses. I like to be prepared as you all know and have a detailed travel itinerary with total driving hours we will spend on the road and how much time I have to explore and take photos. This is something I got from my dad. When we went on road trips he also planned everything to the T. Most of the time things change and we had to take a different road, but that is what makes road trips so much fun. You must be open to unexpected changes….

This is why we decided on a self drive tour of Scotland. So that we can explore as much as we can and also get in some views that the tour busses do not cover. I don’t like to be told I have to spend half and hour on a place and then I am finished capturing it after 10 minutes…. The other 20 minutes can be put to much better use traveling to my next destination. Where they would only give me 10 minutes and I will need at least 30 minutes…. Do you get the point I am trying to make?

Our days will start at 6 o’Clock in the morning and we will leave at the latest at 9 o’Clock for our next destination. I have worked out that we are going to be travelling around 5 hours a day from place to place. Yes I know Scotland has traffic jams in the form of four legged creatures, but I assure you I would not change it. This will give me a chance to capture my surroundings while we wait. On our schedule I have also allowed 5 to 6 hours exploring time a day.

We have jam packed days but we have to fit in as much as we can. In my original plan I left the town where we are spending the night for the next morning. But if dad and I are up for it we will be exploring the towns after we have checked in. We have to go for dinner anyway so why not explore. This way we will have more time the next day for some extra exploring.

I have a list as long as my arms plus legs of all the places I would like to visit. But I will also be happy just to stand outside and take photos of the buildings, Castles and it’s surroundings. My aim is to at least visit 3 Castles and 3 Cathedrals and go inside and also take some photos. I have at least 6 cathedrals and churches on my list every day and to go inside of them all will unfortunately take up to much of our time. So I will have to settle for a few photos of the outside and surroundings only….

Luckily for me the sun rises early in the morning and sets late at night so we can fit in some extra time if we are up to it.. I know for sure I will be up by 5 in the mornings. I have been conditioning my body since January and every morning I wake up between 4:45 and 5:05 without my alarm going off. But if I do sleep till 6 it won’t be a train smash. We have more than enough hours in the day.

You are probably saying to yourself right now I am out of my mind to be trying to plan everything to the hour… Don’t worry it is just a guideline and if we only see half of the places on our list that will be fine too. Just know that whatever we see you will see. I have ample memory cards and I will take thousands of photos…. The most important part of this trip is spending time with my dad.

Thank you for taking the time to read my post. Hope you stick around and explore Scotland with us.

Greetings,

Coreen

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

Harris Hotel

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