Andy's Great Day Out (Inverness to Perth)

 I've named this blog post Andy's Big Day Out in honor of my good mate Andy.  I sent Andy my draft road trip plan and he came back with some brilliant ideas, some still to unfurl tomorrow.  He directed us through the Highlands and again today through the Highlands and the Moors.

The scenery again today was outstanding but the roads through the moors was the best.  They were  twisty and bumpy and I loved every minute of it.  I even managed to get the car airborne on a few of the humps much to Lorraine's frustration as she was trying to take in the scenery as well as take photos.   

Today was supposed to be all about seeing where Andy spent a good part of his life pursuing dreams.  For the most part we did get to see a large part of the country he has told me about, however it all went awry at Braemar. Also we were supposed to stay in and around the area, but accommodation prices were stupidly high so we decided to book into Perth last night and be that little bit closer to Edinburgh for tomorrow's drive. So now to Lorraine's "issues".

We had stopped at the Braemar Castle (a ruin) just to have a look and because Lorraine needed to use the bathroom urgently.  With none around, she ducked into the bushes to take care of her needs and came out feeling a little uncomfortable, either something had stung her (more then once), or she had been pricked by nettles.  Either way, the time I wanted to spend going to the areas Andy had picked out for me took a back seat to Lorraine's requirements of getting some further relief to the relief she had already sought.  100m up the road in Braemar's town we found the toilets.  She was not happy. She was still  uncomfortable so we decided to head to the accommodation.

We arrived in Perth and checked in.  Its basic accommodation, but you need that occasionally to ensure the highlights remain the highlights.

After we checked in we visited Scone Palace as it was only 8 min up the road from where we were staying.  It has a significant place in Scottish history as it was the castle where all the Scottish kings were crowned. It was built in the 12th century.  It is filled with the original furniture, paintings, porcelain and tapestries from the time of the 1st Earl of Mansfield (1700s).  The 9th Earl now resides there with his family. Very grand.  This makes castle number 8.

We then ventured into Perth's city centre, it's a nice town.  We finally visited Primark that Andy had been telling us about, bought some stuff, walked around and came back to the hotel for dinner.

Tomorrow is another Andy special with our venues mixed in with some of his childhood places of interest, plus some other places he has recommended.  Thanks Andy, sad I didn't get to Aberfeldy or Grandtully, maybe next time, and there will be a next time, because Scottish people are just so friggin' awesomely friendly.

2019-09-21 - Andy's Great Day out (Inverness to Perth)

P.S. On another note, we had totally lost track of what day of the week it was.  On the drive to Tomintoul we were arguing over whether it was Thursday or Friday, both refusing to look at a calendar, trying to establish the day of week based on where we were, or had stayed, and what days we were there.  At Tomintoul Gift Shop (magnificent shop to by the way), we eventually settled the argument when the shop keeper made a comment she was looking forward to being closed tomorrow.  We thought it odd she would close on a Friday or Saturday depending on who was right. That's when we found out it was Saturday. Ouch, it must be a good holiday if we have no idea what day of the week it is.

P.P.S. Andy assures me that it rains in Scotland, so far we have seen none of it.  So my jokes to him of, "they had Summer in Scotland this year, it was Wednesday", have truly backfired, the weather has been truly awesome. Maybe I'll jinx myself with that comment, let's hope not.