Pine Trees Hotel Pitlochry

... worthwhile (and hopefully worth the money, i'll see when I work out how much I've spent). I obviously won't be uploading the 4000 photo's I took but anyone is welcome to see them, they need only ask; and set aside around 5 hrs to go through them. This is Mike's log.......signing out.

A surprise - wasn't expecting to see this type of detail in a non-fancy church. Looks like a farmhouse on the outside, but on the inside a very detailed painted ceiling.

I would guess that not too many people actually make it out to this site.

Today was the adventure up to the Isle of Skye yet firstly we had to try the local brew... whiskey! So first up we went to the Dalwhinnie distillery – world famous for its distillery and that's about it! Unfortunately we had just missed the tour and wasn't game to wait another 1.5hours for the next one so we minged, read up on the history and how the good stuff is made and came away with a few souvenirs.


Carrying ...

After a fantastic 13hour sleep we got up and ready for a full on day of adventure. First up was the local township – Dunkeld. We visited Dunkeld Cathedral which half is used for church services and the back half were in ruins and inside held headstones. Beautiful architecture throughout and we were able to walk through the church to a mini museum which went into more history on the ...

... Scotland is just amazingly beautiful. Green Green GREEN! Gorgeous rolling hills, amazingly fertile soil with crops growing everywhere. And the happiest little sheep you can imagine all munching on the densest green grass, like their own little salad buffet. Deep woods going back and back from the road making you wonder “What secret trails are back there under the trees? And where would I come out if I just started walking in...”
And all that is just a few ...

... not the Mel Brooks Men in Tights variety} will undoubtedly know that the Yew tree is what English long bows were made from that gave the English the advantage in weaponry over most of the other armies in Europe at the time. Must have been most comforting being able to lob arrows at your enemies from outside the effect range of their weapons. I have to say the old Yew Tree is looking a bit worse for wear these days and has been fenced off to ...

After yesterday's guided tour we thought it best to take Dorothy in our vehicle. We first went to see the votive candle stand Dorothy gave her church in memory of Peter. The church was still closed but we waited for the 10 o'clock service and attended that. The church is St Kessog's Scottish Episcopal Church. Although much shorter, the service was very similar to Catholic ceremonies – some prayers were word-for-word identical, but for the consecration of the hosts, the ...

Rose at 5(!) to catch the 7:15 ferry from Larne to Troon (Look up an atlas or Google Earth). The Irish Sea was beautiful and calm in the early light and the coast road coming into Larne looked like the road coming into Cairns from the north, but quite a bit cooler! We had a bit of a panic when ther woman on the gate could find no record of our booking! Turned out the name had been mis-spelled - and this is in Ireland, home of the Carrolls!
Stopped for a ...

It rained all night and in the morning we left about 10 past 9 with some difficulty finding the road out of Alloa. We ended up going up Glendevon, enjoyed the scenery but it was a hard climb. Rewarded by a fast, dangerous descent into a beautiful village of Dunning where we had a wonderful morning stop in a small bake shop owned and ...

... someone as the game wouldn't have been quite as amusing on my own! Take care everyone and I am excited to hear some family members beginning are planning to come and visit me while over here! Some were a little hesitant themselves when I left but I knew everyone would try to make it here to see me and this amazing country. I can't believe it's already been two months in a couple of days since I came over. Time flies when you're having fun! Cheers!