Getting to Giants Causeway in Northern Ireland was a long travel day. Heading out from Glasgow, we headed southwest toward the coast. When Nigel mentioned Prestwick Airport, it tickled a memory nerve. When I was 17 I toured Europe with the American Youth Symphony. We flew from New York City to Prestwick Airport in Scotland. …
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Loch Lomond – The Bonnie, Bonnie Banks
Have you heard about the “Bonnie, Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond?” It is just one of the many Scottish songs that we sing and know in the United States. Well, now I can say I have seen the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond. They are, indeed, bonnie. We started our trip to Loch Lomond …
Isle of Skye in the Scottish Highlands
The Isle of Skye was the next place on our itinerary, but we took a round-about way to get there. Our tour manager, Nigel, tries to accommodate people, and there are a lot of us with Scots heritage. Whenever possible, he will point out a clan center or mention the name of a place and …
Neolithic Tour of Orkney Mainland
Our next destination was a neolithic tour of Orkney Mainland. Tom and I had already been to Orkney on our cruise. Knowing we would be back, Tom and I had stayed in Kirkwall instead of venturing out into the island. This return was our chance to see the Neolithic heritage of the islands. Our bus …
Loch Ness and Dornoch, Scotland
You can’t go to Scotland and not go to Loch Ness. At least that is what we thought when we booked our Insight Tour. Our tour headed there from our hotel in Inverness. Loch Ness is mostly famous for its monster, Nessie. Although some people have devoted their lives to searching for Nessie, it is …
Scottish Highlands and Blair Castle
The day after Edinburgh, we headed on north into the Scottish Highlands. The scenery was beautiful but it was a long travel day. Our first stop was St Andrews, home of the famous golf course. Golf has been played on this course for over 600 years. I snapped a picture of the 18th hole, but …
Edinburgh, Capital of Scotland
I was very excited to get to Edinburgh, Scotland. The history. The old buildings. The Edinburgh Castle, Holyroodhouse, the Royal Mile. Who wouldn’t want to go to Edinburgh? We arrived in Edinburgh late in the afternoon after our travel day. Tom and I skipped the Caelidh and dinner that was an extra on the tour. …
Settle, England, and into Scotland
Some days on our Insight tour are packed with sight-seeing. Others are quieter days as our bus travels from one area of the United Kingdom to another. The day after York was a travel day. We needed to get from York to Edinburgh, which meant we spent most of the day on the bus. We …
York and York Minster, England
The next stop on our UK trip was York, several hours north of Stratford-upon-Avon. After driving all morning, we arrived at our hotel about 1 p.m. and got all our stuff unloaded. Then we set out for lunch and a walking tour with Nigel. During our walking tour, Nigel explained some of the history of …
Oxford and Stratford-upon-Avon, England
Early Sunday morning, Tom and I boarded a tour bus headed for Oxford. We are touring in the UK for the next 21 days with Insight Vacations. Although we thought about renting a car and doing this on our own, we decided against it. Tom didn’t want to drive on the “wrong” side of the …