We arrived in Edinburgh early on Saturday Sep 13 with a great breakfast at Dishoom, an Indian restaurant with naan egg sandwiches and other Indian spiced breakfast food. I highly recommend this restaurant. From there we walked the Royal Mile through the heart of Edinburgh’s Old Town.

The Royal Mile spans between the impressive Edinburgh Castle to Holyrood Royal Palace. There have been at least 26 sieges of this castle in its 1,100-year history, making it one of the most besieged places in the UK. While it was fun to walk the main street, now it’s full of tourist shops. I know we are tourists, but I enjoy the old architecture and not the shopping.

We finally checked in our carriage house, and although we haven’t slept in quite a while, Oskar and I walked to the Easter Road stadium in the rain to cheer on Hibernian FC vs Dundee United. Fortunately, the seats were covered with a roof, as are most European soccer stadiums. The Hibs, currently third in the Scottish Premier League, was formed in 1875 by members of the Irish community.

We were treated to a fantastic game with the home team ended up tying in the end, 3-3. Lots of goals and action. We were adopted by an old Scotsman who was impressed we flew all the way from the States to attend the game. After 25,000 steps today, Oskar and I collapsed at the BnB. What an opening day in Scotland!

Sunday Sep 14: We all toured the castle buildings, including the oldest building on the grounds, a small chapel, St. Margaret’s Chapel, dating back from 1100. We then went our separate ways so the kids could enjoy their anniversary with a dinner reservation. Cathy and I walked around and then she went back to the BnB to rest while I found some time to sketch.

I stumbled into the Edinburgh Gin Distillery and detoured here a while talking up the bartender. The small batch Rooftop Gin uses botanicals grown on the roof. It was pouring (rain) so the rooftop is not open. Poor Cathy was trying to find me in the rain but her gps app is sending her in different directions. She finally found the bar, so I introduced her to Edinburgh Gin. We dined on Sushi and then finished the evening at the Oxford Bar right around the corner from our BnB. I think the bar holds 10 people max.

Monday Sep 15: We retrieve a rental car in the morning for Blackness Castle in Linlithgow, built in the 1440’s. Although built as a fortress, it was mostly used as a prison from 1449. The day was windy and raw, the castle was bleak, it was hard to imagine living here, even as a prisoner. Besides being open to tours, it was in the Outlander series as well as the movie Outlaw King.

We visited St. Andrews, and although we didn’t play golf, we did get to walk around the course (crossed hole 1 and 18) and experience the wonderful vista of the old course. The day was crummy with rain and wind, a perfect setting for Scottish golf.

We made it to Falkland to find ourselves in another spectacular Air BnB. The Fountain House is right in the heart of the town, and seriously picturesque. You can see it during the first episode of Outlander. It’s September, the height of the tourist season has passed, so we dine across the street at the only restaurant tonight (and tomorrow).

Tuesday Sep 16: One of our favorite tours was the Falkland Palace that we visited in the morning. Inspired the by chateaus of France, it’s one of the few surviving examples of Renaissance architecture in Scotland. The Stuart royals used the palace as their summer retreat, and Mary Queen of Scots spent a lot of time here hunting and playing tennis on the oldest tennis courts in the world.

After lunch Oskar and I played 9 at the Falkland Golf Course. The day was perfect, and we had such a good time we played another 9. Cathy and Isys showed up and sat in the sun talking to the club manager during our second round. The course was not difficult, but the day was so nice we really enjoyed ourselves. I beat Oskar so he got to buy me a whisky when we were done. The day ended at the only restaurant in town, tomorrow would be another travel day to Perth and Oban.

Wednesday Sep 17: A quick breakfast and then off to Perth to visit the Black Watch Museum. The Black Watch is Scotland’s elite regiment formed in 1725. They began as a battalion to monitor the highlands and then ended up in battles around the world. They are known for their dark green and black tartan and red hackles. A quick stop at the Perth Cathedral we travel on to Oban.

On the way we stopped at the Croft Moraig Stone Circle near Aberfeldy. The prehistoric stone circle was excavated in 1965; there is evidence that dates some pottery found to around 2000 BC.

Our BnB this time was a 3^rd floor condo overlooking the entire bay of Oban, another score for us, right in the center of the city.

Thursday Sep 18: While Oskar and I played golf at Clencruitten Golf Club, Cathy and Isys took a ferry to the Isle of Mull to tour Duart Castle, seat of clan Maclean (ancestors of Isys).

Glencruitten course is a short, par 62 (10 par 3’s). Don’t let that fool you, it’s very hard especially if you combine driving rain and wind and rental clubs. The elevation change was dramatic throughout the course. There are 235-yard par 3’s and steep uphill blind shots. Although sometimes quite frustrating, I loved the course and want to come back to play it again with my own clubs. Robert MacIntyre (PGA golfer) grew up there playing and his father is the greenskeeper.

We made our 2:30pm Oban Distillery tour. The distillery started in 1794 by brothers Hugh and John Stevenson and was the first structure in Oban. It was a fun and educational tour, with the benefit of a few whisky tastings.

Friday Sep 19: Travel day again to Glasgow. On the way we visited the Inverary Castle, still a home for the Duke and Duchess of Argyll. Construction began in 1746 and finished 43 years later. This castle has been restored, and the accommodation looks amazing. This was not available on Air BnB.

Our next stop was a much more recent building, the Hill House designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh in 1902. The Portland cement coting used in the 1900’s allowed moisture to deteriorate the structure so the house is protected with a steel and mesh structure to prevent more water and moisture to infiltrate the house and allow it to dry out. I enjoyed touring a house that we studied in college, but it wasn’t nearly as interesting as the palaces for the kids.

We arrive at our last BnB, a mews along a small cobblestone terrace alley. Two bedrooms on the first floor (which used to be stables) and then a large sunny great room above, just perfect.

Saturday Sep 20: I woke up to that travel head cold bug, the best anecdote is a walk-about. Cathy and I walked through the lovely Kelvingrove Park to the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. It’s a great building and has some stunning art. The big surprise for me was Christ of Saint John of the Cross by Salvador Dali, an amazing painting. After shawarma for lunch, we visited the Hunterian Art Gallery, where there is a reconstructed home renovated by Mackintosh.

After a restorative Hot Toddy at a whisky bar, it was back to the BnB for a quiet evening nursing a cold.

Sunday Sep 21: Our last full day, Cathy and I headed towards the Glasgow Cathedral area by bus. Riding at the front of a double-decker bus offered fantastic views of the city. We started with coffee from the smallest coffee shop in Glasgow inside a police box, called Copper Box Coffee.

We visited the St Mungo religious museum, the oldest residence in Glasgow dating back to 1471, and then toured the cathedral which was having a recital.

We walked the city some more than bussed back to Kelvingrove so I could try lawn bowling. As some may know, I come from a family of candlepin bowlers, so this lawn bowling is right up my alley (pun intended). The difference between lawn bowling and bocce is that the ball is weighted so you can curve the ball. The lawn we bowled on was in perfect form so you can be quite accurate once you get the hang of things. The courts were free, too.

Back to our favorite whisky bar, the Islay Inn, and then to the mews for another quiet evening as we need to empty the refrigerator and pack for our plane home.

Sunday Sep 22: Early wake up to get to the airport to drop off the car and depart. Scotland was wonderful, I loved the highlands and would want to explore more of that and further north. The next time I come to Scotland I hope to bring my clubs; the golfing here looks amazing. I’m happy Oskar and I got two rounds in. Overall, I hit the trifecta of Scotland: soccer, golf and whisky.