A Weekend in Scotland

Our Easter school break started the moment the kids stepped out of the school gates on Friday afternoon, when with a car packed full of clothes and snacks, we got on the M1 and headed straight up to the Scottish boarders for a weekend in Scotland.

Edinburgh was on our “Adventures to take” list for 2017 and with Nath having a few days off work we decided to really make the most of it and just go. We invited my sister and her family, booked an Air B&B in the Scottish boarders, and had glorious weather and a jam packed weekend seeing beautiful Edinburgh, the boarders and holy Island.

It took us about 3 hours on Friday evening to drive up and after a lovely rest in our beautiful Air b&b, we got up Saturday morning, jumped back in the cars and drove 1hr 50 mins up to Edinburgh.

Edinburgh

The main goal of our weekend was obviously to visit Edinburgh, and our main goal in Edinburgh with a tribe of kids was the castle. We thought it might be fun!

Whilst I visited close to 16 years ago as a teenager, I had few memories of the city and know for a fact the castle wasn’t part of our visit. Now having taken a bunch of giddy kids round, I can maybe see why. It was fun yes, and informative too, but the main word of the day was certainly that of Madness!

The kids absolutely loved it though, and despite their antics and monkey like behaviours in most parts, they were wowed by the crown jewels and armour, spooked at the dungeons and prison, and mesmerised by the overall majesty of such a grand building and its canons! So all in all it ticked all the boxes for a family day out.

Walking up the royal mile was lovely. Admiring the surrounding Scottish countryside was breathtaking and we loved our flying visit to this grand city. There were Street performers on every corner which was both fun and had the kids captivated and laughing. They loved floating yoga, the bagpipe players (of course) and then the invisible man!

We used the Edinburgh park and ride and with the variety of eating establishments food was reasonable too, so everything else was cheap. The sun shone and it was a great adventure for sure. As I say, I can’t quite remember Edinburgh from my childhood, but I love how close it is to the rolling hills, the amount of Georgian buildings there are, and just loved how Scottish culture and beautiful architecture lined its beautiful cobbled streets.

Gallivanting in the boarders

Scotland is rich with ancestry for us, particularly in the Scottish boarders, and with it being so many years since we visited, we also decided to pop by those villages on the way back from Edinburgh. I had forgotten how truly beautiful it all was and loved how memories flooded my mind as we drove through. It was great for us to reminisce and share stories with the kids and our husbands, of great aunts and uncles, great grand parents and their own grandma… it was so lovely to return and remember.

Holy Island

Like most weekend breaks it’s over before you know it, and Sunday we awoke to more lovely sunshine and could hardly believe it was time to head home.

It made sense to drive across to the coast and show the kids holy Island before picking up the A1 back to Yorkshire. It was lovely and exciting and a place that is so fun and fascinating for all the family. The kids had a little paddle in their wellies, explored, and just loved the whole coolness that is Holy Island.

We laughed our heads off as the kids panicked we’d be flooded out with the tides, and it was another glorious day to soak up the spring weather and gorgeous scenery of the Northumberland coast.

I am feeling old with how tired I am from our weekend in Scotland, and all of the driving it entailed, but boy did we have fun… castles, cousins, haggis, shortbread, rolling hills, sheep and spring sunshine. I love Scotland and can’t wait to go back. The kids did pretty well too with all driving, thanks to “where’s wally” books, snacks galore and singing, and It was the best start to our Easter break for sure!

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