Joey and Jill’s Travel Blog

Hi y’all! We are on our way to Dublin today but due to the fact that the cheapest flights are either way early in the morning or way late in the evening (we chose the late in the evening one this time) we are trying to occupy ourselves in Edinburgh until we have to make our way to the Edinburgh airport. Usually this wouldn’t be such a hard task but the fact that we are lugging around our (Joey says 100 pound) bags makes it more difficult. So, we decided to write a post in the meantime!

We have seriously had a blast in Edinburgh and it truly is the most remarkable city I have ever seen! Straight out of the bus/train station you look up and see this HUGE old castle up on a hill. It was like I stepped into Harry Potter!!! I can see where J.K. Rowling got her inspiration. Simply being in Edinburgh is like living in a fairytale. Everything is super old and really well preserved.

Our first full day here Joey and I went to the castle to explore. It was amazing. The construction of it started in like the 1300’s or something, and if you have seen Braveheart before you may understand how the castle has been under seige for hundereds of years. (Actually, on our way up to the castle Joey and I saw William Wallace.) Anyhoo, the castle is now massive and built into really sturdy volcanic rock. It is really cool. Just walking around and seeing all of the old rooms and chambers…there is so much history in this city.

Then Joey and I walked around to several pubs sampling the local scotch whiskey and beer. It has been outrageously fun and Joey makes me laugh so hard sometimes I almost wee in my pants!

Yesterday, Joey and I went on a history of scotch whiskey tour and got a dram and a free glass! So, it was pretty cheesey but really interesting nonetheless. Afterwards we walked up this massive hill and got the most beautiful view of the whole city and the water! This city is seriously beautiful. We then went to this bar and had a drink and attempted to play trivia. We knew the answers to most of the American questions but the British questions were out of our league.

Well, we have posted some more pics so check them out when you get a chance!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9547617@N02/sets/72157608026295897/

Also, if Katie is reading this, I hope you are enjoying our apartment and I hope that everything is going well there.I hope you invite Jessie over for a girls night as she may need a break from stressing herself out and I wonder if Brittany Kronholm has moved in there yet?!? Keep us updated : )

And I want to give a shout out to my brother Scott who is turning 25 on Wednesday! Happy birthday bro!

We love you all and we will be writing from Ireland next!

Much love!

J&J

‘Allo mates. We have been loving all the comments from everyone and are super glad to here that everyone is doing well. Our stay in the Scotish Highlands is over and we are missing it already. We loved our time in the super tiny Blair Atholl and our journies to Pitlochry and Perth. It was a very unique experience and we are glad we went off the beaten path a little to experience these places. We have posted some pictures, finally, of Blair Atholl here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9547617@N02/sets/72157607957844869/

We are now in Edinburgh and we love it. This is a truly amazing city. It has so much character and is beautiful. Somehow we have managed to come here when it is blue skies in the middle of October. It is a little chilly but again the climate is so similar to Oregon that we feel right at home.

We arrived yesterday (Saturday) after a short yet enjoyable train ride from Pitlochry to Edinburgh. Jill and I have been very impressed with the public transportation here and have found that it is pretty nice to sit back and play cards while sipping coffee instead of watching for cops as you drive as fast as you can to get to your destination. Albeit, the country is nearly the size of Oregon, I wish we had more trains and crap back home.

We arrived in Waveryly station, which is in the city center of Edinburgh. We hit a tourist center and got a list of Accomodations and found a list of hotels, guest houses and B&Bs. Our back packs are incredibly heavy because we have a months worth of stuff in them so we ended up feeling like we trekked 17,000 miles to find a place to stay but it turned out that it was less than two miles and we are quite pleased with how close our B&B is to the city. It is called the Charleston House and is run by an older Scotish man who is very likeable. Breakfast is AWESOME, but also strange, we had beans next to our sausage.

We are going to be here until the 14th and then we are off to Dublin. We had intended to leave for Dublin today but as this trip is basically one huge learning experience, we learned that you can literally save £100 if you book in the middle of the week instead of a Sunday. Kind of common sense I guess, but we didn’t think of it until we tried to book our flights. So now we get to see Edinburgh and we are quite pleased so far. Oh! and last night we drank Scotch on the rocks while watching Football at Robertson’s bar. So sweet.

We are going to try and upload a few more pics after this post so hopefully we can show you more of our London trip and some pics of Perth. I hope all continues to go well back home. We miss and love all of you and we are having a fantastic time. Thanks for all the nice comments and love that has been sent our way. Cheers until our next post!

<3 Joey and Jill

Hello!

So, we are finishing up our trip in Blair Atholl and the highlands of Scotland! Man this place is beyond beautiful and yes Grandpa Rich, quite a bit like Oregon! Like a home away from home. Not to mention I feel quite a bit of strong feelings for this place as it is where a lot of my heritage is! But anyway, Joey and I are having really the time of our lives. I couldn’t have asked for a better travel partner…and he did get me a jacket so I am starting to warm up now.

Basically, this has been the relaxing portion of our journey. We sleep in everyday and do whatever we feel like doing. It is amazing. I think we both really needed the break.

We went and visited Blair Castle the other day…it was amazing. It was really old and though it had been renovated quite a bit it still had some of its structural origins from the 16th century…That is old! It had somehting like 22 fully furnished rooms with furniture from the 16th century up to the 19th century. The castle belongs to the Murray’s who happen to have some close Robertson friends. In fact, I read a letter from one James Robertson (sound familiar???) from like the 18th century to the Duke of Atholl. That was really cool.

Mainly, we have been spending a lot of time at the local pub…The Blothy Bar. They have this delicious cider that I love and plenty of local ales for Joey to try…plus it is pretty much the only pub in town. But we did decide to try some of the local cuisine the other night. I had steak and ale pie (yummm) and Joey had the very traditional haggis and neeps (mushy turnips) which we both liked but would probably not order again. It tasted okay but smelled like a stable. Both meals were very hearty and filling.

We have also been taking the time to explore the amazing countryside here and around Blair Atholl. It is quite literally breathtaking. Very green and lucious farmland and rolling hills. Also, our little cottage is right on the River Tilt and it is a very beautiful river with a unique amber quality.

I think we will both be sad to leave this beautiful place early on Saturday but I doubt Ireland will dissapoint. We are planning on spending Saturday in Edinburgh if we can find a place to stay and then off to Dublin on Sunday. Though hopefully we can forego another hostel which I have discovered are a MAJOR rip off for two people sharing one bed. We are going to try and venture down to Dun Laugohary and find a B&B or something of the sort that will undoubtedly be much nicer and cheaper than a hostel in the midst of Dublin…and its only a 20 minute train ride or so into the city.

So, wish us luch as our journey continues and keep us in your prayers! We certainly hope that all is going well with everyone back home. It seems that the economy is not doing well here at the moment and I’m sure at home as well. What is good for us at least is that the dollor is rapidly gaining on the pound and the euro so that is good at least. Hoping you are well! We love you all and are excited to share this adventure with you in November! Much love,

J&J

Ps…we have posted some pics at this link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9547617@N02/

pps…if you don’t see your comment right away don’t worry…it just takes us some time to approve them! Keep us posted on the happenings back home!

Hello from Scotland! We actually made it to the Highland town of Blair Atholl (it was a little uncertain for a bit if we were going to be able to find our cottage). We left London on Saturday the 4th. We made our way to St. Pancras train station and bought our train tickets to London Luton Airport. The St. Pancras train station was really impressive. It was like being in a huge dome or something with a bunch of shops and people. We sat around and I had another issue with ordering coffee. I am so used to asking just for “coffee” and when I do the person working the coffee bar most often waits a minute then asks “what kind” (I sure as hell don’t say white). I have to get used to the fact that almost everything here is espresso based and drip coffee is only a gaurantee if you are at one of the million Starbucks that are also here.

Eventually it was time to get on our train and head to Luton. It was the very next stop after we got on the train. When we got off the train and into the station you have to slide your tickets through gates to get out. Our tickets weren’t working so we went to this worker and just asked us “You’re going to Derby?” We weren’t, we only wanted to go to Luton. It turns out that we bought tickets for the full route…70 pounds for each ticket…and we were only on the train for 20 min. To put it bluntly we screwed ourselves and burned some money that could have easily been spent on some delicious ales.

We shed one single tear and moved on. We made it to the airport and flew over to Edinburgh then caught a shuttle to Haymarket station. Since Blair Atholl is pretty remote we had to wait about two hours until 7:40. Luckily there was a warm pub full of old men, which we have been told is where to find the best beer. We posted up for a while until each of us felt like we were going to pass out from hunger. The only place we could find to get something that wasn’t a full dinner was another damn Starbucks. We went in and found some sandwiches. Again, I orderd just coffee and we ended up with Lattes…

We then moved into the station and hoped to wait inside but there was only outside seating. We sat for another hour and about 10 min before we boarded our train I found inside seating. Jill was already an ice cube at the point so it wasn’t worth moving at that point. The train eventually showed and it was so nice to sit in a warmer seat and we both passed out for the majority of the 2 hour train ride.

By the time we reached Blair Atholl it was pitch black and freezing. We walked off the tiny train platform and hoped to find a taxi, but there was no one in sight. We walked to a nearby hotel and asked the reception people if they could call us a taxi. They asked where we were going and said that we should just walk the five minutes to get there instead of paying 50 pounds to have the taxi come from some out of town location. We opted to walk. I felt horrible because Jill was frozen but we eventually made it to our cottage in River Tilt Park. It was freezing cold in there too, and so we did what made sense, turned on every heater in the whole place. Three of the heaters were electric and one was gas. After about fifteen minutes with the television on, tea water heated on the electric tea pot, and three electric heaters running, all the electricity shut off. I went to the back closet to see if I needed to flip the breakers or something. After I flipped everything I notcied this spot for a coin. I took out 1 pound and dropped it in and turned the crank and all the electricity was back. We pay for electricity with coins, it is totally weird and I feel like I should get a gumball at the same time or something, but whatever.

We are now in Pitlochry, pit-lo-cree, and are about to explore a little bit. The internet connection is pretty slow at this spot and the pictures we have are from our nicer camera and are taking forever to upload. We are going to take some pictures with the smaller camera and upload some Scotland pics later. Once we find a faster connection we will upload a ton of pictures to my flickr account and you can look through them there.

We love you all and hope all is well back home, we are having a blast and can’t wait to tell you all about it in person.

<3 Joey and Jill