Surprise Yourself!

Back in January, CNN featured an article on top places to visit for 2013, and what do you know...Scotland was #1!

The past two and half years of living here, Gerald and I have been focusing on traveling around Europe, but this year, our focus is on Scotland, considering it's suppose to be our last year and all. There are so many beautiful places to visit and I'm hoping we get to see most of them before we leave. VisitScotland.com has been putting out ads to inspire people to get out and explore, which has definitely inspired us to start booking some trips.



This weekend, we're starting our Visit Scotland adventure with a trip to Loch Lomand and The Trossachs National Park. There's a nice Hotel & Spa in the area that was recommended to us by a friend so we decided to go on a weekend getaway. I can't wait to hang out in this hot tub overlooking the beautiful, natural landscape of this area. After a busy month in Aberdeen, it'll be nice to have some peace and quiet.

We've also booked the Outer Hebrides, Isle of Lewis and Harris with a day trip to St. Kilda in May, so I'm hoping the weather will be nice. But if not, I can always do some shopping for some Harris Tweed goodies.

On the way back from the Outer Hebrides, we're stopping in Skye for a couple of days to just hang out and revisit some of the places we've been before, but this time, hoping for better weather. Skye was one of the first road trips we went on when we moved here and we were clueless, we concentrated more on the driving than the views. I'm hoping the second time around will be much better. I would like to see the Fairy Pools again and eat at the famous Three Chimneys restaurant. It's suppose to be one of the best restaurants in Scotland and hard to get a reservation, so even though it's 2 months away, I've managed to book us a spot! There were only 3 reservations left for the day we wanted when I called, so thank goodness we got one.

The British Open will be in Scotland's Muirfield this year, so we plan to attend that. Maybe I'll get lucky this time and score an autograph from Adam Scott =P

My family is coming to visit in June and we're taking them out to Fort Williams with a visit to see the Glenfinnan viaduct. I'm sure we'll stop at one of the neighboring towns on the way but not sure where yet, Oban maybe or Skye again =)

So, I believe we're off to a good start with our Visit Scotland adventure. Here are some other places we would like to visit. Join us if you can, the more the merrier!

Glen Coe
Dumfries & Galloway Striding Arches
Orkney Islands
Inveraray & Dunvegan Castle (Downtown Abbey inspired)

The list can go on and on, and as you can see, I can't get enough of this beautiful country. So, "Surprise Yourself," and come out to Scotland for a visit. I promise, you won't be disappointed.