Well, it only took me five months, but I finally organized and posted the photo albums for each of the days we were in Scotland. Many of the images were already posted in blog posts, but I like to get them in one spot for easy reference. If you're interested, have a look and enjoy! This trip and especially the cruise, was the highlight of the year for me. VIEW PHOTO ALBUMS

I know thousands of people visit the puffins each year, but this was my first time seeing them from 2-3’ away, on top of a cliff, on an island in Scotland. So you’ll excuse me if I was a bit excited when I saw them on June 9, 2025. I’ve seen photos and videos of puffins over the years. We even have them here in Maine, but I don’t believe you’re able to get quite this close to them or that there are thousands of them.

I was going to write up a separate review post for The Majestic Line cruise, but I think I already covered our approval in great detail in the daily posts during our wonderful 6-night cruise on this blog. I did want to put together some videos of the images and shorter videos I had taken during the trip and these are shown below for you viewing entertainment.

Yesterday, we received an alert from Edinburgh airport to arrive FOUR hours early due to event happening across from airport. So, we had to adjust our plans and leave earlier than expected. The drive was very easy until we got right near the airport and there were blocked off and remarked roads so it got hairy. I lost my voice overnight and yet I still found a way to annoy Dave while he was driving.

Our last full day in Scotland greeted us with brilliant sunny skies and no wind. What a treat! Dave is feeling better. I am feeling about the same, but I sound much worse as my voice has jumped an octave lower - it’s my Kathleen Turner impression. We were up early to catch the 8:58 train to Stirling. It’s a short walk to the station and about a 15-20 train ride.

Dave was feeling better this morning, I was feeling a tad worse. But he was able to see again, so he suggested we drive over to see the Falkirk Wheel and The Kelpies. I agreed. This was going to be a major scaled-down version of the day we had originally planned, but at least it was something. FALKIRK WHEEL It was another windy day and we were met with some brief showers on the drive over to Falkirk.

Dave and I had planned many things for today. Unfortunately, due to big doings in Linlithgow and Dave’s health, we had to nix those plans. After several rough days and nights of breathing difficulties, coughing, and eye and vision problems, Dave had a difficult morning and we had to scramble to try and figure some possible emergency situations should they be needed.

For some reason I wasn’t able to post my video from the afternoon tea cruise yesterday, so I’ll try it again as a separate post. Ooo…bonus material! I have come to the conclusion that having 4’-thick walls in this building MAY interfere a tad with Wi-Fi. And because I have no idea where the router is, it could be trying to go through many walls. It was better on the boat!

We enjoyed our spacious apartment last night. Although we discovered while walking around the back of the building that it used to be the old police station, and we’re pretty sure, due to the thickness of the walls and the odd window up very high, one of the bedrooms may have been a holding pen. So when we woke up this morning I asked Dave how he enjoyed his first night in prison!

At 2:30 in the morning we were all awakened by the clanking of the anchor being pulled. Apparently high winds had created an issue in the cove the Glen Shiel and another sailboat were in. The sailboat had drifted and was getting within feet of our boat. After multiple attempts (over an hour) to contact the sailboat went unanswered, the skipper decided to set out for Oban at that time instead of waiting for morning.

Although it’s not raining this morning, the skies are a wee bit grayer and cooler. We left our cozy cove and proceeded towards the north-eastern side of Mull to visit Duart Castle. The community salon and bar Breakfast today was Scottish porridge and poached eggs on a piece of soda bread with avocado and tomatoes. It was very good! We continue to get acquainted with one another on the boat.

I was up early and took a shower. The shower on the boat is larger than the shower in the hotel in Oban! We are greeted by gray, misty weather this morning as the Capt is already moving the boat heading toward the isle of Staffa to view Fingals cave. We ate breakfast and then the boat arrived at Staffa around 9:30.

Once the generator kicked off last night, around 10:30pm, there was complete silence and absolutely no movement. You’d never know you were on a boat in the Scottish islands. Generator kicked on around 7:15am this morning and Dave was first in line for coffee. When he came back he said it was beautiful and there were hundreds of jellyfish in the water!

Due to the jet lag and overall exertion spend on yesterday’s adventure, Dave and I slept in and dozed. And boy did we sleep! The hotel room was quiet and comfortable, even though it was very bright until well after 10pm last night. After repacking a bit for the boat and checking out, we walked back to make sure the car hadn’t been towed or we had received a ticket.

Since I wasn’t able to get any sleep on the flight, I was able to see the sun rise above the clouds. Dave, was able to get some sleep, which was good because he still had to drive to Oban after we landed, which was approx. 125 miles. I may not be good as a navigator, but he had to drive on the other side of the road and on the other side of the car!

With very full suit cases and passports in hand, we made our way to the local bus station for our trip to Boston’s Logan Airport. It really is a great way to get to and from Boston and not have to worry about parking. One side of my single suite case LOVE my packing cubes It has been rainy and cold here in Maine the last couple of weeks, so OF COURSE, it’s very summer-like the week we leave.

ALT: a man and a woman are jumping in the air in a hallway with their hands in the air .

I’m not religious bit this guy has a sharp analysis