Och-eye...It's guid ti hae yir cog out whan it rains kail

Well, good friends getting married in a country as lovely as Scotland was enough motivation we needed to take a look at this beautiful place, and 5 days was just enough to make us realize that we need a longer period of time to explore it properly.

We landed at Glasgow at Prestwick airport, not the nearest airport to the city but certainly the nearest to our first destination - which was the Isle of Arran.

We stayed in a budget B&B overnight near Irvine, where we caught the ferry across from Ardrossan to Brodick on the Isle of Arran (nicknamed "Scotland in Miniature"). We checked into a welcoming B&B on the waterfront, the owners of which went to ridiculous lengths to make us feel comfortable and able to get ready for the wedding despite our rooms not yet being available... all at no extra cost!).

View across Lamlash Bay from our B&B in Brodick

The wedding was at Lamlash Parish Church, a lovely spot overlooking Lamlash Bay, and we all had a lovely time seeing our good friends marry in such beautiful surroundings. The Reception followed at the Auchrannie Hotel, again, a lovely room which was set out beautifully for us all to dance, eat and drink the night away. The bride and groom had employed the services of a traditional ceilidh, a called dance, not unlike a barn dance, which everyone had a go at, most of us looked silly doing, but we all thoroughly enjoyed!

The Isle of Arran is a beautiful place to visit and we wish we had have allocated some more time to explore the island... so have made a commitment to return to see it properly with more time!

Isle of Arran

The following day, Holly. Kris, Stephen and I headed off back to the Mainland and on to Glasgow and checked into a lovely serviced apartment Holly had found a few weeks before, in the heart of Glasgow. Perfect for exploring the surrounding city.
Glasgow is a bizarre place, with beautiful old buildings and architecture swamped by masses of ugly and poorly designed housing estates for the cities low income earners, of which there are many.

Glasgow Cathedral

Glasgow Cathedral Interior

Beautiful Art Deco theatre, the Capitol

We were lucky enough to be in Glasgow on a day where many of the cities public buildings were open to the public to visit, for free! We visited the Glasgow City Chambers, just off George Square, and were stunned at the full marble staircase, the dark council chamber and the sheer grandeur of the banqueting hall. It was a great coincidence to be there on the day that we could visit, and we are glad we took a peek inside.

George Square - Glasgow City

Glasgow City Chambers

Glasgow City Chambers Interior

Glasgow City Chambers - Full Marble Staircase

We took a stroll up to the "Barra's", the market area in the East End. There were all the usual things you expect to find at a market in any major city, Copied DVDs, BB Guns, Cheap Clothing and household items. Another thing we saw a lot of at the Barra's was what is known as a "Glasgow Smile". This is also known as a Chelsea Grin/Chelsea Smile. Basically, a Glasgow Smile is a practice which originated in the city of Glasgow which involves a person being cut from mouth to ear, causing a permanent and extended smile like scar (most famous recipient of such practice would be the Joker from Batman). Its quite a fascinating thing to see, when every 3 or 4 men that pass have such scars... and these look like regular guys (did not seen any women with this)... Very, very strange thing to see indeed. Needless to say, we did not get a photo of one of these...

After two nights in Glasgow, we decided to get up early and drive to Edinburgh for our very last day before catching a night flight back to London. After all, It's guid ti hae yir cog out whan it rains kail (Make the most of your opportunities!) Boy... are we glad we did! As soon as we reached Edinburgh, we let out a sigh and smiled as we knew we had gotten up early for good reason. It took us about 1.5 hours to drive from Glasgow to Edinburgh (including time finding a car park!).

We wondered up the Royal Mile towards the Edinburgh Castle, where we spent a few hours wandering around exploring and taking in the amazing views of the city from the Castle. Lunch was fabulous, Oysters, Haggis, Chicken and Lamb, and boy were we all full!

Entrance to Edinburgh Castle

Jen at Edinburgh Castle

Stephen & Jen at Edinburgh Castle

Edinburgh Castle

Guns eye view from Edinburgh Castle

The Sun stayed out for us to wander the streets of Edinburgh until it was time for us to get back on the car and head back to Glasgow Prestwick for our return flight to London.

We did toy with the idea of changing our flights to stay in Edinburgh longer but decided instead (thanks to the small issue of our four jobs!), to book in another holiday back there really soon.