If you didn’t already see it, you can read about part one of our trip across the pond here! We had the most phenomenal time in Alsace that we did not want to leave. Usually at the end of a vacation I am eager to get home, but this time all I wanted was to stay. I can’t wait to return someday.
Anyway… on July 12th (Tim’s 35th Birthday!) we headed to the airport and were off to our next destination – Edinburgh, Scotland.
We got to the airport a couple of hours early and stopped for a quick lunch. The food court in the terminal had Stokke Trip Trap high chairs to use – which I couldn’t believe. I had been eying this chair since before Wesley was born and I loved getting to try it out. He loved sitting at the table with Daddy!
As luck would have it.. I ended up scoring this exact highchair for less than $100 on Facebook marketplace when we returned home. I love nothing more than finding a good deal!
Back to the trip… we boarded our plane and were off with our happy little traveler. Wesley LOVED looking out the airplane window and watching the luggage carts on the tarmac.
We landed in Edinburgh a couple of hours later and headed to our AirBnb where our friends were waiting for us. When we pulled up in the taxi outside … of course we were all tired and grouchy as we tried to figure out where exactly where we were supposed to be going with 5 million bags…. Tim happened to look up and saw that in the window above us were balloons that said “TIM” LOL. It gave away the surprise a little bit… but we walked on up and into another birthday celebration!
We had a good laugh when we saw that the balloons actually said “Tim R” — apparently it was cheaper at the store to buy four balloons instead of three, so they really had no choice. LOL.
The rest of the night was spent catching up with our friends and recapping the first part of each of our trips before we settled in and got some sleep.
The next morning, Tim, Wes, and I were up early so we ventured out down the road and came across the sweetest little coffee shop called “Blend”. We sat in the courtyard having scones and coffee and admiring the beautiful gardens and the architecture. This was one of my very favorite mornings of the entire trip.
After we walked around the area near our AirBnb, we headed into Edinburgh for lunch. Driving into the city was a major mistake and turned out to be a nightmare! We could not find parking anywhere, you drive on the wrong side of the road there, we didn’t know where we were going. Next time we will 100% take public transportation everywhere.
We made it to our lunch reservation 45 minutes late, but we made it and after two espresso martinis we could all take a breath again. LOL
We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around Edinburgh. As everyone had promised, the weather was all over the place. One minute it was beautiful and sunny – the next it was downpouring. I was grateful that at least Wesley got a chance to wear his new raincoat.
The next day Tim and Jason headed to The British Open at St. Andrew’s (they were sooo pumped about this) and the girls (& Wes) took a ride through the countryside. I was dead set on seeing a highland cow while we were in Scotland, but they turned out to be quite difficult to find. I was in heaven when we stumbled upon this little gift shop on the side of the road that had two cows that you could feed. Not exactly what I was imagining or expecting… but fun regardless!
Driving through the countryside was amazing. The scenery was absolutely breathtaking.
The guys were having a blast too. Tim kept sending me photos all day long of golfers that he was only a couple feet away from. He was ecstatic to have scored the tickets in a lottery to attend the 100th British Open.
By the time that we made it home for the night my little guy was exhausted. We spent a quiet evening relaxing and then got up early for our final day in Scotland. We went back into Edinburgh and did some sightseeing. We toured the Palace of Holyroodhouse (I loved this), Edinburgh Castle, and spent our day meandering through restaurants and shops all over the city.
We rounded out our trip with a rooftop meal and cocktails — the view from our table was stunning and you could see the entire city.
We were so grateful for such a great trip with so many good friends! We are already itching to decide where we should visit next!
xo,
Jaclyn