Scotland was great fun!
We arrived in Great Britain early in the morning on July 30, and we took the train from London to Edinburgh. I had told Ben the trip wouldn't take more than 3 hours, and we were bummed to disover we had 4 1/2 hours of train riding.
Normally, I'm all for riding trains, but between jetlag and screaming children, we were ready to be in Edinburgh. Once we arrived around 4:30 pm, I discovered that I had forgotten exactly how Edinburgh was laid out. I knew vaguely where our hotel was from looking at Googlemaps before we left home. But when you're carrying daypacks and jetlagged, vaguely is not good enough.
But with only minor detours around Calton Hill (not Carlton, Calton), we finally stumbled upon Terrace Hotel. I was pleased to have located the hotel without a taxi cab, but disappointed that Terrace Hotel was not the hotel I had previously visited. Turns out that the earlier hotel was Adria Hotel, a block or two down from Terrace Hotel. Fortunately, both hotels just fine.
We spend a few days exploring Edinburgh.
There is a carousel in the Princes Street Gardens that Ben and I rode with great pleasure. We didn't expect to find it so fun. But it was. I am wearing my hat in the above photo which I managed to keep for the whole trip, but I didn't keep my sunglasses. I also lost my goggles. But I'm not wearing them in this photo.
The weather in Edinburgh was absolutely lovely, and lent itself to lots of wandering about the city. The Jazz Festival was also in full force. 
We didn't pay for any concerts but enjoyed listening to the mellow big band music which seemed to be their definition of jazz.
I also managed to locate my favorite movie theater, the Filmhouse by memory. I was very proud. We got to watch a very funny film called Festival which was about the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Since we were going to miss the main Festival, we figured this was not a bad compromise.
To the right, we can see the lovely castle looming over a very special fountain. This is not very far from the carousel, and had a vendor selling ice cream and other treats nearby. Ben encouraged me to resist, as my gluttony had already pained me.
After playing in Edinburgh, we rented a car (the Vauxhall Corsa picture to the left) at Waverly Station, and drove off on the left side of the street through downtown Edinburgh. Ben did an excellent job, and I only screamed once when we went the correct way around a roundabout.
We had about a week to drive around Scotland and stay wherever we pleased. The Tourist Information Centers (TICs) are exceedingly helpful with finding a bed and breakfast, and I had faith that they would help us even during the Scottish high season of August. And they did.
We visited St. Andrews for a day, where I had studied for a term about six years ago. It was great to see the town again, but my favorite pub (the West Port) was no longer what I remembered. Supposedly renovated three times in the past six years, it was due for another one later in the month. To the right is photo of the West Portal to St. Andrews. The West Port pub is located just on the other side of the arch on the right.
I was also miffed that people were actually playing golf on the famous St. Andrews golf course instead of hiding from the wind 
and rain in a pub. Oh well. Ben found a nice sweater to keep warm which the shopkeeper informed him was for women. It looked fine to us! Uncultured Americans that we are.
I was the most pleased by our decision to stay outside St. Andrews at a small farmhouse. The breakfast was amazing, and it was nice to have some calm after the chaos of the golf course. And we got a lovely rainbow.
From there, we went to the Highlands for some walking. We spent an entertaining four nights in Tarland near Aboyne. There is a lovely walk near Ballater around Dubh Loch and Loch Muick. Although it was cool, we didn't get rained on until the very end, and even then we managed to stay warm. Despite the weather, the highlands bed and breakfasts were very full. Perhaps everyone was hiding in a pub, because we saw hardly anyone on our walk.
We had a hilarious jaunt to a highlands games at Aboyne. There were bagpides, caber toss, dancing, carnival food, and rides. The rides and food were all too familiar, but the bagpipes were new and all pervasive.
The competition of throwing various things was quite entertaining. A guy from California (not in the picture) was out visiting Scotland, and was very, very good. He clearly had lots of experience and nice form. The Scots were all very nice about being trounced by an American, and he seemed to be getting along with the other competitors. There were also a number of young Scots who were just learning how to play the different games and were pleased to just give it a go.
Despite being August, the weather was mixed, and we had a chilly day sitting at the games. Walking was better because I could stay warm, and I couldn't manage to find a small enough sweater to buy. In Edinburgh and St. Andrews, I was pretty picky, and then the options dwindled to nothing. Oh well!
After the Highland Games and Tarland, we drove north to Dufftown (on the basis of it's great name) and visited the Glenfiddich distillery. The visit was actually very informative and fun. They did a good job of convincing us that Glenfiddich is the best, and both Ben and I were amazed to discover that most of the flavor in whisky comes from the casks that the whisky is aged in. The casks were previously used for spirits like Jack Daniels and Spanish port, and give off a bit of their flavor to the whisky. If the casks came from Cuban rum, the US bans importation of that whisky!
We then spent two days in the Glencoe area, and managed to pick up a stone in our windshield. This put rather a damper on our moods, particularly Ben. But the west coast of Scotland was beautiful. We visited Glencoe itself, and it is still as beautiful as I remember.
We stayed one night in Port Appin, which was lovely in a way that we had not seen so far, and we had an amazing dinner in this itsy bitsy town. Finally, some good wine!
We drove back to Edinburgh and fessed up about our cracked windshield. The guy told us it would probably cost our full 500 pound deductible, which freaked both of us out. That was a significant chunk of our full budget for the trip.
However, I felt much better after Ben accidentally flipped off (British style) a grocery store clerk when ordering two bread rolls. Edinburgh was also hopping because the Festival season was in full swing, and we had a great time just wandering down the Royal Mile.
To begin celebrating Ben's birthday and to wipe away the sad memories of the windshield crack, we went and found Chinese food. And we found the best Chinese buffet I have ever eaten at "Saigon Saigon" (yeah, the name is a little funny).
And then back to the hotel to get ready for our big day of trains!
Continue onto the Trains section of the story.