Éclat Travel's Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Scotland’

Scotland is a wonderful choice for Europe travel virgins for a number of reasons: 1 – They speak English (kind of, you just have to listen carefully), 2 – In my experience they are very genuine, friendly and accommodating people, 3 – There are so many wonderful things to see and do, and 4 – They will go out of their way to help you.  

Dumfries Town Center

An experience we had in Dumfries comes to mind. We were walking around the square in downtown Dumfries and due to the fact that I had that “lost tourist” look on my face, a kindly older gentleman asked if I was looking for something. I told him that indeed I was. I was looking for “The Globe Inn”. “Ah (or Aye),” he says, “Robby Burns’ place?” I nodded, confirming that the old tavern where Robert Burns would sit and write and socialize was where we were headed. After having visited a few years ago, I thought it was a neat place to take people while visiting this delightful town in the south of Scotland. Of course he knew right where it was an, being an amateur poet himself, recited some of his own work as he personally escorted us there. He pointed out not only The Globe (est.1610), but Robert Burns’ house where he died and St. Michael’s churchyard where he is buried.  

Once inside the tavern, ask for a tour. The friendly staff will take you to the lounge (or snuggery) where you can sit in Robby Burns’ chair; however, to sit you have to recite. The penalty for sitting and not reciting is to buy the house a round. Fortunately, they have a poem written on a piece of paper handy. Then go upstairs to the apartment where you can see poems etched into the 200-year-old window panes by Burns himself. Payment for the tour is a drink in the bar or something to eat – otherwise, you pay a small fee. This stop is not to be missed on your custom-made Scotland vacation.

Drive on the Left

Have you ever done this before? My mother, sister and I just returned from a two-week trip to Scotland where we decided to rent a car to get around to maximize the area of the country we would see in that amount of time and offer the greatest flexibility with our schedule. That was a great idea once yours truly got the hang of it, which was about a week, - but it’s not for sissies. 

When I was planning our trip to Scotland I took several factors into consideration. Among them was, what do we want to see? Where do we want to go? What is our budget? And, at what pace do we want to travel? The answers to those questions pointed to the most flexibility in our schedule, and whether anyone was willing to drive.  Well, yes I was, given the fact that I had been in Scotland before and my husband drove. Not to be outdone, by golly if he could do it, I could. Read the rest of this entry »