First day in Nairn

 On our first day in Nairn, we didn't do much; we were all a bit knackered form the trip. But the weather was too good not to go out to the beach, which is only a few minutes walk from the caravan where we were staying. 

We had a nice walk and then dad and I went to get our swim stuff. We had a great swim though it was a bit colder than dad was used too.

On the way to Nairn

A few weeks ago, Mom and Dad came up to Scotland for our 2023 Scottish road trip. The first week was spent in Nairn, which we visited last year, and we headed there on the Friday. We took the long way along the East coast, first stopping at Abroath, home to the famous Abroath Smokies. 

It is a very small town but we found a restaurant on the harbour front for lunch.

On the walk around the harbour after lunch we saw an ad for the smokies, but it was the other side of a creek. It took a while to find the entrance which was basically an alley leading to a shed. We got some Smokies which were amazing and some lovely salmon. 

The second stop was Dunotter castle near Stonehaven. We were planning on walking around it. There is a viewing area nearby which we went to first and changed our minds about going to walk around it. It is a very long walk down the cliff and then up again. It makes it a great place to put a castle, very defensible, but a bit too much effort for us at that point.

 It was beautiful and when we were there there was an Italian wedding party having a little reception and photos up there and they had a piper. So very atmospheric.

It took another few hours to get to our caravan in Nairn so we didn't stay long. It was only the first leg after all. 

Scarborough

On the second day of our York trip we took the train out to Scarborough for a day by the sea. The train station is at the top of the hill so there views on the way down over the bay were lovely.

After a quick fish and chip lunch (at the beach you have to), we hit the beach.

Hiding from the sun

We took it in turns taking the kids to the sea which was quite some distance away. The kids had great fun splashing in the sea and made me wish I had brought my swim suit. On the way back to the tent, we found some jelly fish on the beach, so decided to the stay on the beach after that. So the kids buried each other and then Clare. So good time had by all.

We had an early dinner on the train and then the kids were ready for bed when we got back. We had more S'mores while watching a film. Best way to spend an evening.

On the Monday morning, Clare and I both had trains at midday so we all went for a really good (and large) breakfast before Matt, El and the kids headed to the transport and Science Museum to wear them out before going home. My train was amazingly on time and not packed. So lovely weekend all round.

York

In August I meet up with Clare, Matt El and the kids in York. Clare and I spent Friday night at a lovely B&B, catching up over a bottle of wine before the meet up with the others on Saturday morning. The weather was gorgeous so we wondered around York a bit, got some lunch and found the York Gardens to have a picnic.

York Cathedral

View for our picnic.

In the gardens, they had a couple of birds of prey on display which you could hold briefly for a few pounds. I held the giant European Owl and Livvy held the little Digger owl. I think she picked the right one. The European owl was quite heavy.

European owl (looking quite small here)

In the gardens, there is the York museum which had a dinosaur trail so we spent the rest of the afternoon in there.

Livvy practicing her spelling.

Getting the trail info

Something Roman

Matt playing dress-up

Little dragon attaching daddy dragon

Sword

Dino

We dared Matt.

Real dino bones

 After getting our luggage, we headed to the AirBnB on the outskirts of the city. We spent the rest of the night chilling and making the most swamping S'mores.