Our plan to have a holiday in the UK started with a wedding invitation from my brother Gary and his fiancee Kathryn! It was just about time for another visit over to England, so it was perfect timing!
We decided to try and visit as many places as we could and cram in a few experiences along the way - you know us!
We arrived in England on Wednesday 25th July, early in the morning and got straight into action! Mum & Dad picked us up and we shot off to Beth Ezra to visit my lovely Grandma. She hadn't been well and had been in hospital after a stroke so it was a great relief to see her and give her a big hug!
We then dropped our bags off at Mum & Dad's lovely new apartment in Rochester and tore off to Bluewater Park for a 'spot of shopping' (hey, you gotta get it in when you can haven't you?!)
From there we went to Rochester high street and met up with Jules & Andy and Esther and her little cutie daughter, Jessica! We had a drink or two and a bite to eat and suddenly started to flag a bit....so a return to the apartment was called for! After a shower and a glass of wine/beer, we were feeling much refreshed and the we and Mum & Dad were joined by the 'infamous duo' - Pam & Gary! Fantastic friends (virtually family really) from way back forever!
We ended up having a slap up Thai meal in Rochester at 'Thai for Two' with much chatting and laughter before finally hitting the pillows for a much needed sleep!
The next morning Mum & Dad started off on their drive up to Scotland for the wedding and Justin & I got the train up to London, just like old times for me but at least it wasn't in the rush hour!
We dropped our bags at the Thistle Hotel above Charing Cross Station where we would be staying the night and caught a bus up to Oxford street! (a note here about our choice of hotel for the night: when I used to commute to London all those years ago I used to look at all the 'glamourous tourists with their suitcases' walking into the Thistle Hotel and feel overcome with part envy, part yearning for travel and the excitement of it all! when I told Justin he said we should stay there so that I could finally satisfy my fascination with the place and be 'one of those tourists'! I needed no further encouragement and booked a room straightaway amid much excitement! - some people are easily pleased!)
Needless to say it's a superb hotel and I'd recommend it to anyone!
Our first 'hiccup' was jumping on a bus and asking for two tickets to Oxford Street! Apparently you don't do that anymore! How times have changed since 'I was a girl'! We got 'thrown off' the bus and told to get our tickets from the machine at the bus stop!! This proved rather difficult with our limited small change and we were resorted to scratching around for twenty pence pieces after it swallowed one of our precious pound coins! Anyway we made it and the fun began! (or not.....ask my husband......we were, after all, on a mission to purchase outfits for the wedding on the Saturday!)
Justin's shopping proved relatively simple and his outfit was sorted pretty quickly! He's a maaaan.................and he had me helping him! I, on the other hand, being a woman...............yeah, suffice to say it took HOURS to get me sorted out!
It wasn't my fault! Honestly! All I wanted was a cool pair of jeans, a nice top and some wedgie sandals......oh, and a handbag! These items were finally secured............and we headed back to the hotel for a shower and a drink! This also took ages as we had a drink in our room (we'd treated ourselves and upgraded to a junior suite with a free bottle of wine!) and kept popping down to stand outside for a smoke! We had a great laugh with a bloke who'd arrived to pick someone up in his rolls royce and we jokingly asked him if he'd come for us! We ended up chatting with him for ages and by the time we went out and had dinner it was 11.30pm! Hey! No problem! We were on holiday! Don't even ask what time we fell into bed eventually!
We caught a black cab to Farringdon station the next morning and got the train out to Luton airport for our Easy Jet flight to Inverness! From Inverness we drove through to Kyle of Lochalsh, stopping for a moment on the way to admire the beautiful and perfect Eilean Donan Castle where the wedding would be held the following day!
We checked into the Balmacara Hotel and found that Mum & Dad had already arrived safely and that various other members of the wedding party were already there, including Gaz & Kathryn of course!
That night (Friday) was such a laugh! We all ended up in the bar behind the Balmacara Hotel, it was raining on and off, it was freezing cold (when we ALL popped out for smokes!), we had plenty of drinks, plenty of laughs and just enjoyed the excellent company soooo much! Gaz & Kathryn were around and all Kathryn's family, Gaz's long-standing best friend Angus was there (in capacity of best man having flown in from Jo'burg) he's such a great person, Trevor (Gaz's old school mate and 'still a mate' and Jenny, his girlfriend, arrived during the evening and, to be honest that's probably when things really started to deteriorate! Only kidding! They were really good company and we had a great laugh with them for hours!
Somehow we made our way to our rooms for some much needed sleep before rising 'bright and early' (???) on the day of the wedding, Saturday July 28th, for a good old Scottish brekkie including the dreaded black pudding.........yurk.....I don't think anyone actually ate the black pudding......
The wedding was due to start at about 6pm (remember it only gets dark around 10pm!!) so we had a few hours to go off exploring before getting ready and Justin and I decided to take a drive over the bridge to the Isle of Skye (where Gaz & Kathryn would be honeymooning) and cruise around for a while before getting ourselves 'glammed up'! We also popped through to the castle again to meet my cousin Kirsty and family and say 'howzit' as they'd just arrived and were staying up the road.
So, we all got ready and gathered around outside the hotel having a drink before heading off for the castle where the kilted scotsman was waiting with his bagpipes! At this point some bloke gave me a weird look and went 'Linzi?' I gave him a weird look and went 'Brett?' and that was how Brett, my cousin, and I renewed our acquaintance after about fifteen years! It didn't end there, this was followed by shrieks, hugs, laughter and much friendly abuse during which time Justin was introduced and also joined in the abuse (friendly, that is - that's what you do with Brett!!)!
The weather was a bit dodgy and we knew it would probably rain at any moment...what we didn't reckon on was that it would decide to burst from the sky as Justin & I crossed the bridge (on foot)! We arrived at the castle looking like two completely drowned rats! So much for the hairdo! None of that mattered though!
The wedding was really lovely, what a great setting, there was a great atmosphere and a great feeling of happiness among us all.
Gary & Kathryn had devised their own vows and it all went off perfectly, followed by champagne in another of the castle's rooms.
Gaz & Kathryn take their vows
Trevor and Jenny having a glass of champers! We then all went down to the castle 'battlements'? overlooking loch duich and had the photographs.
Gaz, Kathryn, the photographer getting them organised and Angus in the kilt!We all made our way back to the Balmacara for a delicious meal followed by speeches and then entertainment by a local band playing celtic music, at which point my Aunty hilary decided it was time for a dance and Justin obliged!
Justin & Aunty Hils doing the scottish 'reel'!
the kids went mad over the confetti throwing!
It was a wonderfully happy day and one which we won't forget! A big thank you to Gary and our new lovely sister-in-law Kathryn for gathering us all together in such a beautiful setting with so many wonderful people!
The next morning we were all pretty tired, that goes without saying, and had to check out of our hotel after breakfast so goodbyes were being said all over the show! Some people were staying up in Scotland, some were moving on elsewhere, some were heading home and we were moving a few miles up the road to the picture postcard perfect village of Plockton for the night, as were my Mum & Dad and Uncle Peter & Aunty Margaret.
We stayed at the quaint Plockton Hotel, which was very nice, and basically relaxed and recharged our batteries in readiness for the next stage of our trip...................................
Justin in the hotel's garden - what a view!
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