My Mom's Visit to Scotland

My Mom arrived two weeks ago after a long and hard flight and I was so sad to see her get on the airplane today after the fun we have had travelling. The first day she arrived at 3 o'clock into Aberdeen and we walked up to a little deli called Rock Salt and Snails to have a snack. She was extremely tired from the flight over so the goal was to keep her up until 6 so she could get past the jet lag. She made it until 630 and then went to bed. The second day she was here we had a very full day visiting Glamis and Dunnotar Castle. Glamis is about an hours drive from my house but a beautiful castle. After Glamis we drove to Dunnotar Castle. This castle is only 20-25 minutes from my house and I had not been to walk around these ruins yet but had only seen it from the road. Dunnottar Castle was home to one of the most powerful families in Scotland, the Earls Marischal, from the 14th century when Sir William Keith, the 1st Earl Marischal, built his Tower House, also known as the Keep. These ruins are incredible and the views from the ruin are breathtaking. I will say it is a challenge getting up to the ruins. It is about 150 steps down and up and then 150 back. So my mother and I definitely got our workout for the day and I thought my mom was going to kill me after I dragged her up and down those stairs but after she got her breath back she said it was worth it. After the first couple of days my mother told me she could see why Clifton and I loved Scotland so much. She was so impressed with the beauty of the land.

One day I took my mother around all the shops and grocery stores to show her what my real day to day life consists of. It was hilarious watching her face at the grocery store. She loved so many different things and kept saying this is amazing. Some of her favorites were the different flavored chips, all the different cadbury chocolates, packaged ready made waffles and pancakes. She loved the organization of our store as well. I let her get some things to try since she was so impressed with the different products. She got some caramel cadbury chocolates, cadbury chocolate pudding, a weird flavored potato chip, and of course the strawberries. Our strawberries in the UK are much better because they are more fresh and we grow them right outside of town. My mom said it was like a flavor-burst in her mouth when she bit into one. Ha! She got to see everything Aberdeen has to offer and was impressed by what our small city has available to us. Clifton and I had so much fun showing my mom around and what I have just written about was only in the first few days. The next blog is about our trip to Copenhagen and Oslo.