The End

On April 7th we left our homestead in Dunedin, Florida and headed to Fort Lauderdale.  On the 8th we set off on a TransAtlantic cruise.  Seven days later we finally saw land.  It was Portugal's Azure islands.  We explored the area around the Sete Cidades Crater Lake.  Three days later we saw Spain.  For the next few days our cruise ship stopped at various ports along the Spanish coast, including Cadiz, Gibraltar, Malaga, and Alicante.  These cities had some amazing sights and history to offer us.  Finally on day 15 we disembarked the cruise ship and spent a few days in Barcelona, Spain.  We had a special evening when we met my daughter Kristin and her husband Kane, met us for dinner.  It was totally by chance that they were on vacation in Barcelona the same time we were there.  On day 17, we flew on a plane from Barcellona to Edinburgh, Scotland.  We explored Edinburgh for a few days, then took a train to Glasgow.  We explored Glascow, then decided to explore the rest of the country by driving.  Driving had its challenges.  The driver sits on the right side of the car.  The cars drive on the left side of the road.  The cars are manual, so you shift with your left hand.  The roads are very, very narrow in place and there are a tremendous number of roundabouts that are also a challenge.  But we stepped up to the challenge and for the next 10 days drove to cities such as Oban, Glencoe, Inverness, St. Andrews, Pitlochry and Stirling.  

Today we left Stirling and drove back to Edinburgh.  After driving the car 1142 miles we finally turned it back in to the rental agency.  We then took our bags and hiked a short distance to the train station.  We splurged and got 1st class train tickets.  We had our own special lounge while waiting for the train.  The lounge had free drinks and snacks.  We then took a 4-hour train ride to the King Cross train Station in London.  From there we took a black cab taxi to the Holiday Inn express at the Heathrow Airport.  Tomorrow, on day 33 of the vacation, we will be flying Virgin Atlantic for a 9 hr flight back to Tampa.  

It was a wonderful vacation and adventure.  The cruise was great and we really liked Spain and Scotland.  We were extremely blessed with good weather in Scotland.  It was cool at times, but never uncomfortable.  We had a few drizzles, but never a downpour.  Many of the days were sunny.  The Scottish people were so kind and friendly.  We hope to see you soon when we are back in the USA. The end.