Coming Home To Scotland

Having trouble settling in at home after a wonderful trip to Scotland and London. Like a lot of people, this trip had been planned for 2020 and we all know how that turned out. But finally, 11 days in Scotland and 5 days in London. Arrived in Edinburgh on Sept 4th - fell in love immediately with the city. Spent hours around the Royal Mile just walking around. Stayed in the Travelodge on Queen St. due to it's great location. (Hotel was a bit pricey for just being average) Loved the tram - easy to navigate. Visited the Royal Yacht which was a moment out of time, thought the Edinburgh Castle was just so-so but it was horribly crowded. Highlight of our entire trip was the 5 day Highland Explorer Skye & Far North trip with Rabbies. It was perfection. Our guide Ross was a photographer and knew all the best places and was only too willing to stop when we shouted "Rainbow or Hairy Coo". Our favorite accommodation was The Sheiling Guesthouse in Ullapool - (they even let us borrow tweezers to pick off teeny ticks which we had accumulated during the days tramping in the weeds) The midges weren't terrible, but you definitely knew they were there. Stayed in Portree on The Isle of Skye (sang the Skye Boat Song on the mini-bus), visited local graveyards and found other "Campbells". The highlands were amazing just as I knew they would be. Weather was fantastic, had only a couple misty/slightly rainy days which made the Fairy Glen and Glencoe even more beautiful. Inveraray Castle was a must see (since we are Campbells) After the Rabbies tour ended, we did our own bus trip from Edinburgh-Glasgow-Inveraray and spent the night in the Inveraray Hostel with a bunch of drunken Scotsmen (we were the only women in the hostel which was a bit uncomfortable) who arrived back at the hostel at midnight singing at the top of their lungs! I just rolled over and went to sleep but my sister got up and told them to pipe down. Loved Inveraray in general and the castle in particular. We were greeted with "welcome home" when we told them we were Campbells (I think they say that to all Campbells) Loved the castle, everyone was welcoming and it felt more like a home than a showplace. We arrived the afternoon before our tour and love how they let you just wander around the estate. The restrooms were even open!
After 11 days in Scotland (I could live there), we took a LNER train from Edinburgh to Kings Cross in London. Stayed at the Edward Hotel at Paddington. Loved being next to Hyde Park (gotta be near trees) Visited the National and Portrait Galleries, and spent a few hours in the Imperial War Museum - did an open bus tour with Golden Tours - the only way to see the city. For $36 we spent hours riding around London with a relatively short River Thames cruise later that evening. Took the local trains to Windsor Castle the next day so we could pay our respects to Queen Elizabeth. Security at Windsor was just about as tight at ATL. Long lines even with our advance tickets. Flew back home on the 20th - will definitely return to Scotland as soon as possible.