Wednesday, July 24th. (continued): We topped up with petrol for the final time at our favourite Tesco, then made our way very carefully back to Aberdeen Airport. We bid a sad farewell to our faithful Corsa, which had been our travelling companion for 2,248 road miles, and many additional miles with CalMac. Then it was off to the terminal for a 6:00 p.m. flight to Bergen. My suitcase weighed in at 21 kg; Mrs A's weighed in at 19kg. However, my carryon seemed almost as heavy as my suitcase. Good thing no one weighed it!
Mrs A and I believe that this has been one of our best holidays in Scotland. Normally, I choose the places we visit, and lodging. However, this year Mrs A chose several of our destinations, and all of them were exceptional. Next time, I'm going to let her plan the trip!
Some things of note from our 29 days in Scotland, and from previous trips:
Charity shops are fun! We have found some wonderful items in them over the years. Mrs A and I usually go for books, CDs, and DVDs, but we have found some excellent clothing and trinkets as well. (Mrs A found a beautiful inscribed glass paperweight in Cupar for two pounds. It takes pride of place in her paperweight collection.) Church jumble sales are fun, too, if there happens to be one going on where you are. Car boot sales can be interesting, although you have to be careful not to buy any knock off clothing or electronics. And The Barras in Glasgow is an experience not to be missed if you find yourself nearby on a weekend.
Get a Co-op customer card. It only costs one pound, and it pays for itself in one visit. Especially on the Meal Deals.
Get a Tesco customer card. They are free. If you have to give an address when you fill out the form, just give the address of your last (or next) lodging. Or if you have a friend in Scotland, use their address. The Tesco card will save you money from day one.
Watch BBC Alba. Most of the broadcasts are in Gaelic, but a lot of them have English subtitles. There are some wonderful documentaries on the network.
Speaking of television, late night telly seems to consist of reruns of Naked Attraction and Family Guy. Has the Sun finally set on the British Empire?
As Mrs A and I are frequent users of public toilets, we've found that the best are in supermarkets and health clinics. Pubs will do in a pinch, and in my case, roadside lay-bys (with trees!).
The absolute best Scottish tablet we've ever found is at the Jac-o-Bites cafe in Mallaig. They sell it at the counter in the cafe.
We are very much looking forward to our next holiday in Scotland. We're hoping once again to fly in to Aberdeen, as it's much easier to navigate than Glasgow or Edinburgh.
Thanks for sticking with us through our adventures. For those of you who have never travelled to Scotland, go!