Thursday On our way to the Tomintoul Distillery tour, we grabbed some caffeine at the Caoldair Coffee and Craft Shop. I had a scalding hot latte that took me forever to drink (I finally had to get a...
Blog posts from UK
Scotland 2018: Glen Grant garden walk
On Sunday morning before our scheduled Glen Moray heritage tour we took a detour to the Glen Grant Distillery to explore their garden walk. One of the few activities in Speyside we did that didn't...
Scotland 2018: Spirit of Speyside whisky bars
Besides the Spirit of Speyside festival events we also visited several of the famous whiskey bars in the area. The Quaich, Craigellachie Hotel, Craigellachie Located just up the road from our...
Scotland 2018: Spirit of Speyside independent bottlers
During the Spirit of Speyside festival we attend three events that featured independent bottlers, groups that buy casks through brokers (usually) and then decide when and how to bottle the insides....
Scotland 2018: Spirit of Speyside Craigellachie Bridge tasting
Just like in 2017, Craigellachie hosted a fun tasting on the beach next to the Craigellachie Bridge during the festival. In fact, in 2018 they held an event on both Saturday and Sunday! On both days...
Scotland 2018: Spirit of Speyside distillery tours
Tomintoul Our first distillery tour of this trip. Through the festival, we scored four of the ten tickets available. Unfortunately for us, four extra people were added to our tour group that also...
Scotland 2018: Fort William food & drink
Eric and I did not spend much time exploring Ft William itself, mostly using it as a jumping off point for Glen Coe but we did have some memorable eating and drinking experiences in town. Tuesday...
Scotland 2018: Isle of Skye – Fairy Glen, Mealt + Lealt Falls, Quairaig
Our luck with good weather held out for our full day on Skye, starting with some great light in the morning. We decided to work our way along the Trotternish peninsula clockwise, making our first...
Scotland 2018: Isle of Skye – Eilean Donan Castle, Fairy Pools, Portree
On our way to the Isle of Skye, we stopped off at Invermoriston Falls (a falls we photographed a year ago) to take advantage of some blue skies. Then it was time to head west toward Loch Cluanie and...
Scotland 2018: introduction
Scotland is definitely one of our favorite places, and over the past five years (2017, 2015, 2013) we've explored many different regions. When some well-priced tickets became available for the first...
London: Lumiere + The Play that Goes Wrong
Upon arriving back in London for the afternoon, Google alerted Eric that the Lumiere Light Festival was starting that evening. My aunt had mentioned it previously but we assumed we would miss it....
London: food + drink in Berkshire Co.
Bracknell The Yorkshire Rose — We weren't terribly hungry after a substantial Sunday roast lunch, so we were drawn by the options of small plates. Not too busy on a Sunday night with just two other...
London: Sunday Roast with Aunt Kim + Jules
We purposely left Sunday morning free to meet up with Kim and Jules, who proposed lunch at a pub on the Thames. To get out there we took the Tube to the Kew Garden station and met up at Tap on the...
London: Imperial War Museum, a Polish Kitchen + the death of my phone
Our flight landed early at Heathrow and because we have done this trip over a dozen times it took us no time at all to get to our hotel in Earl's Court. As it was Saturday morning there were...
Scotland 2017: layover in London
What to do with a half day in London? How about enjoying art, beer, and a show? We started at one of our favorite museums, the National Gallery. Leandra hadn't seen Cagnacci's Repentant Magdalene (a...
Scotland 2017: Spirit of Speyside day 2
For our last day in Scotland we mixed several Spirit of Speyside events along with some drives and hikes through the beautiful countryside. I started off the morning with a photo session of the...
Scotland 2017: Spirit of Speyside day 1
The Spirit of Speyside event registration opened right after our return from Malaysia. A few days before that we went through the events available for Saturday and Sunday and made a prioritized...
Scotland 2017: Exploring the Highlands
Our second day in Scotland involved lots of driving, several waterfalls, one particularly rainy hike, and a few drams of whisky (naturally). We headed north out of Inverness along the A835 to Rogie...
Our Itinerary
2024 Trips
San Diego, CA (Jan)
Sarasota, FL (Feb)
Madrid, Spain (Mar)
Valencia, Spain (Mar+Apr)
Palma, Mallorca (Apr)
Croatia (May)
Long Island, NY (July)
Faroe Islands (Aug)
London, UK (Sept)
Puglia, Italy (Sept)
Matera, Italy (Oct)
Rome, Italy (Oct)
Mosel Valley, Germany (Oct)
Frankfurt, Germany (Oct)
London + Manchester, UK (Dec)
2023 Trips
San Diego (Jan)
Orlando (Feb)
Richmond, VA (Apr)
Northern Italy (Apr)
NC Mountains (May)
Long Island (Jul)
Wisconsin (Aug)
Chicago (Aug)
Oak Island, NC (Sept)
Brooklyn, NY (Sept)
Bordeaux + Rugby World Cup (Sep)
Castilla y León (Sep)
Seychelles (Nov)
Willamette Valley (Dec)
2022 Trips
Florida (Feb)
NC Mountains (Apr)
Washington DC (Apr)
Valencia, Spain (May)
Hilton Head, SC (May)
Pacific NW (Jun)
Long Island (Jul)
Florida (Sept)
Chicago (Sept)
Poland (Sept)
NC Mountains (Nov)
Euro Xmas Markets (Dec)