Scotland with American friends

It’s been a busy month of entertaining American guests here at Castle Ryan. My first overnight guest, Jo, showed up the first week of June. She lives in another part of Scotland and needed a good reason to get away from her normal family life, so she decided to christen my guestroom.

Jo’s visit was short and very local – but it included touring bits of Scotland she’d never seen before. We enjoyed a walk to the Penicuik House Estate on the first day of her visit. Then we made our way to the Penicuik Papermaking Heritage Museum before walking along the River Esk before lunch.

This was my first time visiting the paper museum, and Jo was happy to spend her time learning. This means I got a good tour around and the guides were extremely generous with their time. We even got to go next door to see the old letterpress machine in the Pen-Y-Coe Press offices. An absolute treat, indeed!

As with all my June guests, Jo made herself at home and even helped me complete my first jigsaw puzzle in the new home. It was a slightly frustrating puzzle with its non-standard pieces (size and shape) so it was nice to have someone to help finish it. And there’s nothing like working on a puzzle to help the conversation flow!

Once Jo left, I washed the bedding and towels to set up for my next guest: My friend Ernie, who stayed for a full week. Ernie has been to Scotland a few times, including a couple of visits where we met up. But this was my chance to show him around some of my favourite spots, and for him to see my new home. And as he hired a car for his visit, we saw quite a bit!

On his first night, we went out for dinner at a local Nepalese place I wanted to try for a while. Ernie’s visit started in earnest (see what I did there?) the next day when we went to tour the Penicuik House Estate, which I feel is a must-see for guests to the castle. The following day, I had some work meetings on campus, so gave Ernie a tour of campus before we made our way to Peebles for a walk along the River Tweed. It was a very rainy walk at times, but there were enough gaps in the rain to make for an overall pleasant day out in one of my favourite border towns.

We then took a little road trip into the Central Belt, taking in Linlithgow Palace and St Michael’s Kirk before heading to the Kelpies and the Falkirk Wheel. Then we made our way to Stirling to explore Stirling Castle for a couple of hours. It was my first time at Linlithgow Palace and Stirling Castle since Mum died, which made it a little emotional as I would have normally shared the adventure with her through photos.

Then it was onto Drymen for the night so that we could enjoy a full day’s adventure around Loch Lomond. We began with a small nature reserve and country park before heading to Luss for the Loch Lomond Faerie Trail – which was so wonderful it earned a post of its own.

The following day, I took Ernie to the Pentlands for a walk up Allermuir Hill. He’s heard me talk about the hills so much that he wanted to see them for himself. Then we went to a local garden centre where we enjoyed a relaxing lunch before he treated me to a couple of lavender plants and a lovely windchime for my garden – housewarming gifts that I will enjoy for years to come.

I was sad to say goodbye to Ernie the next morning. But as he continued his travels, I made my way to campus for a busy day at work. Then, as soon as I got home, it was time to straighten up the guest room for my next set of visitors.

My final June visitors were my high school friend Susan and her adult daughter Sara, who were enjoying their first visit to Scotland. They stayed for a little more than a week, before heading to London and then across to Ireland to complete their holiday adventures.

Before their arrival, Susan and Sara sent various planning messages with lists of things they’d like to do and see during their visit. So, on their first full day, we made our way to North Berwick to see the puffins! We got a morning train and went straight to the seabird centre where we lucked out and got some of the last tickets for the last boat tour of the day – which meant we had a few hours to explore North Berwick. We visited various churches and cemeteries for a while then Susan explored the beach whilst Sara and I climbed The Law (something I’ve done a few times now). Finally, we enjoyed a late afternoon boat tour around Bass Rock. What a day!

The next day, we walked from my house into Roslin, by way of the old railway line. It was a long walk – in part because we stopped to explore quite a bit as we went along. Once in Roslin, we stopped for a drink before getting a bus back to Castle Ryan.

I had meetings the following day, so we made our way into town together where I picked up a hire car then we went to Craigmillar Castle for a bit of exploring. Then it was to campus where I attended meetings, and they explored the Morningside charity shops – an activity they enjoyed so much that they went to charity shops in Ireland after they left for the rest of their travels. That evening, we enjoyed a range of chip-shop food before we took an evening tour of the Penicuik House Estate.

We started early the next morning with a bus journey to Edinburgh where they planned a day of exploring the city on their own as I made my way to work. We met up again at the end of the day for dinner and drinks at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society – an evening that really won them both over.

The next three days were big adventure days in the car. Day 1 saw us making our way into the Highlands by way of Perth. Along the way, we stopped to feed some highland cattle, visited the hermitage, saw a stone circle, explored Urquhart Castle, had a photo shoot on the shores of Loch Ness, enjoyed dinner in Fort William, the enjoyed the views at Glen Coe, before finally arriving home for the evening. (What a long day!)

The second big adventure day took us into the Central Belt, beginning with Linlithgow Palace before stopping to see the Kelpies. Then it was onto Stirling Castle and Drymen for a pub dinner. On the way home, despite it getting late, we made a final stop to the Castle Law Hill Fort in the Pentlands.

The third and final big adventure day saw us back in Roslin to explore the Rosslyn Chaple before heading into the Borders to visit Melrose Abbey. Then we enjoyed some shopping and scones in Peebles before making the drive home.

The next morning, I took Susan and Sara to the train station so that they could travel to London for the next leg of their journey. I then returned the hire car and made my way home (after a visit and walk with Harry) to wash bedding and towels – and to start thinking about my own holidays that are looming!

All my guests made themselves at home to different degrees. That made me happy, because I want guests to feel at home when they’re at Castle Ryan. Not so “at home” that they start rearranging furniture or going through my personal things, but at home enough so that they feel comfortable going to bed and waking up at the time that suits them best, and that they’ll help themselves to food and drink in the kitchen.

It won’t be long before I’m making my way to America for my summer holidays in The Homeland, so it will be my turn to play the guest for a while. But when I’m back at Castle Ryan, I am hopeful that I will get to play host again.