GECKOS IN SCOTLAND (who knew...)

Stumpy, Griffith and Flash greatly enjoyed a recent trip to Scotland. 

Our journey began on the East Coast of Scotland where we explored Old Aberdeen while my husbandattended a conference. The geckos were somewhat surprised that there weren't any geckos in the area but made the acquaintance of a few lovely local people who provided directions and historical tidbits on the area. The little guys particularly enjoyed hiking along the River Don and finding the Brig Of Balgownie, as well as exploring some graveyards, St. Machar's Cathedral and of course exploring King's College....

I also did my best to boost the gecko's bank accounts by marketing my book to everyone I met. This gentleman in particular was quite pleased to know he could order the books from Amazon.co.uk making it easy to ship to his home in Aberdeen.

---

Next stop was up at Culloden near Iverness. We explored Culloden Battlefield and Clava Cairns although a case of the sniffles made it less than enjoyable for small geckos.

Thankfully the gracious and comforting surroundings of the Culloden House Hotel made a lovely place to have the sniffles and staff provided a terrific platter of fresh fruit to speed along their recovery. Of course, a little hot tea and Scottish Shortbread helped as well...

Now, Stumpy informed me he had sent a letter to his cousin Nessie in the Highlands before leaving Barbados and that she was expecting us to meet her near Castle Urquhart. There were severe rain warnings in effect, but our very patient Dave (who guiltily admitted to mailing Stumpy's letter without telling me) agreed to make the stop.

We looked everywhere, including the dungeons, but did not find Stumpy's cousin Nessie anywhere. Perhaps she was kept at home in bed by the sniffles? Or she could have been avoiding the tourists, who were still hanging about in crowds. She's had to let go some of her personal security due to rising costs, and may move somewhere where she is less "known" to the general public. Stumpy thinks we should invite her to the Caribbean where it's warm and there's lots of open water to hide in! 
We warmed up with hot chocolate, tea and crisps. (That's what they call potato chips in Scotland. They also refer to french fries as chips...so silly really!)

Our final stop was on the shores of Loch Linnhe near Appin and Glencoe. We spent about a week here, where we visited Dave's father and left behind some copies of Geckos in the Garden for some young relatives. We were also able to share our stories about our friends Bunny, Teddy and McDuff the Cat! If you haven't read them, don't forget to order them. 

Order Books Here

We visited Castle Stalker, and walked along the shores of the Loch. We played with Harris the Dog. And we found the loveliest little book exchange in an old public phone box.

Then we packed our bags and boarded a plane to head home...kind of. But that's the subject of another blog...