Back and Forth Across the Pond

We had our first overnight guests at our new place the week after Easter. Steve's sister and her hubby, Janet and Dave, came up by train and spent five nights with us. We rented a car and gave them a small taste of the Highlands. On one of the days, we took a trip to Balmoral Castle. That's the queen's Scottish holiday home. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert bought the lease for Balmoral Castle in 1848. It was a small castle and provided the royal family a cozy holiday home. But as the family grew (Victoria and Albert had a total of nine kids - four of whom were born after the purchase of Balmoral) and more and more official functions were conducted at the castle, the place became too small. So Albert constructed a new, larger castle about 100 yards away from the original. The foundation stone was laid on February 28, 1853, and the royal family first stayed in their new holiday home in 1855. We went through the village of Carrbridge on our way to Balmoral. Steve and I...

At the beginning of the April, Steve and I headed south to London for our first West End play. We went to see Don Juan in SoHo  starring David Tenant. It was a reimagining of Don Juan set in modern London. The play itself had some weak bits, but Tenant's performance was spectacular. And since he's the reason I wanted to see it, I was content. Steve and I aren't big London fans. We've been there a few times and felt very much "been there, done that." However, we stayed in the theatre district this trip and ended up exploring different neighborhoods that we had never bothered with before. As a result, we came away with an appreciation for the city we didn't expect. Since there are plenty of London neighborhoods to explore and pretty cheap flights direct from Inverness to the capital, I suspect we'll have more than a few weekends there in the future. Here are a few photos I snapped with my iPhone during this trip: As always, I love the contrast b...