Visit from Toby & Rebecca

Rebecca & Toby on the Stirling Castle hill
(Wallace Monument in the background)

Last weekend we hosted our first overnight guests: Brendan’s high school friend Toby and his girlfriend Rebecca came from London to spend a few days with us. Both Toby and Rebecca are from New Brunswick, but Toby moved to London in August to begin a Master’s degree at London School of Economics. Rebecca was over to visit him and they decided to spend a couple days of their time together with us, as neither one had been to Scotland before. They travelled by train and arrived at around 7pm on Saturday evening. It was wonderful to see some familiar faces! We had a great evening together: Brendan insisted on a four-course meal - or five if you count the Scotch as its own course!

(A quick aside: I think one of Brendan’s favourite things about being in Scotland is the Scotch. Nearly every time he meets someone new, he suggests doing a Scotch tasting together - he’s absolutely itching to do a tour of a distillery. The other day I bought him some tumblers at Pound Stretcher (the equivalent of a dollar store). He was over the moon! He ran right out and bought a bottle of Scotch so that he could give his new tumblers a proper christening!)

We enjoyed our dinner over the course of about six hours, all the while engaged in lively conversation. I think it’s safe to say that a good time was had by all!

The weather was beautiful on Sunday, so we decided to spend the day enjoying the Scottish countryside. While Brendan, Liam and I were at Mass, Toby & Rebecca set out to track down a rental car. The task proved challenging, but in the end they did manage to secure a vehicle. We decided to drive along the coast, in the hopes of getting a nice view of water and hills. The road we took didn’t quite offer the view we were hoping for, but the drive was pleasant nonetheless. Eventually we came to the town of Aberdour and happened upon one of Scotland’s oldest castles. The oldest part of Aberdour Castle was constructed in 1198 and is now in ruin. Attached to the ruin is a more recent structure, dating from the 17^th century. The castle was built near St. Fillan’s church, which was constructed around 1140. We spent a long time walking the castle grounds and marveling at the history of the place. As per his resolution, Brendan purchased the official guidebook. Now that I’ve finished the one on Stirling Castle, I’m eager to read about Aberdour.

Aberdour Castle ruins

St. Fillan's 

Inside St. Fillan's

Dusk was upon us as we left the castle, so we drove to a nearby beach where we thought we might get a good view of the sunset. We didn’t catch the sun setting, but dusk over the water was still beautiful. We could see the lights of Edinburgh across the way, as well as an old abbey that B and I might go back to visit some other time. 

Before returning home we stopped at the Allanwater Café in Bridge of Allan, which has a reputation for the best fish & chips around! We were not disappointed!

At The Allanwater Café 

The monumental fish & chips!!!

Toby & Rebecca left on Monday morning to spend some time in Edinburgh before returning to London.  We really enjoyed our weekend with them. It made me look forward to more possible visits from friends and family!