We had a very leisurely Sunday morning (which was a very good thing - picture a short night's rest due to a very rambunctious wedding party...) - Peter had the opportunity to work on the watercolor he started while at the Wills' home and I caught up on blogging all the events of the previous action-packed 2 days.
The Wills' Homestead
Peter sketching in the Maryculter House courtyard
The sketch
The group arrived about 4 PM en masse from Edinburgh. We met outside our lodgings to be "fitted" to our bikes (most bring their seat and pedals to be installed on Experience Plus' bikes) and have a safety talk from our Scottish guide Craig. We also took a 5 mile loop ride to make sure we had a low-key introduction to biking on the left side of the road. I switched my rear view glasses-mounted mirror to my right eye and am amazed at how difficult it is to re-train my eyes to U.K. standards!
After cleaning up we all gathered for introductions, a talk from our guides and dinner. It is a very lovely and convivial group - I will write more about them as the trip progresses. We retired to our room for our last night at the Maryculter House with great anticipation of our first bike day!
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We awoke today (Monday 7/28) to another absolutely gorgeous day with sunshine and warmth. Everyone was ready to roll!
The group gets ready to depart Maryculter House for a 40-mile bike ride to Ballater.
We are all smiles!
Our English guide (Newcastle) Lucy packed the van with our luggage and did photographer duty for all of us at our departure.
We cycled about 15 miles of gorgeous countryside and quiet back roads until we reached the Falls of Feugh. It was beautiful and mesmerizing to stand on the small bridge and watch the falls, especially when one of group spotted salmon trying to swim up the rapids and rocks! We saw about 3 attempts and it was spectacular.
The remainder of the ride featured uber-scenic vistas, adorable cows, horses and sheep everywhere, delightfully friendly people, "doable" shaded climbs and safe, quiet roads. The weather stayed beautiful with light breezes, sunshine and temperatures in the 70's. Is this really Scotland? We simply cannot believe our good fortune thus far in the trip.
We arrived at our host hotel in Ballater - the Glen Lui - and enjoyed dinner with some of the group in town. Tomorrow we will be visiting a distillery and Balmoral Castle - yes, the Queen is on her way to take up summer vacay residence in this iconic Scottish castle, but as she has yet to leave Glasgow and the Commonwealth Games, we will have a chance to take a tour in her absence. She has no idea who she's missing when we arrive to tour Balmoral :))
Good night for now - thanks for traveling along!
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