konfessions of the Koog

The day started at about 3:30am with B-Koog gently waking me because he had some pain in his legs. I asked him what kind of pain and he said they felt like they were on fire, as did his eyes. At first, not keenly awake yet, I was worried. He then explained that he used approximately 3 gallons of Tiger Balm on his legs and, forgetting to wash his hands, he touched his eyes. I did something similar once with Zostrix. It’s made from capsaicin pepper. I didn’t know this when I slathered it all over my legs, feet and because I was not thinking, my face and eyes. My entire body felt like I was on fire. My poor guy had the same thing last night. His legs and eyes were bright red and he probably would have cried if he had any moisture in his eyes for tears! I hosed him down in a cool shower, eyes and all. He felt better and we quickly fell back to sleep. We had a more proper wake up around 8:30 when my bagpipe music phone alarm rang. Each of us got up easily and ran to the balcony to see the...

We leave the Murder Pod today. I highly recommend the Highlands Gateway and Glamping if anyone is looking for a super cool place to stay that is centrally located to Stirling, Edinburgh, and Fife. Packing up there was easy because we didn't take much out due to space! Due to Royal Mail weight limitations, we had to repack the stuff we packed to ship and haul it to London to send it via DHL. Shipping is another theme on this vacation as we left our son's necessary medicine in Maryland and had it FedEx'd to Liverpool for the low, low price of $300! A goddess of a friend answered the frantic text message, found the medicine and shipped it. She rocks! Anyway, we got all packed and headed to the Highland Games in Bridge of Allan. I wore my kilt. Highland Games Knowing we had a very short time to experience the games, we were there when they opened. We got our tickets and a program and made our way into the oval where all the action was happening. The first competition was H...

Alas, a day without packing and moving! We slept pretty well in the Murder Pod considering our bed is also the kitchen table banquette. Surprisingly, it is much more comfortable than the bed we had in the posh stone cottage. I think that bed was original to the house from the 1500's. The Murder Pod's water pressure, for those that are tracking my water pressure reviews, it was surprisingly well pressured! Better than our house. Maybe we need to consider a Murder Pod instead of a bathroom upgrade? We spent the day in Edinburgh with at least 2 million of our closest friends. It was the first weekend of the Fringe Festival. It was completely mad! There were so many people it was hard to see and enjoy the full beauty of the City. But we did our best and enjoyed what we could. Travel to Edinburgh The drive was largely uneventful until we reached the city. Similar to Bath, the experience can be described in 4 words; What. The. Actual. F#*K. Between street closures and mobs of p...

On the road again! This morning was a sprint, at least for me. Mrs. Koog, knowing I have not been sleeping well, let me sleep in until 9. I slept like I was dead due to the Harris Teeter brand of Nyquil I took to get that dead like sleep. It worked, but the checkout at the stone cottage was at 11 and we had a lot to pack up! We got it all done, team work makes the dream work, and headed out of Aberdeen toward Clackmannan. Driving out of the city looking at the North Sea we realized we forgot to leave the parking permit at the stone cottage. Ugh!. We drove back. Sounds easy enough but Aberdeen has the least intuitive roads we've seen yet. They are narrow but we're used to that, its that they turn into non-roads with no signs or signals. BAM, there is a bus heading toward you and you are not the wrong way on a one way street! Anyway, we safely navigated back to the stone cottage, left the parking permit and headed for Clackmannan for good. Dunnottar Castle On the way, we st...

We took a much needed "day off" today. Took things slow as we were all tired from the previous 10 days. There were a few things on our agenda today, tour the University of Aberdeen, tour the Cathedral Church of St. Machar, replenish the groceries the little koogs ate 30 minutes after we purchased them and get a kilt. I should report the water pressure here in Aberdeen is on par with our place in Conwy. We all felt very clean and maybe a little bruised after our showers. Cathedral Church of St. Machar On our walk from dinner last night through Seaton Park, we approached the towering Cathedral Church of St. Machar. It was closed when we passed last night, but it was a must today. A little about the history...the site has been some type of Christian church since 580, when according to legend St. Columba on Iona sent his disciple Machar to convert the Picts to Catholicism. It was rebuilt many times, but the church we were in today was built between 1380 and 1520. If you are i...

Well, I never thought we'd say we woke up in a castle but we did! Mrs. Koog found a super cool castle that was converted into a hotel for our last night in the Inverness area. In keeping with kooky things on vacation, the castle check-in ranks up there. After our long but awesome day yesterday on Skye, we drove to our castle hotel. Grabbed out bags and walked into the very grand check-in desk and gave our name. The nice lady behind the desk said, "Welcome, we have both rooms ready for you!" Mrs. Koog and I looked at each other and then the nice lady and said "hmm, both rooms?" The lady explained we had booked and pre-paid (non-refundable) for 2 rooms. A family room with breakfast included and a king room, no breakfast. So, 2 rooms it was! The family room would have been plenty big enough with a set of bunk beds and a king. The other room was just a king bed and bathroom with a soaking tub. We decided to let the boys stay in the family room and we took the king...

What a difference a day makes! While yesterday was rain, wind and cold today was sunny and beautiful. Cetainly wasn't summer warm, but it was the most confortable temperature. We woke up in the Inverness townhouse at around 6am so we could pack as we only booked for one night. Why? When we booked the cruise the boys and I will be on the last 10 or so days of this trip, Isle of Skye was a port call. After our final, non-refundable payment Skye was removed from the itinerary and Dublin added in it's place. Happy to see Dublin, but Skye was where we really wanted to visit. Mrs. Koog made some changes to our Scotland itinerary and Skye was back on our list! Unfortunately, in that time the Inverness townhouse was rented and we needed to find another place. Alas, we move again. After packing up our stuff, we headed to the train station where we would meet our tour to the Isle of Skye. Mrs. Koog and B-Koog dropped E-Koog and I off at the station to get snacks for the 12 hour round...

So, it's been a week since we've landed, can you believe that? I look back at our travels and I'm grateful and tired! This morning we woke up in Ballach, Scotland. Our place there was fine for one night, but the lobby smelled like the inside of an ashtray, YUCK! The apartment itself was fine, but the 2 flight up walk was very stinky. The theme of today is driving! Anyway, we left this morning around 8:30 and headed north toward Inverness. It was a rainy and windy day. Mrs. Koog fortified her lady-balls-of-steel on the drive. It was blind curves and swithbacks for hours with the added bonus of blinding rain and wind. At one point, a car coming toward us was trying to pass several cars and was in our lane. We were nearly hit head on. It was scary. After the near death experience, we continued on our way. I didn't take many photos on the way because I was super car sick. Like really car sick. It was stick my head out the window kind of car sick. It lasted about 2 h...

It seems that turning 51 requires an earlier bedtime regardless of where one is, I fell asleep at my birthday dinner table. No joke. Barly making the one block walk back to the hotel, I showered and hit the bed. At 7:30pm. I woke up this morning at 7:30am refreshed and ready to trek on. We had a decent hotel breakfast. I tried Marmite and I liked it. All others in the Koog family gagged as I ate it again and again. To each there own and more Marmite for me! After checking out and packing up the car, we headed out of Liverpool toward Scotland, with a few stops along the drive. (Our stay in Liverpool was way too short. We are returning later on in ths trip.) Mrs. Koog really owns driving on the left! So much so, her speed at roundabouts make the rest of us feel like we are in a centrifuge. B-Koog audibly screamed today because he thought the car was going to flip. She also takes this confidence and speed to the single track roads with blind curves. Come to think of it, she accelerate...