Scotland was the first destination on this trip I had visited before and after my second time I would still go back in a heartbeat.

In 2013 I flew directly into Glasgow to see my friend Yvonne, who lives in Alexandria near Loch Lomond. There was no way I was going to be in the UK without visiting her again!

I caught a direct train from Manchester to Glasgow and thankfully there were no delays. We met at Glasgow Central around 5:00pm on Friday afternoon after she had finished work and caught the train to Alexandria together.

We had the weekend to catch up. Saturday was sunny and there were Highland games on in Balloch, which were a terrific spectacle of Scottish culture and competition.

Classic Scottish cool, wet weather set in on the Sunday, but it didn’t impact on our chatting and enjoying jammy joeys and tea cakes for afternoon tea. It was really special to see a great friend again in such a beautiful part of the world.

All good things must come to an end so I hopped on a train to Edinburgh. I had also visited here in 2013, but that was in September and my two days were cold and wet, so I was limited to seeing the Royal Mile and Edinburgh Castle.

This time a positively balmy 19 degree maximum greeted me, with limited sunshine and abundant clouds. I made the most of my one full day and did a lot. First I walked to Holyrood Palace and had a look at that and the Abbey ruins. Then I saw the Scottish Parliament Building next door, which was opened in 2004 surrounded in controversy and known for its notable architecture.

Then I went to the Scottish National Museum for a few hours, but could have spent more time as there was so many interesting objects to see. The view from the rooftop is free and panoramic. After that I made a quick stop to say hi to Greyfriars Bobby.

Then I drank some Irn Bru as I needed extra strength to get me to the summit of Arthur’s Seat! It was a hard slog but worth it for the views over Edinburgh.

I took a different route down to Duddingston and saw the Kirk from the 12th century. I finished the day with a chicken and leek pie for dinner at the historic Sheep’s Heid Inn. Needless to say I slept well on my last night in bonnie Scotland.