We awoke today to the loveliest day I’ve ever seen. It snowed overnight, so there was a fresh coating of the powdery stuff everywhere, and then the sun came out and the whole world seemed to sparkle. We managed to get up to Cairngorm Mountain but only just as they didn’t open the road until 11am. This meant we didn’t have enough time to take the funicular railway all the way to the top as we had a train to catch. But we did get to sample the view from the base station and it was splendid.
That’s Loch Morlich you can see in the distance.
Here’s a close-up.
I farted just as Ben took this next photo.
Ben was so excited he didn’t want to be photographed so I got to pose to my heart’s content.
Loch Morlich is a gorgeous, gorgeous place.
We played in the snow some more.
Then we had to dash to catch our train. We grabbed lunch at Aviemore station at a place called Roos Leap.
I’m not quite sure what a down-under dining experience is exactly but they had lots of kitsch Australian things inside. It was funny to find a place like this in the middle of the Scottish Highlands. Dunny is an Australian word for toilet by the way.
Australian beaches are the best in the world.
Aviemore train station was very lovely.
As were the views from the train.
I loved Aviemore and I’m sure it will be a holiday destination for us many more times in the years to come. We barely touched the surface of all the things there are to see and do there. This weekend was really for Daniel’s birthday; he turned 8 last Friday. We don’t know very many people in Aberdeen yet and I’m not sure sure that I have the time and energy to organise a children’s birthday party at the moment anyway, so we chose a family weekend away instead. We stayed at the Coylumbridge Resort which is just outside Aviemore and really well set up for children. They have a swimming pool, a fun house with a large indoor playground, a dry ski slope (although oddly it was closed due to snow), a skating rink (only synthetic though, so not that great), a tubing ramp, a climbing wall, and various organised activities for kids. Kids also get to stay and eat for free provided, of course, that they are with a paying adult. In fact, when we arrived shortly after 9pm on Friday night, the lobby was filled with young children all boogying to YMCA. It was a great place to go with young kids. We’d stay there again.
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