We decided to go to Scotland for half term for a proper little holiday, as I haven’t really been away anywhere for almost 3 years and it seemed like a good idea at the time!

We’ve got several friends living in the Edinburgh/St Andrews area so managed to get round and see lots of old friends which was really nice, and I personally haven’t been back to St Andrews since I was at Uni there (I think I went back once in about 2006 but haven’t been since then).

We broke up the driving so on Monday drove to my mum’s house in Yorkshire, then Tuesday on to Edinburgh, Wednesday to St Andrews and then on Saturday drove back down to Yorkshire, home on Sunday. It was a LOT of sitting in the car and about 850 ish miles round-trip!

On Monday, my inner monologue, somewhere on the M6 went a bit like this:

“But what are the signs of a stroke? Surely they include impaired mental functioning, poor judgement, lowered mental acuity, and inability to make rational decisions?”

“You haven’t had a stroke though”

“There’s no other logical explanation. Why else would I think that it was a good idea to spend approximately 20 hours trapped in a car with two grumpy, sticky, irritable children over half term??”

“I mean you’re not wrong”

On Tuesday, after 2 days and 10 hours in the car, we made it to Edinburgh and no homicides were committed…. Tuesday’s monologue was very much more outer than inner:

S: I’ve got a map on my phone too! At the next roundabout it says you need to take the first road.

A: I’VE got a roundabout on MY map too!!! (Frantically waves a piece of paper she has scribbled a treasure map onto)

S: My phone says we’ll be there in 3 hours and 55 minutes

Me: mine says 3 hours and 38 mins

A waving her paper map like a lunatic: MINE SAYS 3 hours and 38 minutes TOO!!!

Me: ok.

3 hours later:

A: MAMA!! LOOK!!! SHEEP!!!

Me: Oh yes very nice.

A: LOOK MAMA!! MORE SHEEP!!!

Me: Yes indeed.

A: THERE’S ANOTHER SHEEP!!!

Me: Yes darling

A: MAMA!!!!! COWS!!!!

Me: that’s nice

A: MORE COWS!!! AND SHEEP!!!!

Me: Uh-huh

A: I SAW A LLAMA!!! LOOK!!!

Me: That’s just more sheep honey

A: LOOK THERE’S A LITTLE WHITE COW!

Me: Nope still sheep baby.

A: I think that was goats.

Me: Ok sweetie.

A: But they looked like sheep. But they were really goats and cows.

Me: Uh-huh.

We had a marvellous time in Edinburgh with our friends. The girls played happily and made cupcakes and we went to a city farm to feed some goats and alpacas etc. They also had these amusing signs…

On Wednesday we arrived in St Andrews and S immediately ran into the sea despite the freezing cold nature of the North Sea.

On Thursday the girls played happily on the beach most of the day with my friend while I had a very nostalgic wander around town, happily remembering all the student flats I had lived in and where my friends had lived, and seeing all the bars I once worked in. It brought back so many happy memories I was rather choked up by it all!

On Friday we headed to a small hamlet near Elie to have lunch with my friend and his mum and Gran, wandered around Shell Bay collecting shells, stones and sea glass, and had a lovely lunch, followed by a sunny afternoon on Elie beach where S tried out paddle-boarding. Lots of fun and we were so lucky with the weather.

On Saturday morning we had tea with another old friend, and saw the proprietor of a pub I used to work at for a quick hello and catch up, then selected our holiday fridge magnets and packed up the car ready for the journey home.

We were incredibly lucky with the weather the whole week, considering it was Scotland in May, it was lovely and sunny and warm. The girls had plenty of time to play on the beach and in the sea, and I had lots of time to see old friends and revisit old haunts. All in all a very successful and happy little holiday / staycation!