AnnaDoesAmsterdam: A Scottish Wedding: June 11-14 2009

Elysia, Allan and I were invited to the wedding of a friend from the early Amsterdam days, who had moved back to Scotland, met a girl, and got engaged. We flew in a few days early, with dates, and got to stay in Allan's village, Findochty. We also got to meet Allan's parents, which was cool, and his pets, including Tony the Tortoise!

Tony was brought over to Scotland from Africa by Allan's grandfather as a souvenir. He survived WWII in London, and now lives in Allan's back yard in the summer, and hibernates in the shed in the winter. This tortoise has been through a lot, including being run over with a lawnmower (by Allan); his cracked shell was fixed by Alan's dad with some plaster. Tony the tortoise' name alternates between Tony and Toni, as it's debated whether it's a boy or a girl.

From left to right: Tony, Rick, Misty - in Allan's backyard.

Findochty is located on the north coast of Scotland, with beautiful scenery and hiking all around.

In the background you can see Allan's village. Sanja was invited to the wedding as Allan's date, and it's funny we all ended up together considering I met Sanja two years earlier: first at Elysia's Thanksgiving dinner and then (by coincidence) when she moved into my apartment. Sanja met Allan over a year later and they started dating. If that's not enough, Mark and Rick are best friends, so it's a tight group.

We started our hike in one of the nearby villages...

And a few hours later arrived at castle ruins.

View from the top of the castle.

In front of Allan's house

And more pictures of Findochty. It's so far north that it never got pitch black; you could always see light on the horizon even after the sun had set.