Scottish Castle Weekend
I can safely say that I really had no idea what my husband Rob was planning for our 5th wedding anniversary – if anything? What he had planned, and how it turned out was so amazing that I really want to share the experience.
When I came home from work the day before our anniversary I was not expecting anything. It was just another day. I almost didn't see the huge bouquet of roses standing in the centre of the dining room table with a card which read, "Come to the bedroom." Thinking that Rob was feeling unusually frisky I smiled and slinked into our bedroom.
When I entered the bedroom, Rob was sitting on the edge of the bed, with a huge grin on his face and beside him sat our suitcases. I shook my head smiling at him, ' what's going on' I asked.
He couldn't keep me in suspense any longer and told me he had booked a weekend away in a luxury Scottish Medieval Castle. He had intended to keep it a surprise but just couldn't hold himself any longer. I was quite speechless and teary eyed. He reached up, took my hand and kissed it. "Marcelle, this is gonna be a great trip" he said and smiled. I was already getting tingly thinking about our weekend together.
We left early the following morning with a rented car and within a few short hours we arrived at our destination. The 500 year old castle was really storybook style stuff; simply beautiful in terms of its architecture and style, and standing in over 600 acres of gorgeous woodland. I think my chin was dragging on the floor in awe of its grandeur. Our room looked like something out of Cinderella. Superbly furnished and extremely comfortable and complete with a four poster bed !!! We unpacked a few things then went exploring.
We decided to rent a row boat to tour the castle loch. It was exceptionally romantic. When we arrived at the centre of the loch I leaned up against Rob and we sat staring at the sky. We didn't have to say a word to each other. After a time, we were getting hungry, so we started back to shore, but Tim dropped one of the oars overboard. He leaned over the side of the boat trying to keep it from floating away. He leaned so far over, he fell out! I laughed at him so and he pulled me in as well. We laughed all the way back to the castle where Rob made a fire in the fireplace in our room. We ordered two large brandys and cuddled up together in front of the cheery fire until both of us were dry.
We walked to the local market and bought some food to make sandwiches, as well as some fruit and wine. We had a picnic on the grass and took a leisurely walk around the loch and the impressive castle estate.
That evening Rob and I ventured out to one of the restaurants in the local village for a romantic evening by candlelight. We ordered a delicious dinner of Scottish beef with roasted potatoes and vegetables. We drank champagne to toast the past five years of our lives together and the many more to come. While drinking our after dinner cappuccinos, a local ceilidh band, adorned in traditional highland dress, played cheerful and lively traditional Scottish songs with players on the fiddle, flute, tin whistle and accordion. Imagine our surprise when the band's caller invited us up for some basic instruction on how to dance 'ceilidh'. Rob has two left feet and we laughed hysterically as he tried to master the moves.
The next morning I got up very early to take some pictures of the loch at dawn. A thin veil of mist hung over the water and the sunrise cast a magical red and gold light across the whole loch. We checked out of the Castle hotel and went for lunch in a quaint little Scottish pub. In the afternoon Rob surprised me yet again. He had booked us a hot air balloon ride. The view of the Scottish highlands from the air was spectacular. We took loads of photographs, and my particular favourite was one the balloon pilot took of the two of us with the beautiful scenery in the background. I later had it enlarged and framed. A really lovely memento. The weekend was wonderful in every way. Sometimes life is so hectic that we don't get time to get away together. When you eventually get around to it you realise what you have been missing.
