The Celtic Adventure

This was a wonderfully charming place to stay. Mokoia is a moderate walk from the train station, just on the other side of the River Ness. Kieron and Jo own this house and have two dogs, Molly (with us during breakfast in the mornings) and Jess. This B&B is also completely nonsmoking, which is nice for those of us who don't like smoke.

The room was a comfortable size and had a queen-size bed that was easy for us to share. There was also a twin bed that could be pulled out if desired. The room had a bookshelf, two comfortable chairs, and a satellite TV.

The room came with an en-suite bathroom with an electric shower, which Kieron was happy to explain how to use. My sister and I had never seen an electric shower before, but quickly liked this one.

Kieron served breakfast every morning and chatted with us. We talked about the Olympics bidding and the riots that were taking place in Scotland because of the G8 Summit. He was always ready to talk about our plans for the day and even seemed to have the train schedule memorized.

If I go back to Inverness, I will definitely be looking to stay at Mokoia. It has better service than you expect - and for a great price!

We went to this restaurant twice, once to the one on London's West End and the other in Bath. Both times were troublesome.

The restaurant serves the type of food you find in most family restaurants in America: a collection of burgers, pasta, and salads. And the prices, though higher than I would have liked, were comparable to other restaurants in England.

The service is extremely slow. The first one we went to, although they brought us our drinks fairly quickly, did not serve us fast. We spent about an hour and a half on dinner.

But the real trouble was in Bath. We ordered drinks, and it took them 25 minutes just to bring our drinks and take our order. When the food arrived, they did not have my order correct and we were already late for getting back to our bus, so we asked them to bring the check right away.

Ten minutes later, we had to draw the server's attention to tell him we had to leave in order to reach our bus and really needed the check right away. The server seemed to understand that we were upset and told us not to worry about the bill so that we could leave and catch our bus.

The food is not great, and unless you are planning on being at the restaurant for several hours, don't bother.

Stonehenge was part of our history/mystery tour in England. We came to Stonehenge late in the afternoon, but there were still a lot of people there. The audio tour that was available was well worth listening to as we walked around the site. There were markers on the ground that let you know you should stop and listen to something specific.

I learned that the current Stonehenge is not the first "henge" to be built on this site. I also learned how the pieces were crafted to fit together, which must have taken a long time. The audio tour also included some optional information to listen to, including myths and legends around Stonehenge.

I learned some of the theories about how Stonehenge was actually put in place and some of the mysterious things surrounding it.

But what really caught my attention were the clouds. Stonehenge isn’t exactly far above sea level, but it felt as if we were up close to the heavens. The clouds looked as if they were mere inches from the tops of the stones in the center circle. I captured some of the effect in my pictures, but it doesn’t do complete justice to the feeling of actually being there.

We took a tour of the Isle of Skye, a northwest island off Scotland. It was a trip that was suggested to me by a friend, and I'm glad I took his advice.

We took the train to Kyle of Loch from Inverness, and the trip itself was beautiful. The train passed along countryside that seemed untouched by humans. It was full of mountains with misty peaks and sheep everywhere you looked.

We were met at the train station by Peter MacDonald. He was a lovely Scottish gentleman that took us around the island in a car. We learned about the history of the island as well as the current lifestyle. Some of the information surprised me, such as the fact that they have only one high school and students who live far away stay in dorms during the week.

We toured Dunvegan Castle, which was not that grand of a castle, but was situated on the water in a nice spot.

Isle of Skye seems like it is on the edge of the world. Not only are the mountains often hidden among clouds, but the shore feels as if there is nothing beyond the water.

The tour is very nice, and I enjoyed it, but if you are more into hiking, than I would suggest a different tour. We walked around Dunvegan Castle and the gardens and were able to see a bit of the towns, but most of the tour happened inside the car, with brief stops for photos. But this tour allows you to see what life in rural Scotland is really like.

The Catamaran Circle cruise was a nice hour-long cruise along the Thames River. The city of London has a lot of buildings that are great for photos, but you can only get the great photos from the river, because there is nothing in your way of getting the shot.

For an hour, we cruised up one side of the river while an audio recording told us what buildings we were looking at. Then we turned around and came back. We traveled from Westminster pier, under Tower Bridge, and back.

We saw such sites as Parliament, with Big Ben, Tower Bridge, the Globe Theater, and St. Paul's Cathedral.

This is a great tour if you’re tired of walking and want to ride for a short while. And it's great for kids, too. But a word of caution: Sit so you are near the right side of the boat. The recording is always pointing out things on that side of the boat, so board early and get a good seat.

We took the Westminster by Gaslight Walking Tour in London. We originally needed something to do before waiting for our overnight train to Scotland, and this seemed to be perfect. It was on one the few nights that was chilly, but the walking helped keep us warm.

The tour guide had a portable speaker system that amplified her voice just enough to be heard in the back of the crowd. There is no need to reserve a spot for the tour; simply choose a tour and show up. And the London Pass even gives you a discount on the price.

For just over 2 hours, we walked around Westminster. We saw churches and some of the houses that were used as bomb shelters during the air raids of WWII. We walked over the Thames in order to see parliament from far away and heard how Big Ben is actually the bell inside the tower, not the clock, as many believe.

We also walked next to parliament and heard about the House of Commons and the House of Lords, and a little about how the House of Lords is currently changing its structure.

The tour was very informative, although more political than some of the others we went on in London. If you’re not up to walking a great distance, this tour is definitely not for you. But if you don’t mind the walking, then grab a cup of hot chocolate and put on your tennis shoes.