Cheers to 35 Years in Edinburgh

What better way to keep the romance alive through the years than to celebrate every anniversary with a special trip for two? To properly celebrate a milestone 35 years together, Colleen and Jim crossed a big one off their bucket list: Edinburgh and Scotland. Keep reading for all the amazing details.

“Every year we take an anniversary trip, but we bump it up a notch for special years. This year was our 35th wedding anniversary and we decided to cross off one of our bucket list trips – Scotland! My husband travels a lot for business and has seen much of the world but had never been to Scotland, so we planned a trip to explore it together. Inspired by our love of history and the Outlander series, we planned a visit to Edinburgh and a fun 7-day tour of the country visiting beautiful sites in Inverness, Skye, Stirling, Loch Ness and the Culloden Battlefield.

“We probably had the most fun on the Jacobite Steam Train, knowing that our children at home were most jealous of our trip on the ‘Hogwarts Express!’ Taking the ferry ‘over the sea to Skye’ brought the Outlander experience to life for us! We also found the tour guides for the free tours at Edinburgh and Stirling Castles to be amazingly funny in bringing the history alive! Our top tip for others traveling to Scotland would be to do your research and make a list of your must see and must do experiences. There is so much to see and experience that you wouldn’t want to miss out on anything. And most definitely take the free tours offered at the castles – the guides are great fun and share a wealth of information!

“When in Scotland, you must take tea at least once! We enjoyed a delicious afternoon tea at the Waldorf Astoria Caledonian hotel. They had so many teas to taste and sandwiches, pastries and scones all served in an elegant, but relaxing setting! Our other favourite lunch spot was Clarinda’s Tea Room, also serving wonderful homemade sandwiches and pastries! Jim would tell you that Tullibardine Distillery was the highlight of his trip!

“It is hard to nail down just one most memorable experience (aside from the Flytographer shoot, which was great fun!) because we had several: the connoisseur tour at the Edinburgh Gin Distillery; a trip on the Jacobite Steam Train; a visit to Dunkeld Cathedral was a definite highlight; the Culloden Battlefield was very moving; the unbelievable beauty of Rosslyn Chapel; and the fabulous tour guides at Stirling Castle, Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood Palace! We also very much enjoyed shopping on the Royal Mile in search of cashmere products that were actually made in Scotland! All in all, it was a perfect trip and celebration of our 35th wedding anniversary!

“Our shoot was great fun and Jilli was fantastic! Our photos turned out amazing! We enjoyed spending time with her, walking around the city of Edinburgh and sharing stories from our lives! Finding a street off the beaten path with two pubs that we later explored was an added bonus! We definitely stepped out of our comfort zone with this photo shoot and it was so worth it! We now have beautiful memories and photos to cherish of our 35th wedding anniversary trip!” – Colleen