With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, we used this Saturday to escape into the Scottish Highlands for a visit with our wedding coordinator at our romantic wedding venue. Thankfully, my Mum took the kids for us, so we were able to spend some rare time with only each other for company. Although the rain poured the whole time we were away, it did nothing to spoil the scenery – I’ve always thought the Scottish countryside can make any weather seem beautiful! After finalising our wedding plans, we enjoyed a wander around the historic town of Dunkeld, before heading to Pitlochry for some lunch and a wee look round the shops.
Dunkeld was where we spent our first Valentine’s Day together, so it was top of our list for places to get married. We were so keen, we booked our venue three years ago! The town itself is only small, but dates back to the 9th century. A beautiful medieval Cathedral is also situated within the town, right on the banks of the River Tay. Although partly in ruins, the cathedral has survived Jacobite battles, and still hosts services every Sunday.
Roughly 13 miles along the road is the town of Pitlochry. We decided on this destination for our lunch as it is a little busier than Dunkeld and has a slightly bigger selection of restaurants. Our choice of eateries was mostly driven by our intense need for the toilet, but we did manage to pick a charming little café, called Café Biba, with the best selection of cakes I’ve seen in a while!
Not wanting to spoil my chances at Slimming World, I stuck to a cheesy baked potato with fresh salad. I was delighted when this arrived promptly without any butter or salad dressing! The cheese even came in its own wee dish, allowing me to select the right amount for a Healthy Extra A-Choice – Perfect syn free lunch! I was a bit gutted that we didn’t try a cake, but I have my eye on the white chocolate and raspberry slice for next time!
On the way back to the car, Paul treated me to some bath goodies from The Highland Soap Co. With only three shops in total, I always love browsing their products in the flesh, so to speak. Keeping with the Scottish theme, I picked up a bar of their Scottish Raspberry Cranachan soap. Cranachan is a traditional dessert made with whipped cream, honey, whisky, oatmeal and fresh raspberries – I’ve been begging Paul to make it for ages, but he’s keeping me waiting :( On top of the soap, I have two delicious bath bombs to jazz up my next soak – I can’t wait!
If anyone should find themselves close to this area, Dunkeld and Pitlochry are well worth a visit. There are plenty of country walks, allowing visitors to really experience the beautiful surroundings. For the whisky lovers, Pitlochry not only boasts two fantastic whisky shops, but is also very close to the Edradour and Blair Atholl distilleries, both of which offer guided tours.
Our pre-Valentine’s date day was definitely a success and I’m looking forward to later in the year, when we finally tie the knot!
What’s everyone else doing in the run up to V-Day?
Nothing to be honest. Just another day here.
ReplyDeleteI will probably use it as an excuse to eat more chocolate than necessary :)
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