Another day, another scenic castle ruin! Castle Campbell, Dollar, Clackmannanshire, Scotland

Evening in Bridge of Allen, Scotland.

That takes care of the first week, more to be posted tomorrow!

Yep, took a bunch of miles and traded them for first class both ways. All the booze you want, free. Fabulous meals with real metal stabby things and china, all the snacks stuff you want.

And best of all, a FLAT bed to sleep in.

My home for 10.5 hours:


The menu:

Waiting for the single malt PIF

That is awesome...
LOVE the old castles.

Nice. SporkFamily spent 3 weeks in the highlands this summer. Much haggis and cider was consumed. Good times!

Wonderful trip, glad you got to experience it.

I'm a bit of a world traveler, having visited 5 continents. I say Scotland is among the best places on earth ... I lived there in Stirling in 1995. Thanks for sharing, esp the pics from Stirling. Good - no, make that amazing - memories there.

I'm envious of your trip. And now I want a cider or Scotch...

Oh, and international flights are best if you can lay down and sleep. I've crossed the oceans lots of times and always felt best (and lost less time) having laid out flat to sleep on the trip. Seated sleeping in cramped quarters is never restful for me.

Impressive! Glad you enjoyed it!

When we went to Italy/Greece last year we spent a decade worth of airline points on getting BA 1st class. It was pretty good but BA is definitely the most "ghetto" 1st class of all the European airlines, which is why the points to get it was lower than the others. A lot of broken fixtures, worn finishes, paint chipped, old devices, etc. Arab Emirates 1st was like double or triple BA.

We enjoyed it but not sure we'd ever actually buy it. Think it cost like $5-10k if you use cash.

To those thinking about it business class is almost as good for the majors, like a lay flat bed if you're shorter than 6'3" and complimentary alcohol (though the 1st class drinks were waaay better).

Side note, I've come to truly hate BA. They've lost our bags and made us late every time we've used them. Also, Heathrow airport is IMO the worst airport in the world. Try to avoid it if you can and fly to Belfast, Frankfurt or Rome instead.

Cool pictures man. Always wanted to see Scotland. Got back from an Iceland trip yesterday.

As a proud Campbell, I am very jealous! With two young children, I have a feeling it will be a long time away for me. Glad you did it and got to spend so much time there. Imagine it will be a trip you remember always.

glad you had an awesome trip and thanks for sharing the pic.


one of these days....retirement??

spent a week there last summer. amazing place.

Wow Jay, you sure did it right my Good Man.

Watching these photos intently! Scotland is my ancestor's homeland (Traced back to 1468)
Bucket list item in a couple years!