Earl of Wemyss and Gosford House

One crisp Scottish morning, my very dear friend Michelle arranged for a private tour of Gosford House, which is a neoclassical country home owned by the Scottish Nobleman the 13th Earl of Wemyss.  The home serves as his holiday home, since his primary residence is in England.  

The estate was built in 1780 and sits on more than 5,000 acres that includes stables, an ice house, curling house (very unusually for Scotland), boat house, and the family mausoleum.  The estate includes 1,700 art pieces with original works by Da Vinci and Michelangelo.  The home has been host to the Queen Mother, Princess Margaret, and Princess Anne.  It's also been used in the filming of The Awakening and Outlander.  

But everything is not as it seems from the outside.  During World War 2 the British Army occupied the house and during a lively party burned down the center block of the home.  By the 1950s, areas of the house had been abandoned, left roofless, and significantly damaged by fire.  An aerial view of would show a hollowed north wing.  Only the south wing is functional, but it's glory still shines through.  The main part of the house is consumed by that extravagant three-story Marble Hall laddened with art and gleaming with natural light from the beautiful glass dome ceiling.

The idea that this is someone's personal home, who's not even in the monarchy, leaves me a little awestruck.  It was an interesting day touring the house and walking the grounds.

Belated Anniversary at The Fingal

Along with the many other travels that Covid eliminated, there was one particular trip that I was especially disappointed over.  Jacob and I tried to travel as much as we could during our early years of marriage, despite the limited resources and time off that goes along with being a new hire fresh out of college.  We even took a babymoon while I was 5 months pregnant, knowing it may be our last chance to travel as a couple for a while.  After Brenna was born, we continued to travel as often as we could, but having a baby on board completely changed not only the way we vacationed but also the destinations that we travelled to.  Some of our bucket-list destinations got put on the back burner for more kid friendly options like beach vacations and Disney World.  As she grew, so did her sense of adventure and love of travel, which was a joy for me to see except for one minor detail.  She loved to travel so much that the idea that we would leave her behind on any trip was a devastating thought to her!  And so, its been 13 years since Jacob and I had a "trip" for ourselves.  

But this year was gonna be the year that we snuck away!  It just so happened that Outdoor Education Week was scheduled for the same week in May as our anniversary.  Brenna would be off camping on a small island off the western coast of Scotland.  Jacob scheduled the time-off and I booked us a great 3-day getaway at the Trump Turnberry, also on the western coast of the Scotland, but alas, Covid struck and the pandemic destroyed our plans.  

We did get some consolation a few months later after Covid restrictions eased a bit.  We enjoyed a rare night out.  Brenna was spending the night at a friends house one weekend and we decided to take the opportunity to stay at the Fingal.  We combined two of our favorite things: ships (albeit, not a cruise) and food!

The Fingal was originally commissioned by the Northern Lighthouse Board in 1963 with the purpose of ferrying lighthouse keepers, essential supplies, and maintenance staff to lighthouses, as well as undertaking repairs to navigational aids throughout the West Coast and the North of Scotland. Fingal retired from lighthouse service in 2000.  After serving in several different capacities in the following years, The Royal Yacht Britannia Trust (caretakers of the Royal Yacht) acquired the ship in 2014.  With much planning and design work the ship undertook a £5m conversion over more than two years that transformed it into a luxury floating hotel with each of the 23 cabins onboard the Fingal named after one of the lighthouses in its previous service.