You call this a quesadilla?

DAY SIX - 5/2/12

What a beautiful morning! The sun is shining through the windows, and I think it’s time for a run. I headed out this morning with a plan to run the equivalent of a 5k by going up and down the .5 m driveway a few times. However, with the music on my iPod going and the gorgeous weather, I was inspired to run a personal best – about 5 miles! The terrain in Scotland is much different, so I got some good incline work done.

After my run, I washed up, ate with Lora, and we piddled about until around 1pm. Then we drove out to Dunkeld Cathedral. What a beautiful area. The cathedral was nestled up next to the River Tay and a striking bridge, surrounded on either side by luscious greenery. We headed straight for the water to take a snap of me in the lovely pink sweater Mom sent with me to Scotland – perfect for this weather. Lora settled down on a bench, and I took off to explore the cathedral. A majority of the building was ruins in repair, so there was a great deal of scaffolding, and I couldn’t go inside. The outside of the cathedral was impressive, and I captured a few memorable shots. We then headed back to the car, as it was late afternoon, and we were getting hungry.

Dunkeld Cathedral

Settling in for a twenty-minute drive, we ventured toward Pitlochry – another small town, but a bit bigger and more tourist-friendly than Dunkeld. We ate at Victoria’s, a favorite of Lora’s and Graham’s. She had stated a number of times how the Scottish attempts at Mexican food are subpar, but she had a craving and ordered “quesadillas.” As a backup, though, she also ordered her favorite: French toast (yes, the combination of quesadilla and French toast in her order made my stomach turn, too!). I ordered minestrone soup and a chicken sandwich. When the “quesadilla” arrived, it honestly looked like a chicken wrap. She tasted it and scrunched her nose. No fajita seasoning, no spice, the salsa was more of a relish, and it was just not pretty. The rest of the meal was great, so when the waitress noticed the quesadilla had barely been touched, Lora had a chance to describe the rich flavors of true Mexican cooking. Kindly, the waitress took the quesadilla off our bill, and we were on our way. We spent the rest of our time in Pitlochry stepping into souvenir shops and walking the streets. Around 5:30pm, we started back towards Charleston Steading, both looking forward to an evening at home.

I spent a few hours working, and Lora caught up with her mom and with Graham, and we both looked into our plans for tomorrow (which was supposedly going to be quite nasty on this side of the country). Maybe we’ll head west to follow the sunshine tomorrow.

Dinner was a spur-of-the-moment feast. Lora whipped together some honey chicken, poached asparagus and carrots, and two types of potatoes on the fly! We enjoyed a leisurely dinner, talked about families, etc., and then I headed upstairs to bed. I’m hoping to finish Catching Fire tonight, so…more tomorrow!