Encountering Ireland and Scotland

LUCY BURDETTE: I was tempted--so tempted--to describe every single day of our amazing vacation, but I realized very few of you would last through my slideshow. And I do have a looming book deadline. So I compromise by sharing a few of my highlights...hope you enjoy them!

Lucy with Jack

Since Scottish musician Jack Beck had arranged our tour, we were treated to fabulous live performances at several of our stops (in addition to his own songs, sung on the bus.) We buzzed over to Ireland on a ferry to visit Liz Weir's storytelling barn for music and stories. 

Jack Beck and Liz Weir

There we heard these wonderful musicians, Colin and Ciaran:





They're part of the band Haste to the Wedding--if I wasn't already long-married, I would insist they come to the US to play at my reception!

And next came Scottish folk songs from Alan Reid at Loch Long:





And finally we had a magical concert in the forest by fiddler Pete Clark:






Oh, and occasional cameos of Scottish bagpipe music:

Solstice celebration in Peebles, photo by Susan Cerulean

Graduation day at St. Andrew's

I grouped the musical experiences together as number three on my list. (Now are you seeing the problem of paring things down??) Number two would have to be the glorious scenery in both countries. It highlighted the temptations for writers to set a book here. I'll show you only a few...

Roslyn Chapel, the site where the holy grail was thought to be buried in The Da Vinci Code...

Doune Castle, used to film Outlander, Game of Thrones, and Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Pitlochry, Scotland--the roses in this country are stunning...

The Highlands where Outlander takes place, and maybe my next author photo LOL!

The magical Isle of Iona

And then Mull...

Sunset at 11 pm, summer solstice

And below, the town of Falkland, which you may recognize from the opening scenes of the first episode of Outlander. Robin, one of our traveling companions, is a huge fan of both the books and the series. Here she gazes at a blue vase in the shop window, just as Claire did...

And number one on my list, sharing two weeks with some new friends, and with people I adore but don't get enough time with...

the whiskey-tasters

Where would you go if you had the chance, and who would you want to bring along?

***Off that topic, wanted to let you know that the kindle ebook version of DEATH ON THE MENU is on sale for $1.99!