Edinburrrrrrrgh & St. Andrews

With the way my fall terms are set up, it typically lands us in the Northern UK at the start of the Christmas season and the chilly winter weather that accompanies the holiday.

I love visiting these places in the sunshine of the long summer days when daylight stretches across the day from 3am until midnight... but the dark months here are alluring, too. Dark, windy streets that are void of chatter and whistling windy cries for only you to hear. Cuddling in small family-run cafes over warm drinks and filling treats like crumbly shortbread and warm mince pies.

Not every moment of our wintery visits are magical (some are just fussy windblown and soggy)... but hey, the pictures could fool you.

And no trip to Edinburgh would be complete without a day in St. Andrews. And no rainy winter' day in St. Andrews would be complete without a warm afternoon tea at the Old Course Hotel. I prefer tea time to tee time.

A quick walk on the beach to collect some seashells and... result in our socks being completely gritty for the train ride home. Ha! Worth it though.

The best family pics/selfies are going to be for a few years. :) (You should see the others!)

Also, we found a fantastic pizza place in Hunter Square, just off the Royal Mile, called Civerinos. Huge slices of pizza (£4), hot bowls of pasta (£7 at lunch) and a small mountain freshly made Italian donuts complete with Nutella and homemade vanilla whipped cream (£5) were just the right type of food after getting drenched that morning.

Check out my Edinburgh travel page for all our favorites in this special city. Find my St. Andrews suggestions in my Scotland page.