Ahsan Pictures

We congregated in Scotland this time. Me, Linda and Anisa from Philly. Jeff took off a week and flew in from Seattle. Matthew came from Iowa. Sabiha and Imad from San Diego. And finally Saadia, Dany, Zaby and Craig from London. I also got a lovely surprise visit from Bisma, Hashim and Elyze in Scotland. It was a beautiful place to walk through the hills and lakes and see the history and culture. Craig gets a lot of credit for leading us to such a fantastic place. Afterwards when we returned to London, the whole family got to see my best fried from Aitchison days, Jaffery, and his lovely family. Anisa of course had to shop around London and drink tea whenever she could...which was a lot. On the way I also saw my old friend Ayub who had guided us to K2 and we walked up England's highest mountain, Skafell Pike. And you might not see pictures of this in this album but they threw a surprise 50th birthday party for me...but I didnt feel any older!

Jeff tries to pack the Volvo SUV a little bit more as we leave Heathrow.
Saadia driving in front of us in her Mercedes. Matthew and Daany rode in her car.
About 4-5 hours into the 8 hour drive we see the Scotland sign.
The scenery was just great, and the clouds were spectacular.
Going through Scotland.
Saadia brought cases of Pakistani mangoes! They were all gone by the time we left.
Castleton House. It had six bedrooms and was very comfortable and a great way to relax and enjoy Scotland at a leasurely pace.
Matthew walks the grounds.
Lots of flowers surrounded the house.
We explore the stream running in the back and the moat.
Sheep and cattle are still part of every farm.
Still walking around the house.
Still walking around the house. We see the fields of barley and wheat stretching out.
Barley.
Anisa whips out her camera
She had to go into the field.
Video of walking in the field.
The scene was just beautiful. We thought, wow, and this is just the first day!
We decide to walk out to the road and see how far we could go before we got hungry.
The entrance to Castleton.
Fields along the road.
The cows in the pasture.
The mangoes are attacked with a vengeance. They were SO GOOD!!!
Zaby
Anisa just overjoyed.
We get some songs from Imad.
Jeff has his Ipad out.
Table tennis in the game room.
Collisions between singing and playing.
Craig took us to the Fighland Games in Cupar, a nearby town. It was great to see the townsfolks just having a good time with the events in the game. No tourist stuff, it is the way it was.
The dancing competition.
The bagpipe competition.
Dancing in kilts.
A Mom watching her kid practice.
The gang mills around.
The trophies.
The old guys tried to offer their everpresent drink while Saadia laughs.
Just had to get a picture with the well dressed.men.
The Caber Toss. Try throwing a paltry 175 lb tree trunk.