One of the things I love about my family is that we always make the effort to come together to celebrate special occasions. It’s usually big birthdays, however my aunt and uncle organised a spectacular weekend in London 5 years ago for their 25th wedding anniversary. It inadvertently had a bit of a British royal theme; we stayed at The Goring Hotel, had afternoon tea at The Ritz and spent a day exploring Buckingham Palace. The unexpected highlight for all of us though, somewhat unexpectedly, was watching their wedding video during a private dinner at the hotel on our last night. It was strange to see everyone so young and see how wedding trends have changed, as well as have a bit of a giggle at all the 80s hair!

The drive from Leicester to Burgh Island in Devon was epically long and not at all fuel efficient; with an outside temperature above 30°C, the air conditioning was working hard. I spent the entire 5 hours in the back seat working on my laptop, so thankfully missed getting frustrated at the ridiculous amount of traffic winding its way south on the M5. I didn’t actually look up until Danny told me to call the hotel and request they dispatch our collection vehicle, we needed a special form of transportation for the final mile!

The view out the front windscreen looked like a postcard from the Mediterranean, all I could see were white sand beaches and azure blue seas. A sign assures me we are close to Burgh Island and definitely in Devon, but I can’t say I have ever been to a British beach in this kind of weather. We park and a wall of heat hits me as soon as we get out the car, who says the UK weather is rubbish?!

Shockingly, on descending through the clouds into Edinburgh airport, it’s raining. Danny looks close to furious at having taken annual leave with no sunshine in site and as this is a route I regularly fly with work, my brain is not convinced we are here on holiday.

Morale does not improve as our hire car collection takes longer than our flight and our “VW Golf or equivalent” is a Citroën C3 Aircross with all of the engine power of a motorised scooter. Luckily, the wind is behind us which helps push us up the motorway at a just reasonable 64mph.

Half an hour later we blow off the M9 into the tiny town of Auchterarder nestled at the foot of the Ochil Hills in South Perthshire. Auchterarder is a lovely little town, but is most famous as the location of our destination for the next few days; the renowned hotel, Gleneagles in Scotland.