scottish highlands

My Scotland trip has come and gone and while it was wonderful, it was so very different than what I expected! For starters, it was so crazy rainy. I did an amazingly poor job of packing and thought that the rain that I saw on the weather forecast actually meant nice, light, caribbean-like showers. Not so much. It down poured almost everyday. I guess this is the reason why the countryside is really so green and beautiful, but try telling my feet and body temperature that!

I did the Wild in Scotland 6 day tour because it included the Isle of Skye. There were 9 of us that started in Edinburgh and headed north to the highlands for sheep and hairy coo spotting :) (No puffins - I have no idea what this even is or looks like and so I didn't know what I was missing.) The places we drove, saw and stayed were extremely remote with waterfalls, standing stones and lochs all around. One of my favorite spots was the Isle of Harris where we stayed in thatched roof cottages and were introduced to Harris Tweed. Of course, I couldn't help dropping a few dozen pounds in the tweed store :) We weaved our way down The Golden Road which was the most expensive road to build in Europe because of the terrain and rock. Around every bend was another picture spot but with all of the twists and turns and the crazy way that the Scots drive, I was happy when we came to the other end of the island. We got to go scallop fishing in Plockton on a small fishing boat. The very best part of that was eating the live scallops and then enjoying some cooked right there with garlic and oil - not a bad mid-morning snack. I may have even learned a thing or two about myself and certainly more about different parts and cultures of the world on the communal, backpacking trip. Thankfully, it was a good group and I totally made everyone share their favorite part of the day...ha

Edinburgh was an adorable town and a nice contrast to the highlands. I spent days navigating the streets and people watching. I did note that no one seemed to be wearing flip flops like I was...hmmmmmm....I loved the views of the castle, Princes Gardens, the cathedral and all of the downtown spots that are hundreds of years old. I liked learning about the history of the town. I learned what stag parties are and how very seriously they are taken in the U.K. I also learned that sometimes the accents are so thick that it really could be a completely different language all together. When it was time to move on to Paris, I was sad to say good-bye to this patriotic and charming country that I had grown to love.