Scotland
The family time in Scotland has come and gone. It's hard to put everything we saw into pixels in a frame, but these are a few of the sights that might translate our time in this incredible country well. Here's a few small bits of our taste of the great highlands and lowlands.
When the mist would part, before the 3:30 sunsets, we were able to see the hills cover and uncover our source of warmth.
When the clouds would come back again, they sometimes brought snow. Thankfully, not too much snow because we were driving right next to rivers and cliffs.
But we safely made it to all the places we planned. Like the Royal Mile in Edinburgh. The mile between the palace and the castle with shops and restaurants and our new favorite bar, World's End, because we went there two nights in a row and deemed ourselves "regulars". The street was also filled with churches and fun museums like an optical illusion museum we checked out.
Here a one second exposure I took while going through a tunnel with lights swirling counter-clockwise to make you think sideways was up. The museum was cool, but in the middle of Edinburgh lies a big volcano remain/hill/mountain called Arthur's Seat and from the minute I saw it, I knew I needed to climb it.
So we did, in Gale force winds. I kept stopping for pictures and turning around to take in the view, but when I made it to the top, I saw Corey leaning against the wind and my dad holding his hat. I laughed at this sight, but Corey and I kept giggling the whole time we were up there. It was like we were little again and came up with some obscure inside joke. But being the young adult somewhat grown people we are now, we were laughing at how crazy the wind was and how unreal the view was. Laughing at the face of moderate danger.
But to counter loud winds of Arthur's Seat, we also visited Loch Lomond on Christmas Day. It was still and it was quiet but the movement of the clouds and the waves and the ducks swimming along the shore could have been enough for a whole day. The day was Christmas, however, and we needed to eat.
Everything was, rightfully, closed, so we planned ahead and gathered a feast of PB&J, carrots and hummus, classic oranges, grapes, and bananas and we had a Christmas picnic.
Back in the hotel, I made a makeshift Christmas tree out shopping bags. Mom made tissue paper chains, we turned on classic Christmas songs, and just like that, we had our small holiday in Fort William.
On Boxing Day, we drove to a small town up north and I ran a 5k with other crazy people apart of the crazy worldwide running community.
I ran, we all hiked, and along the way, we experienced soulful moments, loud moments, and moments of awe.
More surreal creations, more nice people who told us about the best fish and chips place in Scotland,
And more of us following the path to these new places.
Here's to even more new places, sights, and experiences as we make our way down to England.~kj