A few words about Scottish weather before diving into our three-day adventure to the Isle of Skye in the Highlands. According to my good friend Wikipedia, Western Scotland is one of the rainiest places in Europe, with an annual rainfall of 180 inches (4,577 mm). While it's true that the Isle of Skye is technically a bit further north than what would typically be considered "western" Scotland, it is not far off. And one of the principle reasons Scotland is so damn beautiful is that it rains ALL. THE. TIME. Our clothing on this trip (in July, mind you) has mostly consisted of jeans, hiking boots, wool socks, long sleeves over undershirts, and rain coats. You may spot the occasional short sleeve shirt, which was a fleeting luxury we enjoyed every now and then. Bottom line : if you are bothered by a little rain, this is not the country for you. I wasn't actually sure if we were ever going to make it to Skye as we kept pulling over on the side of the road to get out and breathe in the wide and wild air of the Scottish highlands. You can see Michael in the above photo on his way back from one of his many mini-hikes. That is one happy man right there! Another excellent stop on the way to Skye was to the Eilean Donan Castle, which is one of the most photographed castles in Scotland, and is definitely worth a visit (below). We happened to arrive around lunchtime, and thoroughly enjoyed the meal we had at the castle's visitor center. Maybe I was starving, I don't know, but it was also the first time in years I've had a Scotch pie, bringing back so many good memories of attending the Highland Games in California with our good friends the Holcombs when I was younger.
While many of the roads on Skye are technically meant to accommodate two-way traffic, they are often only wide enough for one car to pass at a time, with paved bump-outs every several hundred yards or so for one of the oncoming cars to pull over while the other passes. This is usually based on whoever is close to a bump-out, and is by no means an exact science. It's not exactly the most stress-free driving, especially when hills are involved (and you're driving on the left-hand side of the road in a stick-shift), but eventually you get used to it. In addition to narrow roads, cows and sheep are absolutely EVERYWHERE with not a fence to be seen for miles. They occasionally wander into the road, but mostly can be found chomping away on the ever-green grass on both sides of the car. Although I was under the impression that the famous harry Highland Coo would be ubiquitous in these parts, the elusive golden Coo was only spotted once on our Skye adventure (with me below). It was very exciting. Although Skye is by no means large, the diversity of landscape is remarkable. Wild open fields with sheep for miles give way to lush green valleys with imposing mountains. Continuing a bit further, you find sheer cliffs leading to crashing waves below. Waterfalls break free from crevasses across the island in the most surprising of places. It is a hikers paradise, and an incredible place to escape from the world, if just for a few days.
If you want to see more photos from our trip to Skye, you can check out the whole trip album here. Otherwise a few of the more memorable shots are below.
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There's really nothing like taking a boat ride on Loch Ness in a rain storm. It's the full Scottish experience. While we weren't lucky enough to spot the infamous Loch Ness monster, we did eventually catch a break in the weather. Having stayed a night in Fort Augustus (totally recommend a night here!) we woke up to blue skies and not a drop of rain in sight. Michael found his happy place on the banks of Loch Ness. On our way to Fort Augustus, we made a stop by Urquhart Castle, which was built on the banks of the Loch Ness (for those interested, "Loch" is the Gaelic word for lake). Urquhart is more or less a castle in ruins at this point, but it played an important role in medieval Scotland for over 500 years. It was partially destroyed by the Scots during the Jacobite rebellion rather than let the supporters of King James VII (the Jacobites) take control of it.
After a few short days in Edinburgh, Michael and I took a deep breath and headed back to the airport to pick up our rental car. Although we've rented cars a number of times in France, the prospect of driving on the left hand side of the road (as is their backwards custom in the UK) from a drivers' seat on the right side of the car, shifting gears with your left hand - was absolutely daunting. But if we were going to see this wild and crazy country on our own terms, it was just one of those things that needed to be done. First stop? The Anstruther Fish Bar in a fishing village on our way to St Andrews - but let's be honest, Anstruther is worth a mention as a destination in its own right. I have been waiting to return to this chip shop for over 10 years since I last visited with my family, and man, was it worth the wait! Both Michael and I thoroughly enjoyed a generous portion of haddock, chips and mushy peas. After stuffing our faces with deep fried British goodness, we drove the rest of the way to the town where I spent a year of my life during my last year of college at the University of St Andrews. It was such a Here's a throw back to my early days at St Andrews in 2002 (ignore my messy closet!). Although I have certainly changed since those carefree college days 13 years ago, with the exception of new restaurants and bars, the town is entirely the same. I guess that's not surprising given that the University was founded in 1413. I have been dreaming of going back to St Andrews for almost as many years as I've been away. It was incredibly special to be able to show Michael the place where I lived and laughed and learned for a truly excellent year of my life. We didn't have time to linger more than a day in St Andrews, but it was enough time to stop by and pay homage to The Old Course, thoroughly walk the three main streets of the town, and eat dinner in a pub that was once where I lived. Good old Hamilton Hall is sadly no longer with the University, but has since been turned into luxury apartments with a pub on the ground floor. It was as close as I was going to get to eating under the old roof!
Michael and I just got back from an quick (by European standards) summer vacay adventure driving around Scotland. I will not endeavor to post everything at once, but will write a few shorter posts about the main stops. If you want to skip right to the pictures from the whole trip - click here. Our journey started in Edinburgh, where we spent two days getting acclimated to the Scottish version of the English language and making sure to look in the other direction before crossing the road. Even though I lived in Scotland for a year during undergrad, I only visited Edinburgh a handful of times, so there were still a lot of things I hadn't seen. We visited the "Honors of Scotland" (aka, Scottish crown jewels) at the Edinburgh Castle, walked up and down the Royal Mile a countless times (in the sunshine and in the rain), enjoyed the highly-informative and tasty Scotch Whiskey Experience, visited the Queen's main digs when she's in Edinburgh at the Holyrood Palace, and tapped in to our inner child at the Camera Obscura, Scotland is an incredibly beautiful country - but it's entirely due to the fact that it appears to rain 360 days out of the year. So while our first day in Edinburgh was all blue skies... Our second day was nothing but rain... I think the weather has a lot to do with the excellent whiskey culture in Scotland. When it's pouring outside, what better way to pass the time than to head to the nearest pub and order a nice smooth glass of your favorite whiskey? Michael agrees.
Over the past month, France has played host to the Euro 2016 football championship, which is best understood to us Americans as the World Cup of Europe. It happens every four years, and is apparently a big freaking deal.
The final match will be held tonight at the Stade de France in Paris, where France (Les Bleus!) will play Portugal. The streets of Paris are absolutely PACKED with fans draped in French flags, chanting an endless chorus of La Marseillaise, and overflowing from bars onto sidewalks and streets, straining to catch a glimpse of the match on TV. There is definitely an electricity and excitement in the city today. As our current adopted city, I can't help but cheer on the French team - allez les bleus! A few months ago, we found out that Ryan Bingham was once again touring through Europe. And since we are now committed groupies (who really like to travel), we found a weekend show in a city we haven't yet visited and booked it. Thus we found ourselves last weekend in Copenhagen - the capital of the happiest country in the world (Denmark) and a land of extremely tall people. Founded in the 10th century as a Viking fishing village, Copenhagen is now a pretty hip place to live and visit. With plenty of waterfront views, parks, boats, and cafes combined with excellent public transportation and plentiful bike paths (almost 40% of peeps commute to work via bike), Copenhagen is as enjoyable as it is easy to get around. We flew from Paris early Saturday afternoon and back on Monday evening as the concert was on Sunday night, giving us a good few days to explore the city. We checked out churches and mermaids... Climbed a tower for views of the city... Rocked out at a concert... ... and discovered Tivoli Gardens, aka Danish Disneyland. If I am going to be totally honest with you, Tivoli was my absolute favorite part of the trip, even though it was a complete afterthought when we realized we had a nice sunny day ahead of us with no real plans. Looking back, I am shocked that Tivoli was not the reason for my visit to Copenhagen in the first place. No wonder Denmark has the happiest citizens in the world - they have this magical gem! Tivoli is not nearly as big or commercial as Disneyland, but it was actually one of the inspirations for Walt Disney when he visited in the 1950s as a model of what a theme park should be. The park originally opened in 1843, and is the second oldest operating theme park in the world. If you ever find your self in this neck of the European woods, you MUST make time to spend a day at Tivoli. And if you are a lover of thrill rides like Michael is, brace yourself and strap in to Vertigo. This little airplane ride speeds up to 60 miles per hour, spins 360 degrees and propels the rider over 5 Gs, which essentially means your body accelerates at five times the weight of gravity (and feels five times its normal weight). I could hardly watch the ride without feeling sick to my stomach, but Michael powered through. For a POV video of the experience, click here (you've been warned). You can check out many more photos from our trip in the album here. |
AuthorBecause why not get married and move to Paris to really kick off your thirties? Archives
December 2016
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