Scotland

On the way to Scotland

On a plane to Dublin where I’ll take my connecting flight to Edinburgh. I’m a bit scared…never did anything like this before. Of course that doesn’t make much sense since you would think someone like me who’s been on her own since she was 17 would have more balls. Well, it’s not about that. It all goes back to the current state of mind and the vulnerability that I feel at this time.

But, to not deviate from the trip..I plan to head to the Edinburgh castle first thing after I reach my hotel. I have purchased a ticket so I should be all good with the lines. Dinner shall be at The Witchery, which was highly recommended to me. Can not wait for both. Hope to catch some sleep on this flight so I have enough energy to do both and of course be back to rest for the night for the big highlands tour on Wednesday :).

This trip has been on my mind for a while. This trip was not designed to be this way but I hope that it’s pleasant nonetheless and soul filling. I have no doubt it will be. Just about everyone’s reaction when hearing about me visiting Scotland, has been: “Why Scotland?”. So far I’ve said: “Because it’s been on my mind for a while. Because it’s beautiful and interesting. Because of kilts.” Will see how the trip changes that answer :).

P.S. I’m fucking sore from working out like a damn maniac. I knew I would regret it once I spent a couple of hours sitting on a plane seat. Thank God for the leg room though. Pre-selected Exit seat baby!

Day 1

I arrived extremely tired. Wow, so tired..BUT, I had to quickly take a shower and run out because I only had a few hours left to visit the castle. After the first few blocks I walked from where I was staying I was in a gorgeous park overlooking the castle – Princes Street Park. Everything was freshly in bloom in the park (temperatures are lower here than in NYC). The contrast of the greenery and the blooming trees against the castle in the background looked out of this world. And the light…this light that I only seem to find in the same latitude in Europe (Paris, Milan…especially Paris). I couldn’t stop taking pictures of the glorious light and sky.

The castle was beautiful. You can’t help but feel like you’re thrown back in time hundreds of years ago and picture what it may have been like. Lots of little museums within the castle to visit, all available to see without any extra fee. My favorite was the one on the Scottish honours (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honours_of_Scotland).

I started the castle tour around 3:30. It was very sunny (as the pictures show) for about 1hour and then it went all tropical on me :). Thunderstorms and everything pretty nearby where I was standing. The show had to go on though. I stopped by the castle shop to get an umbrella (tartan patterned of course) and a poncho. I also had to, “had to” (as the cashier very funnily imitated me) buy the Anderson clan booklets while I was there. Back in the castle streets with the poncho protecting me and my camera from the rain, I went on with the tour.

Done with my visit around castle closing time, I was ready for my dinner at The Witchery, a highly recommended restaurant by a coworker who has been there a decade ago (which TripAdvisor still rated it 4 stars). Beautiful castle-like restaurant located right at the entrance of the Edinburgh castle. Very romantic atmosphere. Amazing food. I had just as good (maybe slightly better) and meaty oysters as the New Orleans ones and I had Haggis. To put it how the ladies sitting next to me did, “this food was gorgeous”. Here is a picture of the Haggis:

The walk back to the hotel had a different feel after the rain. The rain really brought out the fresh smell of the trees and grass and all the buildings had a wet look that made the contrast between the sky, the greenery and the grey wet structures, more apparent.

A dram of whiskey at a bar near the Guesthouse is needed to complete the night and to put me to sleep. My body is exhausted from lack of rest. This had to be done though…”I just had to” :).
Ah, the Scotts are all very nice. And their beards are cool in a non-BK way :).
Until the Highlands…

Day 2

I took a lot of notes today throughout the day so I wouldn’t forget anything.  The tour started at 8:30. Right away I knew I made the right choice to choose these guys. Rabbies tours, the pioneers of small group tours. They started off with one small van and became big from word of mouth but kept their tour groups small. Each van carries max 16 people. Our group is about 10, all very lovely friendly people, most from the US. Our tour guide Peter, is fantastic. Such a great, funny story teller. He said his friends call him “the hobbit of the highlands” (he makes fun of his height all the time, lol). He is accompanied by Al who is training to become a tour guide. Both of them wearing kilts. These Scottish people all have a warmth to them. You feel good being in their company.
Off we went to start our tour. Peter gave us a small tour of Edinburgh as we were driving out of the city. Edinburgh was once referred to as being “old smelly”. It was a very dirty town with filthy filthy people…haha just kidding about the second part :). At some point they fell in love with Athenian architecture so a lot of buildings have pillars. For this reason it was called “Athens of the north”.
We passed by the Walter Scott monument which I had seen the day before on my way to the castle. Walter Scott wrote the Waverly novels, which romanticized the Highlands. The monument is the biggest monument dedicated to a writer.

Dune castle, built in the 1300-s, was our first castle stop. This is known as the ladies castle. It was built by the duke of Albany. It’s known as the ladies castle because this is where the ladies stayed when their men went to war. Because it didn’t serve a war purpose, it looks nothing like the Edinburgh castle and more like what you think a castle would look like. The pilot episode for Game of Thrones was filmed there (for all you Game of Thrones fans).

Callander was next. A town made famous by Queen Victoria who came to Scotland for a holiday following her doctor’s orders to get fresh air and take long walks. She apparently loved it and became the first true “tourist” of Scotland. Got a great tasty scone here and did not stop my scone ritual on a daily basis until I left. They make them so good and they taste terrific with butter and jam.
We stopped by a lake next, our first loch (Oh yes, some words to know: loch is lake, glen is valley, dram is a shot of whiskey, wee is little…etc). Strathyre was next, the first town in the Highlands. A town of 200 people and 5 pubs. If you ask the locals why they need 5 pubs, they will tell you “we have tourists!”. :))

As we kept driving in the Highlands, the tour guides played us some appropriately chosen music to go with the landscape. It made the experience complete. We passed through Great Glen, which is an area where different parts of the earth came together and created rises and lows. The highest point is Ben Nevis, whose top we couldn’t see due to the clouds and the mist. The weather overall prior to arriving at the Great Glen had been sunny with some clouds, but mainly clear. We were very lucky to have such weather and great visibility for the majority of the day.

The castle of Eilean Donan is next. The most photographed castle in Scotland. Indeed, I recognized it as soon as I saw it. So very romantic looking covered in mist (there was mist everywhere by then). “Have you been kissed on the island of mist?” – Peter comments. No, but I want to…possibly by a castle – I’m thinking :).

We then head to our destination, Isle of Skye. We cross the spectacular bridge, see the MacKinnon castle from a distance. Short after the bridge, the car breaks down. We were to wait for a different van to transfer to which was luckily very nearby. In the meantime, Al and Peter speak to us about the elections that are to happen on September 18. That day the Scots decide whether they want to be their own nation separate from the UK. Al says that he thinks right now 60-70% of the population is pro-independence although the polls have stated a 50/50 stand. Scotland is a big contributor to the UK economy. Their whiskey industry alone brings 4.5 billion dollars a year. And yet the taxes per person in Scotland are 100-200 pounds more than anywhere else in the UK.

Soon, our rescue van came. Our new kilted Scotsman driver was a character. He used to work for Rabbies but now works as a school bus driver nearby. They must have called him to ask for help and he must have changed to a kilt and came to the rescue. Peter and Al stayed behind in the broken van and managed to get it fixed since I saw them later in town. So the new driver whose name escapes me, tried to tell us stories about Skye even though he hadn’t been a tour guide for a while. He sang along to songs for us as well. His best story was his own life story about how he met his wife. He met his wife when he was giving tours in Edinburgh. He said he never believed in love at first sight but was dumbstruck the moment he saw her. He ended up going up to her and telling her how he felt because he found it impossible to continue to work (his face had turned all red, etc :)). He went up to her and told her: “Listen, mother nature is telling me to get on with my job but I can’t.. “. And here he is today, a happy man, driving children to school, living in this gorgeous part of Scotland with his darling wife, singing to us tourists as he drives us to Portree, Skye. He hasn’t done too bad for himself, has he?

He drops me off last at my Bed and Breakfast. When he found out I’m Albanian he told me an interesting fact about a clan that’s named “Alba” and about Albany and how he thinks that may have something to do with an Albanian settlement. I’ll have to look it up.
So in Portree I am, now arrived at my Bed and Breakfast. The owners of the BB are absolute sweethearts. Husband and wife, Margaret and Morder (ok, not sure how his name is spelled but that’s how it sounds). The room is lovely and comfortable. I get ready to take a walk in town, and take plenty of pictures. Portree looks lovely. It has a “mediterranean” part of it because the houses by the shore look sort of like Positano and the shape and look of the shore is very similar. I drank some whiskey at a bar too of course. We’re getting a tour of Skye tomorrow.

Day 3

Today was an all day Isle of Skye tour. Peter gave us a quick introduction when we started driving away from Portree. Isle of Skye is about 50 mi across by road and about 25 if you walk it. Its major clans were the MacDonalds and the MacCleods. The land everywhere is covered by this brown looking type of plant and the soil itself is almost black looking.

A very interesting fact was to find out that the soil is made up of these thick layers of peat. Peat was formed in the past thousands to five thousand years by dead plants. Each moor grows approximately one millimeter per year. If a moor is 3 meters thick, it is therefore about 3,000 years old. To this day people use peat for heating and cooking and to make whiskey. Here is a good picture of peat being dried up: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Isle_of_Skye_-_Peat_Harvesting_(3721751896).jpg.

As we keep driving we see the mountain peaks being covered by clouds and mist. The Vikings, Peter says, called it the Cloud Island (reminds me of “have you been kissed in the island mist?”). The houses we see are almost all white. Peter explains that this has to do with some sort of religious significance (purity being part of it). Down at the shore of Portree however, there are plenty of colorful buildings. This is not because they don’t care about religion or because the fishermen need colors to distinguish one house from another when they’re drunk (as Peter jokes), but so they can be more visible down at the shore.

We stopped for pictures in plenty of locations throughout the day, especially during the first half of the day. First spectacular spot was the Kilt Rock stop. This rock takes its name from its shape, because it looks like it has plaids (as you can see in the picture below). There is a waterfall right next to the rock and the landscape is just spectacular. It was very misty and windy when we were there so the wind would generate this haunting sound as it blows against the cliffs. It made you think that fairies were surrounding the area.

As we kept driving, Peter told us stories of the MacDonald and the MacCleod clans. A very funny one is that of Hugh MacDonald who wanted to murder Donald Gorm MacDonald.  Hugh planned to invite Donald Gorm for a feast and on that day he was going to execute the murder. He sent two letters out, one to his accomplice with the details of the plan and one to invite Donald Gorm for a lovely meal.  He made a huge mistake though. The letter that his accomplice was supposed to get was sent to Donald Gorm and the invitation was sent to his accomplice. Donald Gorm of course captured Hugh, imprisoned him and fed him salty food with no water until he died of dehydration. Gruesome huh?

We passed by Flora MacDonald’s grave. She was a strong lady who helped Prince Charles as a supporter during the Jacobite movement. This lady took a huge risk for the right cause and managed to later move to immigrate to America, come back to Scotland and create a family and live until she was 65 (which at the time was a pretty old age to die in).

Isn’t that a beautiful engraving?

And now my favorite fairy story. This involves the MacCleod clan. There was one chiefman that ruled the clan once that was doing a bad job. He was barely available, never much involved in matters of the clan. He was doing such a bad job that they had to ask him what his issue was. The MacCleod chief explains that he had fallen in love and that it was complicated (hehe). He had fallen in love with a fairy. The clan members urged him to invite her over so they could meet her and they all loved her. They pushed him to marry her but the chiefman explained that her father would not allow her to marry a mortal. They asked the father again and he gave them a compromise (these fairies and their deals..gee): they were to marry for a year and a day and at the end of that time she was to return to her fairy world. They took the deal – it was better than nothing. During this time the fairy gives birth to a baby boy and only had a few months to spend with her husband and family. Heartbroken, after exactly a year and a day, she walks with them both to the bridge where both worlds meet and says her last goodbyes to her husband and her baby. She makes her husband promise that her baby boy was not to cry because if he ever did she would have to leave her fairy world to come to his assistance which would have major consequences for her. The chiefman had to promise. So the sad departure happens, the fairy was gone in a flash and the chiefman returns to his clan trying to go on with his life. He was depressed and sad for a very long time. Seeing that nothing was working, his clan decides to cheer him up by throwing a party. They were all to dance ceilidh and have a merry night. The chiefman agreed to it. The night of the party everyone was having a good time and the chiefman was spotted smiling and feeling more joyous than usual. Since everyone was in the party, they had left the baby boy sleeping and no one was around to guard him…hence, he starts crying. And guess who heard his cries? Deep in the fairy world, his mother heard his cries and in a flash, appeared in her baby’s room and comforted him. She wrapped him up with a blanket she made out of her outfit and whispered to him. The baby stopped crying and his mother went back. No one knows what happened to her and if she got punished for disobeying her father’s rules. The chiefman had a feeling that she had come by when he spotted that the baby was covered in a blanket. Years went by, the boy grew up and he was able to recall what his mother had whispered to him. She had told him to wave the blanket she gave him three times any time the clan was in trouble with the MacDonalds. The boy passed the message along and indeed, the MacCleods were thereon protected because they would always wave their “flag” and be able to win battles. It’s such a great story. It brought tears to my eyes. The love of a mother is endless.

We kept driving through the island listening to stories and music and observing the picturesque landscape. The next story is a favorite too. The story of Alistair MacCleod who used to be a counselor representing West Skye. Whenever he would go in the Lowlands meeting with other counselors, the Lowlanders would look down on him and make fun of him for his Highland, “non-sophisticated” ways. They would say things like: “Oh Alistair, tell us, do you have such beautiful high ceilings?  Have you ever seen a table as grand before? Etc..etc…”. Alistair had had it one day and he invites the lowlanders to his castle, the Donvegan castle in the Highlands. The lowlanders accept. They come to visit in their fancy outfits and shiny shoes anxious to see what Alistair was going to show them in this grand feast he had invited them in. And what does Alistair do?  He takes them to the MacCleod tables…which are natural “tables”, flat peaks that belonged to the MacCleods. There they were, these lowlanders in their shiny shoes, struggling to climb up this mountain following Alistair’s lead. Finally, when they arrived to the top, they asked where the tables were and Alistair says: “Gentlemen, sit. Have you seen grander tables than these? Look up, look at the sky. Look at the starts. Have you seen a more spectacular ceiling than this? Look at the lightning. Have you seen grander torches than those?”. Ahhh, this is why I love these highlanders. Truly humble, warm, generous, noble, great people. We went by the MacCleod tables and had lunch at a cafe called The MacCleod Tables Cafe.

The last stop before heading to Portree was the Neist Point lighthouse. Wow, what a spot. We had about 1 hour to make it to the lighthouse and back. If you climbed the highest peak here (just before you got to the lighthouse), you got a chance to get a 360 degree view of the whole isle. It was so beautiful. Cliffs, sea, lambs. I kept thinking how unreal this all felt as I was walking and climbing.

Look what we saw on our drive back to Portree (Oh.My.God!!!):

When we went back to Portree I made dinner reservations at Sea Breezes, this restaurant right by the water. The food was amazing. I had the best mussels I have ever had there. The view of course, spectacular. The day started off gloomy but it cleared out midday-early evening so I was able to see Portree on a clear night.

Day 4

Third day of the tour. The day we head back. The plan is to visit the Eilean Donan castle, stop by Loch Ness, and make our way towards the Lowlands and Edinburgh.

Day starts off a bit gloomy and chilly. The first thing we see are the Black Cuillins, a wide range of mountains which get the dark color from basalt and gabbro. Right next to them are the Red Cuillins.

Our first fairy story of the day is that of Angus and Marguerite. Angus loved Marguerite, but Marguerite had ambitions and wanted to marry someone wealthy. She however had an accident and lost vision from one eye. She went to the bridge weeping for her misfortune. Bridges seem to be these mystical places where you would most probably run into a fairy. I guess this is because fairies would use bridges to leave one world (that of humans) and enter another (fairy land). Sure enough, a fairy appeared and asked Marguerite why she was crying. The fairy gives her a deal: the fairy will return Marguerite her beauty but if she doesn’t find a husband within the year she will have to marry the fairy. Things didn’t work out for Marguerite and she was not able to find a rich handsome husband and forgot all about the deal she had made with the fairy. The next time she went by the same bridge, the fairy washed away her beauty as punishment. They say the river still carries her beauty and you now see tourists stopping by and washing their faces there. And guess who Marguerite married? Angus of course. Here is a picture of the bridge where the fairy appeared to Marguerite:

When we were near the bridge, I asked Pete and Al to take a picture with me. Next thing you know, everyone else on the tour wants their picture taken with the men in kilts (by the way, the wind had really picked up by then so Pete and Al were struggling not to pull a Marilyn Monroe on us):

Eilean Donan castle visit is next! Oh it was so nice and different to see it on a beautiful clear day and I was very thankful that I got to see it both days…in the mist and under a clear sky.

We were on our way to Loch Ness when we passed by the 5 sisters of Kintail. The story goes that once there were 7 sisters, daughters of the MacKenzie chiefman. The daughters were looking for 7 husbands. But what do you know, 7 irish brothers come by on a boat and the sisters decide to each get married to one of the brothers. 7 sisters for 7 brothers…perfect. They all were to have a separate wedding. After the first 2 weddings, the brothers hear word of their mother having fallen ill. They have to go back and take care of her. The 2 couples together with the remaining 5 brothers leave and the still single 5 brothers promise the 5 sisters they were leaving behind that they would be back for them. Except, they never came. Years passed by, the sisters grew old and they were still waiting. Finally, they decide to go see a sorcerer and ask her to make them immortal so they can continue waiting for the brothers. The sorcerer turns them into 5 peaks which still rise to this day waiting for their Irish lovers. Ladies couldn’t take a hint, could they? (#notthatintoyou :)).

Loch Ness was beautiful. We got to see it in a crystal clear day which is very unusual and not your typical Loch Ness day. No monsters, just dark, calm waters, but that beast is in there somewhere.

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After lunch we were to head back south towards the Lowlands (sad). We passed by some hairy coos and I took some great pictures!!

We had a quick coffee stop at a Whiskey shop where I was able to taste a couple of drams. Got a light buzz there from some delicious Whiskey :).

We arrived in Edinburgh a wee after 7:00 PM and Pete had by then given me some pretty good recommendations. I knew how I wanted to spend the rest of the night. I was going Ceilidh dancing at a place called Ghillie Dhu. I got there just on time, around 9:30 and had great fun (great fun…I started to say it like that now). The dancing took place on the second floor. The space looked like a ballroom, high ceilings, big chandeliers, stage for the musicians, long tables for the guests. The band would give you instructions right before they would play a song on what to do so you could learn the steps. I got up there 2 times. It’s so much fun to dance it…it’s all very joyous.

I met a couple of very nice people all very friendly, upstairs and downstairs. There was a group of guys from Wales that were out having fun for a friend’s bachelor party, or a stag (stag: male deer) party like they call it. Yes, a very different idea from what your typical bachelor party would look like here in the states.

Day 5

Day started a bit rough with me nursing a bit of a hangover from last night. A wee too much wine last night :). Ate breakfast (porridge this time. Doreen, the Guesthouse owner agrees that that was the right choice especially if you have a hangover). Took the train to Falkirk right after and a cab from the station to Helix Park. Just on time for the tour and in awe at the first sight of the magical Kelpies. I’ve been waiting to see them for a month. Our tour guide began the tour by giving us the background of the mythical creatures, kelpies. I had already read up on them so I was familiar with it. Kelpies were horses that lived in the waters, lochs, and would lure people to ride them so they could ultimately swim with them in the water and eat them. Mean horses no? Mytholgy is an important part of Scottish culture. Fairies in the highlands and water creatures in the lowlands. Tales that were told to children were endless. Think about it…during long cold winters when there was no tv, what better way to spend the time then sit around and tell children these stories: “Children, don’t go out there, the Loch Ness monster will get you!”.

The tour continued with us getting closer to these magnificent statues. Oh how beautiful they look. Every millisecond is a picture moment. Andy Scott, the sculptor, did an amazing job. What a talent! The material used is stainless steel and altogether there are 464 pieces made, each a unique piece different from the other. He used real horses as his inspiration: Duke and Baron. The Helix park was picked for its wide spacious landscape. The two horses’ heads are visible from the highway and surprise all drivers that do not know to expect them to be there. Here is a picture the first time I laid eyes on them:

Andy wanted to create something unique that hopefully would become a symbol of Scotland and I think he has achieved his goal already. And what a great tourist attraction this is for Falkirk!

I’ve been obsessed with these sculptures since when I first saw pictures of them. The fact that I love horses for their beauty, elegance, loyalty, has a lot to do with it. But mostly, I just think this is such a grand piece of art so beautifully engineered. I stuck around and took pictures for another hour or so and then I took the train back to Edinburgh.

We went inside Duke’s head too:

Now that I’ve gained your respect of Scottish engineering…check out this piece of work and think about all that is wrong with it :). These things are found in almost all bathrooms.

A walk to Arthur’s seat is next. I walked all the way from my Guesthouse to the Royal mile and kept walking to the grand Holyrood park. I took some long path to make it on top of Arthur’s seat…boy, I was climbing forever. I had already climbed up and down one peak until I arrived at the beginning of the trail. The higher I got the windier it got. The wind did not help with my fear of heights. I kept thinking I was gonna fall off a cliff. Ok, those of you who are thinking “did not know you were such a p%$$sy!”, stop it! I’ll have you know that I have a serious fear of heights.

Anyway, the views from up there were spectacular as expected. Walked back to the Royal mile to head to dinner at Angels and Bagpipes. Timing worked out perfectly. I had packed a dress and heels knowing this would be a fancy place and just wanting to feel dressed right. On my way there, I booked a ghost tour to do right after dinner since it was so conveniently located right in front of the restaurant right by St. Giles cathedral. Everything just fell in place so nicely. Right on time without rushing to do everything I had planned and more.  My dinner was the lamb. I had to have the lamb, I just had to. A glass of Rioja as recommended to go with it. Delicious, “gorgeous”.

Check out this picture from the ghost tour…pretty appropriate 🙂

A whiskey at the Whiski bar (both the ghost tour and the Whiski bar were recommended by Peter) to end the night. Enjoying a smoky whiskey as I write this. The bar tender asked how smoky I would want it, bad boy smoky? Guess what I said…;)

Day 6

Day 6 was exhausting only because I woke up feeling pretty sleepy and run down. I have yet to go on a vacation where I sit on my ass by a beach drinking cocktails. Even though I haven’t been getting my 8 hour sleep since I arrived, the sun is up pretty early here so that sort of helps to get you going. Plus, who wants to sleep when you can enjoy Scotland.
Keywords for the day: Mary King’s Close tour, National Museum of Scotland, palace, souvenirs, literary pub tour, a lot of walking.

Mary Queen Close was the biggest close in Edinburgh. It was considered to be a privilege to live there and that was pretty amazing to believe. The poorest family lived in the lower floors, in a damp dark place. 12 people all in one room sharing a bucket as their toilet. It’s pretty insane how they lived.

The palace was closed because some sort of an official was visiting (how dare they). Managed to take some pictures from behind the gate and I started walking back to the museum. I liked the National Museum of Scotland. It was sort of the size of the Whitney or the Guggenheim museum. I checked out their Scottish gallery as well as the current Italian exhibition. They had a Da Vinci piece in there that is only the second original in the world.

View from the museum cafe.  Oh Edinburgh, I will miss you 😦

Early dinner was to be at the Albanach, this bar on Cockburn street (right, that street). I was looking to get a special dish I was told to try by Peter: cullen skink. It was a soup, with fish, potatoes and onion and this amazing white broth. Very tasty.

I headed back to the Grassmarket, in front of the Beehive Inn where the Literary pub tour was to begin. I have to say, I have enjoyed taking these tours. They are a very fun way of learning about the history of the town. This particular tour tells you about Scotland’s writers from Robert Burns, Walter Scott to the renaissance writers and the more modern ones. Our tour guides or I should say, actors, took us to 4 pubs that the writers used to frequent and told us their stories in the form of a funny but factual pre-scripted “play”. A stop at each pub meant you could order a drink while you take a break. I of course had my Ardbeg dram. I have to find where I can get Ardbeg from in NYC now.

Some pictures from my walk around town:

Last words

I didn’t quite admit there on my first paragraph but I was pretty nervous the first day here. I was not sure I had done the right thing to visit alone, I didn’t know if I would enjoy it, I was scared I wouldn’t like the tour to the Highlands, etc. The trip turned out to surpass any expectations I had. As you can tell by now, I’m completely head over heals enamored with Scotland. I feel like a Highlander with a brave heart who had the courage to get on a plane, plan a trip and make the best of it. I did so much in a week..until my body gave up from exhaustion in the end :). I am definitely going back and perhaps this time really claiming a castle :).

I left a piece of my heart in those highlands.

So for those of you who asked: “Why Scotland?”…Scotland is a beautiful, mystic, romantic country with wonderful people. The question now is: when are you visiting?