Every trip leaves tracks in the mind, memories that slowly fray around the edges. I was surprised that the people of Scotland were, on the whole, so short. I was amused that every time I heard a mother call or reprimand a child, his name was inevitably Alastair or Conor. I was more apprehensive about riding in vehicles on the “wrong” side of the road than I thought I would be; using my own neck muscles and mindpower to keep the buses from tipping off the edges of cliffs and from whamming into oncoming traffic that was on the wrong side, in the wrong lane, OMG!
To me, Scotland will forever be a green and mountainous memory, a rolling landscape of hill and water with purple patches and castles galore and fern forests and cliffside pathways. It was relaxing to be in a country where everyone spoke English, where all the signs were in English (although many were also in Gaelic), where the bookstores were filled with English books. I’ve missed that more than I realized, no matter my fluency in Swedish.
(All the images are slightly fuzzy because I’ve fudged the sizes so they’ll fit inside my journal layout. Click on any photo to enlarge. All photographs copyright Anders Ek)
There was a Cow Parade in Edinburgh while we were there, although I really thought sheep would have been more appropriate. Above, the children are pointing out the area where we stayed…in the Cowgate, of course! When Edinburgh was a walled city, it was where the animals came in and out from the pastures and for many years it was the worst slum area in town.
We managed to see a lot of castles during our journey, although we didn’t always pay the entrance fee to go in, from Holyrood and Edinburgh at either end of the Royal Mile, to Urquhart overlooking Loch Ness (above), the ruins of Dunollie and Dunstaffnage, and the refurbished glories of Torosay and Duart. I was impressed with the care and thoughtfulness that went into the castle exhibitions and tours and fell in love with the muraled artwork in the Scottish Regalia exhibition in Edinburgh castle. I am still sorry that no photographs were allowed inside, or I would have spent several hours just taking pictures of the paintings.
Below, a sign in Tobermory that made us laugh out loud. Didn’t know THAT was the reason why pubs are so popular in Scotland!
Scotland Photo Galleries (Lots of goodies here, including REAL LIVE GUARANTEED-NOT-A-HOAX LOCH NESS MONSTER SHOTS, NO REALLY, I SWEAR!): Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5
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