I'm in love with Scotland!

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So I am writing as we are flying to Milan and just had my last sight of Scotland swallowed by clouds. That makes me sad. I completely and utterly fell in love with Scotland! It's strange because I had really thought I would feel more connected to Ireland, and not that I didn't feel something (I have ancestry from both countries), but the strong tie felt much more pronounced in Scotland.

I want to write about our visit here before it becomes clouded out with Italy's experiences and I forget something I wanted to mention or share. It was nothing short of wonderful for lack of a better word despite the nearly constant rain. We did manage a few glimpses of sunshine once we got out of Edinburgh and into the Highlands. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Edinburgh...pronounced locally as Edinbura with a slight and subtle rolling "r" 😊 .....is a cosmopolitan European city full of taxis, public transit buses and pedestrians. The rain doesn't really seem to slow things down at all and it has an air of busyness and purpose. There was an immediate awareness of the difference between Dublin and Edinburgh. The city itself architecturally was amazing and full of gothic buildings and monuments, castles and palaces and rows and rows of shops and flats and pubs. The feel of the city was far different as well. Not only was it much larger (population 500,000) but it was also much more diverse with many languages and nationalities on the streets.

Ireland, as a whole, had a small, cozy and very comfortable feel as for as personal safety no matter the time of night or where you were, while Edinburgh, like any large city, gave you a bit more of a need to be aware of your surroundings. As time went by, we found that any unease was only on the busy city streets and not from the native Scots. They were every bit as welcoming and warm as the Irish had been. And interestingly, I had a much easier time understanding the Scots than I did the Irish even though their dialects and accents are quite similar. It was only the very heaviest of accents that gave me any trouble at all.

So we take a taxi to our hotel which happens to be very close to the city center and next to Old Town and New Town Edinburgh which are somewhat self explanatory. Old town is the very historic part of the city that has been mostly the same for several hundred years, (the monuments, castle, etc) and New Town was where many of the older buildings were being redone and restored and subdivided into flats and coach houses, what had once been large manors and staff housing. Property values in the Old Town Area were quite expensive with a 4-6 bedroom home costing 1.5 million pounds (approx 2 million us dollars) and New Town Coach houses with one or two bedrooms costing about half a million pounds. Our tour guide lives in a one bedroom flat and pays 1500 pounds (approx $2 k us) a year in taxes. So not inexpensive to live in the city center!

But back to our day, so we check in and take a walk around Old Town, find where our tour leaves from the next morning, and then went out for a bite to eat. So I've not mentioned much about the food so far, but the food has been outstanding in both places. Both countries make an incredibly fresh seafood chowder that's different than our chowders at home. It's not as thick with cream but thicker with meats and is enormously tasty! Kirk has tried the fish and chips (I'm not one really for fried fish) but he said it is some of the best he's ever had and superior to our fish and chips. Actually, we both noticed that the food tastes different even if we're eating a common food. I don't know if it has to do with freshness or preservatives but there is a a noticeable different flavor.

We ate at a place called the Mitre Bar (all eateries are bars or pubs!) and decided to try an authentic Scottish dish called Haggis. Now Haggis, traditionally, was baked in sheep stomach lining and served in the lining, but is now cooked more modernly and without the gross factor. lot It combines oatmeal (called porridge here) with mutton (sheep) and spices. Ours was served with mashed potatoes and onion gravy and I have to say that it was really good! So good, that we had it several other times as well. It's commonly served with any meal of the day. For dinner, I had free range chicken and portabella potpie (yum!) and Kirk had a wild boar and chorizo burger. Great food ad the way around! After dinner we walked a bit more, listened to some of the street musicians and I have to say, the bagpipes drifting down the streets is both other-worldly haunting and beautiful at the same time.

The next morning we left Edinburgh for the Western Highlands. Our tour guide, Tony, was a wealth of information and gave us alot of history throughout the day, some serious, some quite humorous. Like Ireland, there we many farms outside the city, with both cattle and sheep, along with barley and canola fields. Canola fields are a beautiful bright yellow/green. The joke about sheep in Scotland is that the population of people is 5 million and the population of sheep is 10 million, two for every Scotsman, one to keep you warm and one to eat! poor sheep! There were definitely alot! The farms, unlike Ireland, were more modern, and often the homes were large estates or manors...and sometimes palaces (modern castles).

Once we reached the Highlands the views again change to grassy mountains, quaint villages, and beautiful lochs (pronounced la with a popcorn kernal clearing k sound. A small kernel, soft k and the kind you try to do quietly so no one hears ya. 😉

Gonna have to do this in two parts, or three parts this time as well. We got into Milan (whoooooole nuther story!) and our hotel has no internet access so I managed to get our wifi hot spot to work for a little bit. But I have super limited data available on it so i can't upload pictures yet. And it's almost 11:00 pm here tonight and we have another tour to the Italian Riviera at 7:00 a.m. in the morning so I'm gonna have to call it a night.

I hope everyone is staying cool in the U.S. and wish you guys were here right along with us! I must say I miss the coolness of Scotland and Ireland now that we're back in 90 degree weather!

Until the next time, I can update, love to all and S'lainte! "cheers" in Gaelic. 😊

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Comments

[Cheryl Anne]

I understand about Scotland. The lowlands are lovely as well. I particularly loved Whithorn, and Wigtown; which is a book town. And someday you must experience Mull and Iona. Maybe we can make that trip together someday! :-) Love and Hugs! <3

[DWalker22]

Now that would be a trip to make for sure, Cheryl Anne. :) Any reason, anytime! Much love and hugs right back! <3

[Mellisa Turner]

Scotland as a tourist spot offers beautiful scenic highlands, prestigious historical monuments,outdoor activities like playing golf and game shooting and mouth watering delicacies.Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness are some of the main cities of Scotland which are of immense tourism value. In my opinion no travel lover should miss the opportunity of visiting Scotland.