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It comes in pints?

The second stop on our pseudo-round-the-world trip is the land of the Scotsman. We’ve been looking forward to the slightly warmer weather, more reasonable pub prices, and the luscious scenery.

The sun is shining when we finally depart EDI airport. Passport Control took unusually long, 90+ minutes to get out (insert grumpy face).

But I can hear the sound of bagpipes within minutes of stepping off the bus in downtown Edinburgh. A classic welcome.

Day 1 in Edinburgh- we take to exploring the city. First things first.

Ok, not actually our first stop, but shortly thereafter. We spend time orienting, grab a few groceries, and then ask the hostel staff for a happy hour recommendation. We learn that with our hostel passes we get 20% off at select pubs around town, and end up landing at Royal Mile Tavern. I sleep like a baby.

Day 2 in Edinburgh- we put on our tourist caps and head to Edinburgh Castle. It’s Saturday (note: never hit up the major attractions on weekends) and it’s packed. It takes us about an hour to get inside the castle walls.

To be succinct, the castle is pretty neat. In addition to the amazing history, it also includes what I’d classify as odd/borderline creepy scene reconstructions.

We spend another hour and a half inside and decide we’re done being tourists for the day.

The night ends with Jimmy and I sipping beers in the hostel common room. I write while he streams a football game. There’s a beer pong tournament kicking off, momentarily convincing me I’m back in college. Except this time, I’m the 30 year old observer, smiling and tapping away at the keyboard while inhaling cookies.

I don’t think these are sold in America, but if so, never, EVER buy these.

Sunday morning arrives and we leave to pick up the rental car at Waverley Station. It’s estimated to be a 15 minute walk, but through a series of misdirects, it’s closer to 45. Whoops!

Shortly after arriving at the station, an alarm sounds with an announcement declaring “there is an emergency and all passengers need to exit the station immediately”. Jimmy and I look at one another with a fearful…“for real?” expression. Given the London tube bombing only days earlier, the threat felt very possible.

A few minutes pass and we realize most travelers seem unfazed, and we discover this is a planned drill. Major sigh of relief.

It is an interesting time to be abroad in Europe. I cannot speak for the residents, but as a visitor, I have an unusually heightened sense of awareness of my surroundings- of the potential for danger. It saddens me when I realize this means the culture of fear is winning to an extent. When the alarm sounded in the train station, my brain didn’t think “oh, fire drill”. It went straight to “bomb”.

On a brighter note, it’s time to hit the road! Jimmy gets behind the wheel, on the wrong side of the car, on the wrong side of the road. I won’t lie, the first 30 minutes are tense as we attempt to navigate the city and not hit oncoming traffic. But we somehow make it out of Edinburgh alive, and head toward Oban.

We follow lunch with a little tasting at Oban Distillery.

We reluctantly agree to press on to our anticipated campsite in Glencoe. It’s another hour or so of driving.

Glencoe should be a pretty spectacular sight, and it does not disappoint. Scenes from Harry Potter were filmed right in this area!

We set up camp and walk about a mile to the nearby Clachaig Inn. Regulars at the pub here would have seen Harry Potter filming, including Hagrid’s hut for an extended period (unfortunately the hut is no longer there).

We indulge in Clachaig’s “The Boots Bar” and have a chilly walk/jog back to camp for PB sandwich dinner time.

It’s time for bed. We’re both nervous as we gambled without sleeping pads for Scotland (whereas we rented them in Iceland). The ground won’t be as cold, right?

WRONG.

We barely sleep. The ground is cold AND hard. We won’t camp again the rest of our time in Scotland. Just another lesson learned!

We take the car ferry on the way to Skye and plan to drive the bridge (much less exciting) on the way back. This turns out to be the right choice. Jimmy and I are both able to absorb our surrounding views as opposed to constant road watching/navigation.

A big motivator for the trip to Scotland was Skye itself. I became mesmerized with pictures a couple years back, and it’s been on the list ever since. I’m ecstatic to finally be here.

We drive to Portree first, the main city on Skye. It’s only a quick visit as our final destination for the evening is further north in Staffin.

The Animal Kingdom makes itself known early on. We have to slow down and avoid an incident with a beast in the road north of Portree. No friends, just this lone wolf.

We make it to Staffin for the evening. We’re at a lovely little Airbnb, among some more farm friends. AKA cows moo-ing just outside the window. This spot is isolated, no doubt. There isn’t even a pub within 15 minutes (shocking discovery — pubs do not exist in every town in Scotland).

We’re up early and headed around the north coast of Skye. We pass through Uig, Stein and ultimately land at our main objective for the day, the Fairy Pools (located near Glenbrittle).

The pools are along a winding trail into the mountain hills. The background is stunning. It’s definitely a must-see. It actually reminds us both of Iceland!

We take advantage of the hostel kitchen and cook red lentil pasta with kale for dinner. The next morning we’re up and headed back north to drive part of the NC 500 east coast. The rain continues and today is a bit lackluster. The east coast isn’t quite as appetizing. We end up going for a couple of long walks, one near Golspie and one in Helmsdale.

We crash at another Airbnb in Golspie for the evening, and Friday kicks off our longest straight-through stretch to Glasgow. All in about 4–5 hours, with a brief stop in Perth for a snack.

Glasgow has a very different vibe than Edinburgh (at least the part we saw, the city centre)- much more like a major city, more modern. It almost feels like walking around Chicago. A little less of the historical charm that Edinburgh carries, but not in a negative way. It also seems a bit younger and more diverse.

We get our 10,000+ steps in and grab groceries to cook in. It feels nice having a quiet kitchen and the ability to prepare a healthy meal (and to open a bottle of wine).

We’ll spend the rest of the weekend hitting a few more tourist spots in Edinburgh and regrouping to prepare for our next adventure- Germany. I have a feeling a few more pints are coming my way.

Goodbye for now, dear Edinburgh.

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