the one with the trip to Scotland

What better way to get over the post wedding blues than to take a trip.

Their wedding was absolutely perfect. It was such a fun & memorable time! I'm so happy for you, little sis!

After the exhaustion set in from the wedding, the last thing I could imagine doing was going on a hiking trip. The only thing I thought I would want to do once arriving back in Germany was take a nap.

We arrived back from beautiful Colorado Monday morning, and I had until Tuesday afternoon to repack for my trip to Scotland. Luckily, per the usual, I had cleaned the house before we left for CO, so all I had to do was laundry. Laundry & fight the sudden urges to take a nap.

Isaac dropped me off at the airport (I always hate saying goodbye to my man), and I met up with my client/friend at our gate.

We didn't arrive into the smallest airport I've ever seen (Inverness, Scotland), until nearly midnight, which was actually 1am in Germany. The only thing I could think about while we were in line to get our passports checked, was how this whole driving on the opposite side of the road thing was going to work. I'm confident driving manual, but this was going to be a whole other ballgame for me. I prayed on the flight over that God would somehow provide us an automatic car (plus then my friend could share in the driving). They gave us a brand spankin' new Volvo (an automatic), for less than what it cost for the small manual car I had reserved online. Can you say, "God thing?"

It was about a 2 hour drive from the airport to the airbnb we were staying at. We had some laughs as we headed out of the airport, as I adjusted to driving against everything I had ever been taught.

We actually got the hang of it super quick. So much so that when we got back to Germany, I started driving on the left side. But don't worry, I quickly corrected myself.

When we arrived, it was around 2:30am. There were single-track roads, massive deer that looked like at any moment they would run straight into the car, cattle gates we had to open, but we made it in one piece. Our airbnb host quickly walked us in, got us settled into our room, and I fell asleep almost as soon as my head hit the pillow.

I woke to the sound of dishes clanking in the kitchen. I was dying to see the view. It was so dark when we arrived, that we didn't see anything on our drive in (except the eyes of the crazy suicidal deer).

We quickly freshened up and headed out to meet our soon-to-be Scottish friend Lynne & her English husband. They had breakfast all set out for us. Home made yogurt, home made granola, home made pastries, home made bread, fresh eggs from their free range chickens, orange juice, and French press coffee. Absolutely wonderful. And don't get me started on this view.

We spent a little bit of the morning chatting with Lynne, sipping on coffee in those chairs, and planning out our day before we hopped in the car to drive to the first hike.

Now we got to see exactly what all we drove past on our way in.

To say that Scotland (and its people) are beautiful, is an understatement. Though the hike was straight up, we managed to get it done in 45 minutes. The view was totally worth all the effort, and we sat up here and enjoyed the view for quite some time.

On our way to see the Old Man of Storr (pictured above), we saw the c u t e s t highland cows, and baby sheep. Especially this big guy who seemed to pose for the camera.

After the hike, we had a desperate need for a caffeine fix. My favorite thing about this travel buddy was her equal-to-my-own coffee addiction. We decided to head in the direction of the next hike, and see what we could find. I was definitely getting hungry at this point, when we saw a sign for a soup cafe. Getting somewhat lost on the way, we finally rolled into the parking lot, and w o w. This was the coolest cafe. The interior design of the place was captivating my love of decorating, and the view was gorgeous (though it's hard to find ugly views there). The tables were full, but we were invited to wait and have some coffee until a table became available. We took the time to look around and take in the place. It was truly unique and beautiful.

The soup was absolutely delicious. I ordered a recommendation from Lynne - Cullen Skink - a creamy seafood soup.

After a 2nd round of coffee, we headed to see the Quiraing.

This view was e x a c t l y what I pictured seeing in Scotland. The picture truly does not do the landscape justice. God's creation is absolutely incredible.

We headed back to our Airbnb in Kyle of Lochalsh (about an hour from where we were), made our dinner reservation that Lynne had booked for us, and went to straight to sleep.

The next morning we didn't have a set plan, but ended up deciding we would go see the Fairy Pools and Eilean Donan Castle. Lynne, again, had a wonderful breakfast spread for us. She also took us out to feed their sheep and pigs which was fun.

I'm so glad we decided to go see the castle because this was where we got to hear bagpipes.

After touring the castle (which I found their use of different plaids for different occasions the most intriguing) and taking some pictures outside, we headed to hike the fairy pools.

We chatted on the way there (grabbed more coffee), and realized we actually really enjoyed driving around and looking at the beautiful scenery Scotland has to offer.

Hiking the fairy pools was much easier than Old Man of Storr. It was a beautiful area, though we didn't see any fairies.

Our flight left at 6am on Friday morning, so with a 2 hour drive ahead of us we had to get up at 3am that last day (we're crazy). We should have tried to get extra sleep, but ended up talking for quite a while.

Lynne was the best and had some food set out for us, along with the French press ready to go.

I have to say, the Scottish people have been the nicest people I've come across in my travels. It made the experience that much more memorable.

By the time my trips are over, I'm always ready to be with my husband. And he's literally the sweetest. He had flowers to surprise me with in the car when he picked us both up from the airport. He had also made sure the fridge was well stocked so we could just relax over the weekend, which after the couple weeks we had, was much needed.