highlands and islands...

In October we spent a few days in Edinburgh and the Scottish Lowlands with Chase's parents. Ever since, Chase and I have been longing to road trip up to the Highlands and out to some of the Scottish Islands. The day after Boxing Day we packed up our little Ford Fiesta and hit the road. We didn't really know what to expect seeing as this has been the coldest and harshest winter in recorded UK history. Thankfully it actually warmed up a bit while we were there, although we were a little disappointed by some serious fog that clouded part of our drive and that many of the spots we wanted to visit and tour were closed for the winter holidays.

At the Falkirk Wheel, the world's first revolving boat lift linking the canals between Glasgow and Edinburgh. Since the canal was actually completely frozen, we weren't able to ride the lift and Chase was pretty disappointed. 

We spent that night in Glasgow and got to walk around the city still decorated for Christmas, and I unknowingly ate Haggis for breakfast. If you don't know what that is, Google it-I haven't really been able to stomach anything once containing a stomach since- but I've lost 3 pounds so not all bad I guess.

Here is my hubby at St. Andrew's, the birthplace of golf. Another disappointment, because of the fog we weren't able to take any pictures worth posting, so the 2 below I found courtesy of Google (I'm really endorsing Google today).

As you can see, it truly is a beautiful town on the coast of the North Sea.

Here is Glamis Castle, which host's the king's murder in Shakespeare's Macbeth.  We also visited Stirling Castle, but alas the fog!

Here are just a couple of the incredible sights we saw as we drove through the Cairngorms (the largest landmass in Britain), Glencoe (three sister mountains), and the Great Glenn (a glacial rift valley containing 4 major lochs and many smalerl ones).

After it got dark we drove for a long time in the middle of nowhere, stopped at a couple Scotch distilleries, until we reached the Road to the Isles, and onto the Isle of Skye. We stayed in a small fishery town called Portree at a B&B above the local pub. Ours was the blue building on the pier.

In the morning we awoke to the surprise of how beautiful Portree is. The B&B owner told us we brought fine weather with us, he called it a "soft morning". He also asked Chase if he could have a drink with me in the pub, but Chase declined since we had to get on the road, it was nice of him to ask permission though : )

Eilean Donan Castle.

Urquhart Castle on Loch Ness.

Waiting for Nessie to make her appearance...

Still waiting... 

Unfortunately we didn't get to meet Nessie, but we really enjoyed gazing upon her waters.

We made it home pretty late, almost completely out of gas, and Finn fast asleep in the car. Chase and I really enjoyed our time on the road together, talking about life when we get home (which will be just over a month from now), and how much we've loved travelling together. As excited as I am to reconnect with those I love and miss at home, I'm really sad about leaving the UK. We have already filled every weekend until we leave making the most of the precious time we have left here.