Loch Lomond is a really pretty lake. Is it famous for walks and being in songs and is located in the Trossachs National Park which we were lucky enough to drive through on our way north. It is the largest loch in Great Britain by surface area (Loch Ness is bigger by volume). Once you drive by Loch Lomond it's like you cross an invisible line and you're officially in the highlands! The hills start getting higher, the houses become scarcer.
Going north towards the highlands is like breathing a very long breath of fresh air. Something about Scotland makes my heart pound a little faster. Everything tastes better, the people seem friendlier, the air feels cleaner. Even the rain doesn't seem so bad.
It feels magical.
Even now as I write this almost a year later, my hearts yearns for those Scottish hills and the empty highways winding by the lochs, a glimpse of a castle every now and then, the clouds casting spots into the countryside dotted with sheep.
I love that hotels in Scotland have tartan carpets. I love that they serve black pudding at breakfast (even though I don't eat it). I love that you can legally camp anywhere you want for one night. The mist and the fog, the bright sunlight, any weather is beautiful in the Highlands--to me.
This is one of my many odes to Scotland, I suppose. I can't think of anywhere I'd rather be right now.
We stopped at a spot on the road with a good sized pull-off (or lay-by if you're British) and walked up the side of a mountain for what we hoped would be a good view. We were not disappointed.
Here's the cute little pathway we walked up.
It was really windy up on that ledge. Once we got up to the top, we heard someone start to play the bagpipes. I'm not even kidding. It echoed through the valley like some kind of dream. We looked at each other and grinned with the glee that comes from the high of the best lighthearted adventure. Because is this not what one imagines will happen on a trip to Scotland?
It's one of my favorite memories.
There was a little forest of lichen growing on the rocks. It was perfect and beautiful and almost reminded me of a fairy garden or some other such magical world.
When God created Scotland, he must have been thinking about the color green.
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