Long time no see

I know I promised you a part two of my trip to Scotland a long time ago! And suddenly the time went by in a hurry and maybe my writing here were left behind due to road trips in my own surroundings back home this summer. You can see that on my Instagram.

But now, a big throwback to Scotland ... can't really understand that it's soon to be a year ago!! There were a trip to Paris with my daughter in September 2019 that also had a great impact on me and just the other day she asked me when we're going to plan our next trip - love her ... maybe I didn't really realised that she in fact wanted that. But, as we live in times not knowing how or where we'll be allowed to travel in the nearest future, we may have to either wait or she have to adjust to travel in Sweden. She didn't sound that convinced when I told her about my thoughts about the northern part of our country ;) Maybe a little bit more interested of joining a part of my dream trip for now - a couple of months in Great Britain, slow travelling in different parts of Scotland, Lake District and Yorkshire. You should never give up dreaming ... one day it may come true!

I will start and end this post with photos of the Lagangarbh hut up in Glen Coe, probably one of the most photographed cottages in Scotland. Not hard to understand and nonetheless beautiful in its surroundings! I still have to pinch myself, this is all my own photos from my Nikon camera. A happy amateur guided by a lovely couple I'm so very grateful and happy to have met - both truly talented, Kristy Ashton and Richard Jackson! And of course their cute little dog Bella. I recommend a visit to their website The Auld Romantics.

Kristy made a little movie from my visit called "The last Tourist in Scotland" and from this point of view it's a bit peculiar, not that I really was the last tourist, but that I did indeed made this trip in time ... this year it would have been impossible!

Photos from the first day with them, being picked up at the lovely place I stayed, Sunbank House Hotel in Perth (sorry, all the photos from there are on my phone). We started with visiting The Hermitage in Perthshire, also named Narnia by Kristy. I won't disagree, a fairytale place if you ask me. Ossian's hall from both sides and also the dramatic spot Kristy made lovely photos in. I won't mix Kristy's beautiful work with my own photos in this post, so you don't have to put up with photos of me today ;) But maybe you can spot my shoes ... :)

We travelled in the countryside of Perthshire all day long, stopped for a photo session here and there and I was lost, completely in love with this landscape! Richard asked me several times to just ask him to turn over if I wanted to take some photos of my own, but I had a full time job enjoying the views and trying to understand the fact that I felt so welcomed and so "at home", like I truly belonged there for good!

I have no trouble imagining me in a small cottage in the countryside, writing all day long mixed with daily walks in the surroundings, buying lots of food from the farmers and photographing like crazy. But I'm not made out of money, so the dream have to continue.

But how can you not love these places?! I just know that some day I have to return to Kenmore for example, stay there for a while and visit The Scottish Crannog Centre on Loch Tay and take long walks in the hills. Continue up to Rannoch Moore and Glen Coe and further ahead this time.

Also one of the most popular places to visit up in Glen Coe, Achnambeithach ... would you like to pronounce it? Well, once again I have a hard time believing that I actually have visited this beautiful area. I thought the photos from my Nikon shouldn't be that many, I got so carried away by just being there that I didn't have the patience with all the buttons and used the phone a lot too. But it turned out to be a couple of hundred photos anyway on the memory card. Picky though, tried to choose the ones worth showing.

The two days I booked with Kristy and Richard were very well planned and I have nothing but fun memories and think it was very well spent money. I got so welcomed, had two days of perfect guiding to the landscape, the country of Scotland, both history and facts, laughs and shared stories ... and a load of photos that later came out so very nice, even with me in them! Thank you again and again, Kristy!!

You must consider the fact that I have been very uncomfortable in front of a camera all my life. Both Kristy and Richard did a great work trying to make me feel relaxed. And I must ad, the landscape made a huge difference too. Finally I really enjoyed it, I mean it!

Things will change a lot in the way we will travel in the future I suppose. Therefore I don't think it's any use giving the exact way I planned and booked my trip. I chose to concentrate on the days with Kristy and Richard and squeezed Edinburgh into the schedule. I started with one night in the capitol city of Scotland, arriving about lunch time with a big smile, walking straight up the street to my hotel The Inn Place in Cockburn Street, Old Town. Close to the railway station I travelled from to Perth the next day. Time for a walk in the Old Town, feeling a bit like I was a part of a Harry Potter movie, but also spotting the old emergering with the new and modern.

Being the last week of November the Christmas decorations were in place, but the weather didn't much of good work to get me into the real feeling. It didn't matter at all though, I was so happy anyway ... and felt very safe and secure even if I did this trip all by myself.

The next day I was up and about early enough to make another long walk in Old Town, absorbing the atmosphere and having a lovely breakfast before heading to Perth by train. Having most of those photos on my phone I think I'll put together a post about that experience and the little hotel in another post later on.

This was surely a dream come true for me. But also a very important step, to finally make a journey of my own. Something I truly recommend everyone to do at least one time! You learn a lot about yourself, force you to enjoy time with yourself and also force you to take full responsibility all the time. Travelling on your own also makes you talk to people you don't know and that, my friends, can lead to magic things ... you'll never know!

Hope you're all good and will find your way back to my blog, even though I've been gone for a while. Some of you follow me on Instagram and I'm happy for every comment and response to the things I publish. It means the world to me, you know! Thank you very much.

Wish you all a lovely weekend!

#Scotland #throwback #photographing #Nikon #dreamcometrue