Edinburgh turns its city center into one gigantic party for New Year’s Eve, a day known in Scots as Hogmanay (pretty much tied with the German Silvester for most adorable thing to call New Year’s Eve).
travel
Edinburgh’s Hogmanay: the torchlight procession
After a very expat Christmas in the US, we came back to Edinburgh to experience the glory that is Hogmanay for the first time.
Scotland: soaking up the Isle of Skye
Our road trip through the western Highlands ended with several relaxing days on the Isle of Skye.
Western Highlands: Plockton
It was still raining as we pulled into Plockton, but the charm of this small seaside town was evident even through the dreich.
Western Highlands: the lost days
After Durness and Faraid Head, we spent a couple days slowly making our way back down the west coast of Scotland.
Scottish Highlands: hiking the dunes of Faraid Head
Back to our road trip through the western Highlands. In our last post, we drove the beautiful strip from Ullapool to Durness.
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Scottish Highlands: driving the northern west coast
If you look at a map of Scotland’s west coast, you’ll notice that it’s awfully jagged. One can’t exactly drive along it for any significant stretch; instead you just kind of drive near it, wherever the (often single-lane) road takes you.
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Western Highlands: Ullapool
When we moved to Scotland, we started asking everyone we met for travel recommendations. “What’s your favorite place to visit?” “Where should we go first?” Often the answer ended up being something along the lines of “just drive up and down the whole west coast of Scotland.” The first chance we got, we did just that. Our first destination (after a spontaneous stop for a tour of Dalwhinnie Distillery) was Ullapool.
Scotland: in search of the Holy Grail at Doune Castle
Scotland is full of castles. We could spend years here and never get around to seeing them all. And the ones we have seen (much like churches in Italy) start to blend together in our memories so we’re not sure what was where. Doune Castle, however, stands out from the castley crowd.
Read moreScotland: in search of the Holy Grail at Doune Castle
Scotland: an afternoon at Jupiter Artland
Don’t believe the rumors, kids: it’s almost always sunny in Scotland. We had yet another glorious day for our trip to Jupiter Artland.