Scotland | 2018

Ah this post is so overdue! When I left the US, 4 months ago, I first had a 2 week stop-over in Scotland before flying on to Australia! Europe has always been a dream for me (in fact it’s on my 30 before 30 list), however I’d always imagined it be Italy, France, or England I’d see first! Since my host family has Scottish heritage, I was so lucky to join them on this trip and see a country that I most likely otherwise would never have gone to! We had surprisingly wonderful weather for spring in Scotland, but it wasn’t all rainbows and butterflies. I experienced just how real jetlag is for the first few days, accompanied by a bit of a cold, and then some lovely conjunctivitis to top it off haha! So that explains the lack of photos of myself or my outfits in this post! Needless to say, the country was beautiful! Many of the days were spend driving through the bright green countryside. The best part of these drives was seeing Highland Coos (cows) and cheery, yellow gorse bush everywhere! 

Our first stop was in Loch Lomond where I had my first sip of true European coffee, a flat white, at a teeny cafe in the little village. So good! We then went on to Linlithgow to explore the Blackness Castle :)

Next was Oban for a few days where we stayed outside of town in a little cabin in the hills. This is where I snapped the pic of that old brick bridge, just moments after I slipped and feel into a huge pile of mud (anything for the shot lol) 🙈 In all seriousness, it was so neat to spend time in this quaint, old coastal town where I enjoyed some yummy ice cream and great seafood!

From Oban we hopped on a ferry to the islands of Mull and Iona where we toured a beautiful old Abbey and walked through town - enjoyed more coffee here too obviously!

Last, but certainly not least was my favorite part of Scotland. A beautiful house with wrap around windows right on Loch Ness. The most incredible part was that the sun came up at 5am and didn’t set until 10:00pm. That meant we were truly able to fully enjoy the view and al fresco meals at all times of the day! 

Yes that is the Harry Potter train AKA Glenfinnan Viaduct pictured above :)

I’m feel so lucky to have had this experience in Scotland and check another country off of my travel bucket list! As always, feel free to comment with any questions about visiting Scotland and I’ll do my best to answer! Xx