Mull, Iona, and Staffa.
Islay and Jura.
The Uists.
Shetland.
Cornwall.
Things to Do:
Visit The Real Mary King's Close.
Visit the National Museum of Scotland.
Walk the Water of Leith walkway.
Walk the Great Glen Way.
See an orchestra concert.
Read all ten books currently sitting on my bedside table. In progress
Get my MSc.
People to See:
Becca, Kat, and Chaz in Yorkshire.
Brian, Carol, Craig, and Kathryn in Nottinghamshire.
Sima. Either I will go to Russia or she will come here.
Musical acts I'm fond of, if and when they visit Scotland or northern England.
***
Accomplishments since I last updated this include Tracey's visit in February (which was grand), a trip to Wales with my family at the end of April, and a jump into Loch Carron this past weekend. I'm going to do a proper write-up of the family trip as soon as I get my camera back into working order - the battery has suddenly decided it doesn't want to charge. For now, here's my trip to Stromeferry over the weekend:
I got up shortly after 5am on Saturday to catch a 6:30am train. I changed trains in Stirling and Inverness and got to Stromeferry at 1pm. This was my first time journeying from Edinburgh to Inverness in a northerly direction, and also my first time riding on the Inverness-Kyle of Lochalsh line. It was a gorgeous train ride, through some very remote countryside, passing through tiny villages. Everything was in bloom. There were lupins everywhere, and I was reminded of Monty Python's Dennis Moore sketch!
Ewan met me at the station, which is within sight of the Stationmaster's House. I dropped my stuff and went for a walk on the beach along Loch Carron to stretch my legs. It was sunny and warm - around 60 F - and I had originally planned to do the loch jump as soon as I got back. It was low tide and I was wary of landing hard on the rocks at the bottom and cutting my feet up, so I thought I'd sit down and ease in. Big mistake (or possibly a very wise decision) - I discovered to my horror that the loch was ice-cold, and quickly postponed the mission. Brr.
Stromeferry has no shops whatsoever, so I brought a few essentials with me. I cooked jambalaya for dinner, and then went outside to contemplate the loch, which was now at high tide. I changed into a tank top and tracksuit bottoms (my usual attire for this sort of harebrained adventure) and, with Ewan and Danny as my witnesses, took the plunge. And it was cold. But the beauty of jumping off a dock, rather than wading in from shore, was that I could haul myself right back out. I scratched my arm up doing so, but I daresay I'll live. I pulled the bottoms off under cover of a towel (much to Ewan and Danny's amusement) and then ran inside for a hot shower. (I thought it would be the polite thing not to track loch water all over Ewan and Kath's nice clean house.) Hot shower accomplished, I sat outside with Ewan, Kath, Danny, and a few of Danny's current tour, with whom I was sharing the place on this particular night, drinking beer and watching Ewan's wheelbarrow-bonfire. I was able to read my watch at 11pm.
I had a leisurely day on Sunday. The tour left in the morning, and I had the place to myself for the better part of the day. I woke up with the beginnings of a cold, which I'm sure was at least partly owing to my swim in Loch Carron. I read, did some data analysis, and went for a walk through the forest above the village in the afternoon. It was exactly the kind of relaxing, middle-of-nowhere day that I needed. A couple of girls from Italy turned up in the afternoon, and I chatted with them for a bit. I made spaghetti for dinner, and helped myself to some of the tour's leftover bolognese sauce. Then I sat around the bonfire with Ewan and Kath again, as well as one of Kath's friends.
Yesterday I had a quiet morning, and then caught the 12:26pm train back to Inverness, and thence to Perth and Edinburgh. I rode over the Forth Rail Bridge for the first time ever, which was very exciting. Before we got to the bridge, we rode along the Fife coast, which is extremely pretty. Seeing Edinburgh from the north bank of the Firth of Forth was an entirely new experience, and a very cool one.
This was an excellent weekend.
Cheers, y'all.
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