An Ode to Scotland •

I’m in a small town in The Highlands in Scotland as of writing this post. There are no taxis, Uber doesn’t exist, and every store and restaurant is shut by 9pm. Going to a local pub for a drink (there are only 2 options) I am surprised to find it empty. The barman tells me the “public room” is quite busy, and directs me there. I have to leave the pub completely and open a shifty looking back door. “Crowded” ends up meaning 5 people, who are all the town drunks. Two of them leave as I enter, leaving me alone with 3 drunk men joking about how many shakes to do in the bathroom. Humph.

There are buses about once an hour or two, but many places I want to go do not have a bus stop. This leaves me walking about 8 miles a day, and the one day I didn’t bring water with me, ended up being quite a long way without a place to drink some water!

My first night in The Highlands, I end up joining a hotel guest to see her local friends play Scottish music at a local venue. It was lovely! However, the venue didn’t have any food. The bartender jumped to my rescue. I had the option to take a 30 GBP taxi back to my local town, where everything but the local Chinese would be shut, or to order Indian delivery and pay an extra 5 GBP for delivery. So, I ended up stinking up the venue with the most delicious lamb-almond curry. 🙂

Everywhere I have been, including Edinburgh, people are dynamically friendly. Instead of staring into a mobile phone screen, they look up and out, and smile and say “hello!” I learn that my precious Highland Cow is actually called a “Heeland Ku” and many a stranger has been kind enough to point me in the direction of the nearest herd.

I stay at a Bed and Breakfast with a lovely host, full on UK breakfast cooked to order, and am so blessed that he has a secret stash of the most delicious whiskey I’ve ever tasted in my life, AND he fills my flask with it to keep me warm for the day. 🙂

The cows are either gracefully curious or pose for amazing photo shoots.

The Highlands are covered with my namesake, everywhere I look, fields of Heather abound. The scenery is breathtaking, and when I take a breath, it feels like clean, pure air. Mist hangs over mountains, and I feel surrounded by smiles, the past, the present, and cows. How can life be any better?!

Highland calf

Heather among the Heather

View from Edinburgh

Highland cows roaming freely

Heather under the mist

A joyful Highland cow

A lovely small town

View of Edinburgh

2 Comments

Greg Monks on July 25, 2018 at 12:48

Sounds like you’re having quite an adventure! If you get the chance, try a visit to Orkney or Shetland. That’s a place to find the locals bringing along their musical instruments and enjoying spontaneous jam sessions in the bars. They’re often joined by Scandinavians off the boats, usually from Norway or Denmark. Listen to a Norwegian sing and play “Norwegian Wood”, in Norwegian!

The islands were part of the Kingdom of Denmark until the mid 15th century, and they’ve never lost their Scandinavian identity. Shetland’s “Up Helly Ah” is quite a party, where they all dress up as Vikings and burn a longboat in the harbour! It’s held in January, so you’d need to wrap up warm!