dripping with passion

edinburgh is bewitching, and the minute i said goodbye to beez on the street corner and headed for my hostel in the shadow of the castle on the hill, i was under its spell. i was so excited to see the city that i quickly checked in and changed my clothes and hit the streets. this afternoon and evening in edinburgh was full of impulse turned brilliant decisions. i saw a sign in the hostel for tickets for the open top bus and thought, what the heck, i’ll get a quick overview of the city. i bought one, hopped outside and onto one of these: to see lots of enchanting views under stormy, gloomy skies, like this: and then i quickly chose to meander up streets like this: until i got here: and man oh man, the royal mile was alive. i came to edinburgh right in the thick of the edinburgh international festival, which attracts roughly 1 million visitors every year from around the globe. there are all kinds of theater, art, dance, music and comedy performances going on the entire month of...

i know this post should really be named “tons of pictures of pretty things or me standing in front of pretty things,” but the lyrics from the classic “loch lomond” sound more poetic. sorry, i just couldn’t narrow down the photos any further. deal with it. those scottish highlands – yowza they are pretty. beez and i spent two nights and a day and half walking through the ruddy green and delicious purple. it was unlike any landscape i have seen and i fell in love. it was a grand adventure: complete remoteness, raw organic beauty, overcast skies and heavy packs, wonder and space, a trillion tiny little bugs, and a lovely feast for the eyes at every turn. we got to the trailhead after midnight and hiked under the stars for an hour, which i loved . when we woke up in the morning, it was such a treat to see where we were.     this is where we slept our first night: bob scott’s bothy. bothies are mountain huts built and maintained by a non-profit that wants as many people as po...