31 July 2012

oh, scotland

edinburgh

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edinburgh

charlotte

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sheepdog trials

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after our time in stockholm, we hopped a plane to edinburgh, scotland. we had been to edinburgh once before (six years ago, on our last trip to europe) and we were both excited to return to a delicious vegetarian restaurant that we had discovered last time, henderson's. i'm not ashamed to say that we ate their twice in two days, and stocked up on goodies from their little shop. if you're ever in edinburgh, i highly recommend it. and if you don't have time to eat a whole meal there, you at least must get a package of their shortbread. the best i've ever had.

anyways, i digress. we spent one low key evening in edinburgh and hopped a train the next day to glasgow to meet some friends of friends at the airport for the drive to crear, where we would spend the weekend attending the wedding of one of my very oldest and dearest friends. there is so much to say about this wedding. it was beautiful. it was fun. i met some wonderful people. saw a lot of kilts and danced my butt off. i was so incredibly happy to be there for my friend, despite my nervousness about being asked last minute (well, last minute to me- apparently i don't remember being asked months ago) to give a speech along with the father of the bride and brother of the groom. while i was a bit nervous, i was also so grateful for the opportunity to reflect on the past 18 years of my friendship with charlotte and put some of my favorite memories along with some of the things i love the most about her and my wishes for her future with her husband into words and share that with her and all the wonderful people there.

the location of the wedding was absolutely incredible. not really convenient for anyone, but i absolutely understand why they chose it. it was beautiful. the view from the farmhouse, on a clear day, revealed some of the islands off the west coast of scotland. as the fog rolled in, the water and the sky were the same color, making the mountainous islands appear to float. as it became more and more cloudy, it was as though there were not islands at all.

the day after the wedding, there happened to be sheep dog trials taking place in a field next to the farmhouse. i was intrigued, of course. we wandered over to watch this spectacle of (mostly) old men sheepherders whistling and shouting at their sheepdogs who were herding sets of four sheep through a course of gates. just as gabriella said "i fail to see the drama in this activity" i was on the edge of my seat wondering if the sheep would go in the pen as the old man in tweed was directing them to. it was around that time that we befriended an older gentleman who explained all the rules and offered us some whisky out of the back of his car.

as it began, our trip to scotland ended with some travel hiccups. a flat tire (or tyre) about 30 minutes from glasgow delayed our train ride to london by a day. luckily we broke down in quite a nice spot, just next to loch lomond.

our second time in scotland (the first also involved visiting charlotte) was as lovely as i could have imagined. the wedding, our new friends, spending that lovely time with old friends who are practically family, and the absolutely beautiful setting.

love. love. love.

more photos here

2 comments:

  1. this all seems pretty magical-even the flat ti(y)re. i can hear how much you love her and i'm glad that you could be there. gorgeous, all of it! and, hi. xo.

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  2. "Where me and my true love were ever wont to be on the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond."
    Our plan is to travel to Scotland for our 20th anniversary (2014). I haven't been since I lived there 36 years ago. ::sigh::

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