Highland Walk

A walk on the west coast of Scotland, near the tiny village of Achahoish 
had us wading through fens and rivers to emerge into wetlands stretching towards  the sea.

The quality of light up here is amazing, though this is not particularly far north, and made me long to travel further up, beyond Oban, to see the landscapes of Skye and Harris and beyond.
A straight line west across the sea from here in Achahoish would take you under the tip of Greenland all the way to Newfoundland.

What would living here be like, with views to Newfoundland and only seagulls and highland cows for company?

For small people it was an opportunity to bravely dip bare toes in the freezing North Atlantic. (My daughters' tiny and characterful second cousin, with her mother who is lucky enough to have a home in the highlands)

Lochs and castles

Driving west from Edinburgh in the late summer this year we took both the high and the low roads
along the bonnie banks of Loch Lomond ...

where road signs start to appear in Scottish Gaelic

(How much more interesting does Ceann Loch Chille Chiarain sound - hear it pronounced here -  than Campbeltown, once, though no longer, a centre for whisky ... Now Campbeltown Loch is a beautiful place/ But the price of the whisky is grim/ How nice it would be if the whisky was free/ And the loch was filled up to the brim) 

and the cattle are distinctively Highland ...

(I could never get a close-up of these beautiful, shaggy, shy creatures who took off every time I came near. Perhaps if I'd spoken Gaelic to them ...)

Looking onto and over water becomes mesmerising in these parts ...
for young lovers too

the town of Inverary a reflection in the water ...

... its castle, seat of the Campbell clan, now better known for having been the setting for last year's Christmas special of Downton Abbey (in which the Granthams decamped en masse for a spot of hunting to the fictional 'Duneagle Castle' owned by the unfortunately named cousin Shrimpy).

Loch Fyne was a welcome pit-stop for lunch ...

with bucolic views of water and green hillsides

(and this fine vintage Jag in the car park)

But not for long. The road further west was beckoning ...

A mad god's dream

It's the biggest arts festival in the world ... every summer, and particularly in the month of August, Edinburgh hosts the best in theatre, music, dance, books, opera and more.

Negotiating the Fringe alone can induce paralysis with the choices available - the programme is practically the size of a telephone directory - but going on insider tips, critics' choices and word-of-mouth guarantees good theatre experiences. Non-stop, all day, every day for a month if you so choose. 

In just a few days we saw brilliant stuff - plays dark, funny, touching - bowled over by the talent in writing, acting and staging taking place in seemingly every and any available bit of space in the city

(Then there was the five hours it took me to to buy tickets online for the Book Festival, as the website bust at the seams within hours of opening with the sheer volume of people eager to hear their favourite authors speak. Determination paid off, and I hooked us Simon Callow and Alexander McCall Smith amongst others).

The streets are entertainment in their own right, though. Negotiating the length of the Royal Mile, closed to traffic, is like walking through an explosion of creative energy ...

... as actors, artists, singers, magicians, acrobats and every kind of performer you can imagine take to the street, performing in whatever space they can find, to lure passers by to their shows.

Here you can expect the unexpected, and be entertained at every step

We were lucky in early August to hit days of beautiful sunshine, seeing the city (and its inhabitants) in their brightest colours, some getting their kit (but not their kilts) off ...

and away from the festival crowds there was plenty to do and see 

the Governor's House (left) and Scott Memorial (right)

in the city Hugh MacDiarmid called a 'mad god's dream' -  

Looking across Princes Street Gardens (top) and towards the National Monument and Observatory on top of Carlton Hill (bottom)

perched on rocky hills between old and new town, overlooking the sea.

Looking down towards the Firth of Forth (left); relaxing in Princes Street Gardens (right)

Blossoms and lavender outside the National Gallery, and a poster of possibly everyone's favourite Scottish painting, The Reverend Robert Walker skating on Duddingston Loch

Of course the festival was really just a convenient excuse for spending some quality time with top-favourite-Edinburgher, daughter the elder

here at breakfast at the lovely Peter's Yard, Swedish coffee house and bakery

and here visiting her cosy apartment - down a wee alley, directly off the Royal Mile, that is home-sweet-home-away-from-home for my Scottish lass who loves this city, as well she might

On our last evening, at a window table in a favourite Edinburgh restaurant,  we had a clear view to the Castle

which exploded later with fireworks for the end of the Military Tattoo

And so why not end with a spot of sentimental Scottish balladry ...
Fareweel Edinburgh, where happy we hae been, Fareweel Edinburgh, Caledonia's Queen! Auld Reekie, fare-ye-weel, and Reekie New beside,  Ye're like a chieftain grim and gray, wi' a young, bonnie bride 
(Carolina Oliphant, Baroness Nairne)

Girls' weekend in Edinburgh

Two weekends ago in Edinburgh, the city was bright and sunny in late autumn colours. 

In Princes Street gardens, above and below, carpeted with leaves, people were enjoying the sunshine ...

At the Scott memorial, a sea of Remembrance Day crosses and poppies marked the dead, from 1939-1945 in Europe through to Afghanistan and Iraq.

Older Daughter and I entertained ourselves with some girly shopping ... in Anthropologie I tried to persuade her that the fur hat and red glasses were just the thing for winter in Scotland, but she just rolled her eyes at me ...

... and took me instead to see her daily university haunts ...

stately McEwan Hall, where graduations and exams are held 

students' bicycles lined up outside the university library

Teviot Hall, above, and Old College, below, Edinburgh University's original site 


What a grand and lovely place to spend one's university days ...

At night there was some indulgent (what else are mums for?) eating out, in a city where one is spoiled for choice ...

looking in the window of a cosy pub

The High Kirk of St Giles looked full of mystery and drama in this grainy mobile phone snap, above ...

... while The Dome (below) in fashionable George Street, where we popped in for a drink, was looking extravagantly Christmassy already

Besides being chock-full of the friendliest people in the universe, Edinburgh has more restaurants per person than any other city in the UK. At The Outsider, Hotel du Vin, and Maison Bleue, we had some of the best food I've had in ages ...

The Christmas lights, the markets, funfair and ice-skating rink have since opened along Edinburgh's main streets, and I'm longing to go back. Now to plan another weekend ...