Slowing down in Scotland
One of the reasons I’ve grown to appreciate this blog is that it forces me to reflect. We're moving quickly from one wild experience to the next, and often, there isn’t much time to let it all sink in. I know I’ll have time to process everything later, but I like how the blog pushes me to do some of that work along the way.
Thanks to that forced reflection, I’ve been thinking a lot about Scotland since we left at the beginning of June. Both because it was amazing and also because I knew I had to write this blog post. Honestly, I've been dragging my feet because I wasn’t sure where to start, what to focus on, or what the theme should be. Our time in Scotland wasn’t as flashy, for lack of a better word, as some of our other stops. We weren’t in a big, dramatic city like Berlin or meeting long-lost relatives in France. Nor were we joining in local trad jam sessions like in Ireland or tobogganing down a mountain like in Austria. That’s not to say we didn’t love our time there, we absolutely did, but when I sat down to write this post, I kept getting hung up on what would be interesting for y’all to hear about, what the big idea is. But the good news is, I think I’ve figured it out! Slowing down. Riveting, right? Maybe not, but it’s the truth. And a necessary one at that! April in Ireland was certainly a change of pace, but I wouldn’t characterize it as slowing down.
So, after a few days in Glasgow catching up with friends who coincidentally were in town at the same time, we arrived at our new home in a quaint town called Blairmore, about 1.5 hours outside Glasgow on Loch Long. Blairmore, much like Allihies, was another completely random, Airbnb-fueled find– and another win! Something about it reminded me of home– my North Shore of Massachusetts home. And it wasn’t only the highly unpredictable spring weather. There was something about this small, sleepy, loch-side town that reminded me of where I grew up. The rocky coves, the pretty sailboats dotting every distant view, the nearby, also quaint, loch-side towns within a ~20-minute drive, and the gardens bursting with lush rhododendrons– it was sweet and made me smile.
And what did we do with our time in Blairmore? We slowed down. We slept long and deeply with the windows always open, we worked, we cooked almost all our meals, enjoying picnics on various beaches. We went for walks and runs in the magical forests surrounding our home, we played lots of music, we journaled and we read. We spent a lot of time staring at the gorgeous loch right outside our big living room window, commenting on the varying patterns in the water and searching for porpoises. We gawked at the incredible gardens of our neighbors. And we went to the cafe! The one business in town. A cute little shop run by a mother-daughter duo, offering yummy local goods and flat whites that were different every time but always included espresso and delightful conversation, so we never complained.
But of course, we couldn’t resist one weekend adventure. Embracing our slower pace and in search of something off the beaten path, we chose the Isle of Lismore, a teeny island with not much going on other than jaw-dropping beauty, just about two hours away– and it was perfect. We stayed in a family farmhouse converted into a BnB, where the couple who built and run it prepared big, family-style dinners from their garden for us and the other guests each night. While sitting around the dinner table or relaxing in their hand-built, wood-fired hot tub, we heard stories from a French couple about being a castle manager and a tractor engineer, a British couple about living in a 6-foot wide boat on the canals of London, and a Scottish couple about real-life treasure hunts. We played music with our hosts by night and explored the island by day, trekking through farmland and ancient castle ruins to discover hidden bothies and beaches. It was breathtaking.
Then we had a visitor! Mama Ama Browne came to spend a couple of days with us towards the end of our stay, and we made sure to show her all our favorite strolls, the best angles for viewing the loch through the window, our beloved bushes, and our favorite (only) cafe. Safe to say, she loved it. Afterwards, my mom and I headed to Edinburgh for a special birthday weekend, complete with a Kelsey surprise, while Leo flew off to Albania to meet some friends for a backpacking adventure. More on that later…
So there ya have it. A delightfully restorative stay in Scotland, mentally and physically preparing for the busy next month and a half where we went from London to Belgrade to Montenegro to Boston to Long Island. Up next, we head back across the ocean to Portugal! Cheers ♥️
Various scenes from Lismore…
Still under the spell of Scotland and the most wonderful birthday EVER. Beautiful remembrance of your month there. These pictures!!!!!!🙏🏻
Yay!!