3/13 – Our travel day to Scotland started off a bit hectic. Though normally a quiet, Keflavik airport was teeming with people because Icelandair was having major technical difficulties with its ticketing service. Thankfully, though, they delayed the flights due to the issue and we were able to get on our flight in time! 🙂 When we arrived to Glagow it was around 4:30pm and we were ready to get settled in our Airbnb and find dinner. We went to a sushi restaurant called Hanami and enjoyed a whole bottle of ume (plum) wine! We explored Kelvingrove park at night and then headed back to our stay.

3/14 – In the morning, we headed to Singl-end Garnethill for a delicious breakfast. Afterwards, we visited the Tenement House Museum (a historic apartment that was a step back in time to middle class life in early 20th century Glasgow) and Kelvingrove Art Museum (a beautiful Victorian art museum in the heart of Kelvingrove Park). Later, we had afternoon tea at Mackintosh at the Willow (a tea house designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, one of the famous “Glagow Boys” known for his contribution to the “Glasgow Style”).

3/15 – The next day we packed up, sad to leave our beautiful Airbnb, and visited the Moroccan Coffeehouse. We only got a quick bite and drink here as they don’t serve food till 11am but it was still worth visiting. We also got sandwiches at Piece. Then, we picked up the car and drove to the University of Glasgow, explored the campus and nearby bookshops. Our drive up north took around two hours or so and we were greeted very kindly with tea, oat biscuits and cheese from our sweet host, Graham, at the Dalmally railway station. We felt revitalized from the snack so we walked to the Duncan Ben monument (around 1.5 miles) near our stay. A beautiful site at the end of the walk, totally worth it! 🙂 Later, we had a fabulous dinner at the Ben Cruachan Inn, just a little further north up the road.

3/16 – Today was our only full day in the western highlands of Scotland and we managed to pack a lot in! I did a little sketching in the morning as the birds were singing – it was magical. We drove to Oban for a full breakfast at Roxy’s cafe. I bought some Harris Tweed scraps and postcards at the fabric and wool centre while there. We drove up to the lookout at McCaig’s Tower (from which the first two photos were taken). Oban itself is a very cute town and I’m happy we passed through. We then headed north to make our way towards Fort William, stopping at a small shore to stretch our legs along the way. When we made it to Fort William we walked around a bit and went in to the West Highlands Museum. From there, we drove to the Glenfinnan Viaduct, famously known for its role in the Harry Potter series as the picturesque backdrop for the journey to Hogwarts. There is a lot more to explore there than I realized with numerous little trails and areas to explore – it was well worth the 2 hour car ride 🙂 When we got back I was able to visit with Liz and explore her textile studio and shop. We had a lovely chat about wool, natural dyes and all the projects she had done, including making a storytelling yurt back in the ‘90s! She also had several natural dye and felt books I’d never seen before. More on this later 🙂

3/17 – This was our travel to Edinburgh day so we headed out nice and early. Our sweet host, Graham, kindly prepared for us some tea, porridge, cheese, and oat biscuits before we left. We will definitely miss this place and wish we could have stayed longer, hopefully we can come back again in the future! The drive from Dalmally to Edinburgh is just stunnin’ and parts of it reminded us of the barren terrain of Iceland. Once we got to Edinburgh, we dropped off the car and had an early lunch at Cafe Maradona. Then, visited McNaughton’s bookshop and Typewronger books before heading to the National Portrait Gallery of Scotland to kill some time till check-in. After we checked in to our Airbnb, we got an early pizza dinner nearby then headed to the movie theater to watch the new Jujutsu Kaisen Movie: 0 – it was so good!!

3/18 – Had breakfast sandwiches at Pepper’s. Walked through Prince St. Gardens and saw Ross Fountain on our way to Edinburgh Castle. While there, we timed it right to see the 1 O’clock gun shoot off, something that happens daily and was kind of neat! Had lunch at the Baked Potato shop and then visited the Bakehouse Close where they filmed some scenes from Outlander. Then we climbed Arthur’s Seat to see an amazing view of the city! We rewarded ourselves with some sweet treats from Smoov and then had a nice sushi dinner at Kanpai – delicious 🙂

3/19 – Had a quiet morning writing postcards and sketching. For breakfast, we went to Hula Juice Bar & Cafe. Afterwards, we wandered into a vintage shop (W. Armstrong & Sons) and the nearby Greyfriars Kirkyard where JK Rowling inspirations for character names from the graves (such as Thomas Riddell, William McGonnagal and Elizabeth Moodie). Also, visited the statue of “Bobby” – a loyal dog who stayed by his owners grave up until his death ❤ Went to Dovecot studios & museum (they have exhibitions on textiles & craft as well as a full tapestry studio) and strolled through the University of Edinburgh campus. Had lunch at Clarinda’s tearoom and then visited the Palace of the Holyroodhouse.

3/20 – Travel day to Belfast & our 1-year anniversary – more details to come!

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed 🙂 Sending our love, Lisa & Kaelan