[I’ve been home on the couch all week after coming down with a bad head and chest cold and I’ve not had enough strength to do much but catch up on a bunch of my TV shows that I’ve been behind on. But as I didn’t have a post for today ready, I decided to take a look back through our trip photos to Scotland a few weeks ago.  As I was going through the photos I was instantly taken back to our trip in November and the wonderful feeling I got in Scotland.  So today, before I take a break from blogging next week for the holidays, I thought I’d offer you my ode to the wonderful and lovely country that is Scotland.

Now to be honest, I loved Ireland and I was a little unsure of how we’d feel about Scotland after that, would it be just the same? Would it be just as green?  The truth is, Scotland is a country all its own, with a beauty entirely unique.

We spent time in Edinburgh and driving through the countryside up to St. Andrews and I was completely blown away by how hard I fell for Scotland.  It’s a country that seems to stem from a storybook, with stone buildings that look straight out of Harry Potter, ancient ruins that seem to transcend time, a golden hue of light that falls over the land that seems other-wordly and a personality from its people that won us over with each person we met.

There were moments in Scotland that I just sat and watched the world float by me, imagining myself wandering the little but gorgeous streets of St. Andrews or living in the countryside as the golden light fell upon the fields of all different colors.  I wandered Edinburgh imagining us living in a little Scottish apartment in one the hundreds of stone buildings that line the streets and took in one of the most beautiful sunsets I’ve ever seen in St. Andrews as the sun fell over the horizon.

Oh Scotland, you are a gem of a country and with each turn, I found myself loving it more and more.  Not even the bone chilling cold could sway me from your beauty and your charms, and I found myself falling more and more in love with you each day that I explored the golden countryside and the seemingly fantasy-world-inspired cities that are at your core.

And so in my ode to Scotland, I can’t wait to get into the details of where we went and what we did after the holidays, but for now, you’ll have to do with some of the incredible sights that I managed to snap while there.  And while the beauty of Scotland can’t really be captured in a moment in a photograph, I felt a deep pull to the country on a very elementary level, a pull that I’m sure will have me going back again to take in more of this gorgeous and lovely country.