Harley and I went to Scotland during the long weekend (May 24-26). I had long wanted to visit this picturesque part of UK but decided to wait for Spring and of course, wait for my poging boyfriend. It's just so much fun travelling with him. Not only that I have someone to talk to during the long hours of commute, but he carries, with no sign of protest whatsoever, all my bags! Oh such strength and gallantry... He gives me all the leisure to strut, guaranteed poised na poised to explore the place we we’ll be visiting, hehehe :p

Scotland is like Manila-Cebu in distance from London. It’s 1 hour by plane, 5 hours by train. Harley and I took a coach tour to the Highlands leaving from Glasgow on Saturday morning. Though the trip was long, it was unexpectedly relaxing. Yeah it did feel cramped sitting for hours in the bus but I didn’t bother me because the sceneries we passed by were breathtaking. Cramped legs and aching neck from craning towards the window the whole time were discomforts that were all worth it. From unspoiled lochs (lakes), rugged mountains, misty marshes and fertile fields, the Highlands were truly magnificent. We were also extremely lucky because the weather was great. The sky was clear enough to give us a view of the tip of Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in UK.

Our last stop for that day was Inverness, which literally means at the mouth of the river (inver) Ness, a river that flows from Loch Ness. You are perhaps familiar with a legend about a monster lurking in the deep waters of a lake? Well, that’s the Loch Ness Monster, aka Nessie (very cute name… :| ). They say it’s deeper than the North Sea. That’s why highlanders seemed convinced that for a lake with much space below it there’s surely a huge creature (or creatures and one of them happened to be Nessie) living in its deep waters. Well I am much more inclined to think that there’s perhaps a mermaid kingdom at the bottom and its mermaid princess is named Ariel and she has a lobster called Sebastian…. (oh, stop it!)

Inverness is the capital of the Highlands. It has an airport, a high street and a mall with famous shops like Debenhams and Primark. It is an ideal place to getaway from the hustle and bustle of city life but you can still get a fix of wireless internet in case you miss “civilization”. Inverness now holds a dear place in my heart. It’s where after all that I got engaged… visit my blog for more details *wink*.

We arrived at Edinburgh on Sunday evening and managed to hang out with Michy in a pub. Then we spent the whole Monday exploring the magical city. Every building it seemed in that city was influenced from this or that architecture (from Greek to Roman, Gothic to Victorian). It’s like the whole city was parang drawing lang - if you get what I mean. It catapulted me to imagine-land. It had an ambience that made me feel nostalgic, as if I could actually feel its rich history. I definitely want to go there again, because only a day there was so bitin…