My Heart’s in the Highlands

My heart’s in the Highlands, my heart is not here;
My heart’s in the Highlands a-chasing the deer;
A-chasing the wild-deer, and following the roe,
My heart’s in the Highlands wherever I go.

Robert Burns

I finally found the time to process some of the photos from my recent trip to Scotland and wanted to share with you some of the highlights from the last day, when me and two friends headed north towards the Highlands.

By the way, I am going back to Scotland in May 2020. Would you like to come with me?

Our first stop was just outside Glasgow, at Finnich Glen. I wrote about the glen a few days ago, but here’s another view of that incredible location.

The day started out as sunny and rather warm, but the further north we traveled, the cloudier it progressively became. Here and there, a single cumulus would be torn by a mountain and release a brief shower. When that happened opposite the sun, a rainbow appeared and we counted no less than four distinct ones during the day. This one was the most vivid.

Moving even further north towards Glen Coe, the landscape became more rugged, bogs and fields of heather took the place of lawns and pine forests. At one point, the trees disappeared completely. Finally, this was the Scotland I had come to see!

As the clouds were getting thicker and the wind was picking up strength, we despaired of seeing the sun again. As I was taking the image below, the rain finally caught up with us and we had to run to our cars. We didn’t have many hopes of ending the day with a spectacular sunset.

We reached Onich, on the shores of Loch Linnhe and stopped for tea and scones. Just as we were preparing to pack everything, the sun peeked out from under the clouds. As is so typical, Scotland was putting her capricious character on display.

Sadly, I had to return to Glasgow for the night, while my friends stayed up there. On the way back, I was able to capture the last moments of sunset. It wasn’t the show of colors I had hoped for, but it wasn’t completely disappointing either.

Descending from Glen Coe, I stopped the car one more time by the side of the road, near a wet area, to capture the last light of the day reflecting in a still pool. A minute later, it started raining again and this was my last image.

One day was barely enough to give me a glimpse of the beauty of the Highlands. As Robert Burns says, my heart is up there and I will be back to collect it, one day.

Here are Stephan, Iris (who sadly could not come to the Highlands with us) and Thomas, the previous day at Turnberry.