Hills and sheep and waterfalls, oh my!

I tried haggis.

And it was delicious. I also tried pickled herring. Not so delicious. I love trying traditional food, but its really hit or miss. Pickled herring being a FAR miss. But in my time in Scotland, I've also eaten mussels in white wine and cream sauce, venison in cranberry sauce, three cheese pasta, traditional Highland cream over raspberries. Wait, I thought I was suppose to lose weight!

Food aside, it's been an incredible last two days. Driving is still a...treat. We almost made road kill of a chicken. I screamed, the chicken clucked, Pami swerved, and all parties survived (save for my nerves, which were an innocent bystander in the whole ordeal). Then, while on the winding, twisting, beautiful one lane road of the highlands, I managed to tear my eyes away from the deep green hills just in time to scream, "Goat!" It wasn't IN the road, but certainly close enough. Two sheep later, we finally see the triangle warning sign.

I'm sure the Highlands of Scotland must be one of the most beautiful places on Earth. The hills are vibrant green, with grey stones jutting up here and there. At times it looks like a knife has sliced through the earth, splitting open the dirt in precise and clean cuts. Stone walls of the same color divide the grass, and yet they were so covered in time and moss that they look as natural as the cliffs and mist. Mountain tops are either covered in scraps of snow or shrouded in clouds. It's like a dream, so breathtaking that pictures are a poor, horrific, and pathetic imitation. Its both a photographers heaven and hell--so many sights to capture, and each absolutely impossible to obtain. In person, though, its simply overwhelming. When we stopped at the top of the first valley and I got my very first sight of what it means to be in the highlands, I wept. Literally.

It wouldn't be the last time I would cry that day. We traveled to Eilean Donan castle--an old but renovated castle so that it is still currently the home of the Macrae family. You've seen this castle before. Its the same castle used in Highlander, Highlander: End Game, Made of Honor, and a few other movies. Its majestic, but more importantly, its thick and bursting with history. As Pami and I traversed the halls and rooms, we came upon a paper telling about a particular battle. It was so real, down to the details of the mourning wives. That's the thing about historians--its like we have a direct link to the past, an instant upload, if you will. While some may see just old stuff and words, I know that those were once real people, with real tears and screams and thirsts for survival. These are not just old buildings to me. They are as living, breathing, and vivid as anything right here and now.

We traveled over the Skye Bridge onto the Isle of Skye--a rugged and wild cut of land. The hills are higher, the mountains more jagged, the sheep more daring and the cows more hairy. Not only is the Isle of Skye filled with the most awe-inspiring sights, (be it waterfalls into the sea, peaks shaped like grasping fingers, and hills decorated with sheep and creeks), but also ripe with history--from pirates, to revolts, royalty, and legends of Fairy and Phantom folk. Every time you think you've seen it all, that there can be nothing better, nothing more, the next sight rounds the corner and you're left babbling and in tears all over again.

If I died, this would be my heaven.

There is so much to say that a simple blog or scraps of photos could never cover it--never really let you know what its like. I can only imagine its akin to an astronaut trying to explain what its like to walk on the moon. I can only say that this is a place best left to your own eyes.

PHOTOS: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=436632&id=794430163&l=12d48c3f83