We went to Edinburgh Castle on our second full day in Scotland. Our time was somewhat limited as we had tickets to the film festival in the evening, but we managed to pack in a pretty good visit anyway. We saw the Crown Jewels, The Honours of Scotland, and the Stone of Destiny, visited the Regimental Museum of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, and although we couldn't go into St. Margaret's Chapel (it was closed for a baptism), we got a great picture of the outside:

The following day we took a day-long bus tour to Oban on the west coast of Scotland. Heading out, we saw Doune Castle in Sterling, then, just after a coffee stop in Kilmahog, we briefly visited Loch Lubnaig:
There is no way to describe the breathtaking green of the countryside in Scotland. We tried to capture it in pictures as we sped along, but it still doesn't do it justice!
Our halfway-point on the tour was Oban, the seafood capitol of Scotland, where we had the most delicious (and plentiful!) basket of fish and chips at Nories Fish and Chips. We had just enough time to hang out for a while by the water, digest, and snap as many photos as we could of this gorgeous place:
On the return trip we got a glimpse of Kilchurn Castle, then on to Inverary Castle where we had a chance to go in and look around this grand residence of the Duke of Argyle:
Later on we stopped briefly for pictures and a breath of fresh air at Rest and Be Thankful Pass:
Then, on to Loch Lomond and the village Luss:
Last, but not least, was a short stop to take photos of Sterling Castle.
This was, without a doubt, one of the best ways to see (a small sliver of) Scotland!

I had such good intentions to blog every day while on vacation in Scotland. Alas, days choc-full of wonderful sights and delicious food got in the way, and I chose sleep over blogging every night. So, I've decided to sum up the best parts of my trip in pictures over the next few days.

For anyone wondering, I did try haggis (yay!) and scotch (hmm...), and caught myself speaking with a bit of a Scottish burr on a couple of occasions. I heard Amazing Grace played on the bagpipes more often than I can count, and began to suspect that cars in Edinburgh might not in fact be equipped with signal lights. Before I left for home I was jaywalking like a local and learning to manoeuvre around those pesky tourists who inexplicably stop abruptly in the middle of the sidewalk to consult a map (sigh, tourists!).
My trip to Scotland was unforgettable and beautiful beyond any expectations. Here's a wee look at what I saw while I was there:

The rain we had the first two days of our trip made everything foggy and moody. When the sun came out at the end of day two, the intensity of colour everywhere was spectacular. This is why Scotland is so brilliantly green and lush - food for an artist's soul!!

This was our first full day in Edinburgh, and we've settled into a lovely apartment in Leopold Place. If you're in Edinburgh and want to rent a place instead of getting a hotel, here's where we are:

Today we made like zombies (or vampires?) and slept half the day away, trying to make up for the sleep we lost on the very long trip here yesterday. Once we got going though, we made good use of what was left of the day. We walked down Princes Street, saw the Scotland Memorial, had lunch (dinner?) at The Outsider (yum!), then more walking to St. Giles Cathedral and down the Royal Mile.


Since I like to blog about food too, I must include photos of dessert and coffee at Martone's, where we had a yummy cheese plate (if you know me, you know it had to be done!), mochas, and two desserts – one a sundae, and the other a fruit cup. Outstanding!


Off to bed...

One more sleep, and then I'm off to Scotland for a much-needed vacation! Weeeeeee!!

Another character sketch - chalk pencil on brown packing paper.

A sketch of one of my favourite vegetables using chalk pastel and coloured pencil.

Another day, another yummy salad. This one had red, yellow and orange peppers, grape tomatoes, mushrooms, baby spinach, shredded cheddar, turkey, roasted almonds, nuts, seeds, dried cranberries, Caesar yoghurt dressing and cilantro from my garden. Yum!

I've been intending to make an old pair of my favourite jeans into a bag for some time, and I finally got the chance yesterday. I've sewn it with a white lining because of the rather problematic inside stitching behind the beaded areas of the jeans (a criss-crossing of long, exposed stitches). The pocket on the back was a last-minute decision, but I think a good one. It'll be a good place to put my keys, rather than at the very bottom of the bag, which is where they will end up otherwise. I was away from the sewing machine (I borrowed Momsie's) when I decided on the pocket, so it went on with hot glue...don't tell Mom!
You can't say I didn't get all the good out of this pair of jeans - I wore them until they sported holes in unfortunate places, and now hopefully they'll enjoy a long second life as a bag!

This is a drawing in anticipation of my trip to Scotland - Edinburgh Castle and a few symbols that represent the place.
Seven more sleeps!!

An exercise in line and colour using my trusty Faber-Castell artist pen brushes.