March 2024: Worm Moon

My first time in the UK (Abby)

No one told me that I would love Scotland so much! Maybe it was the spontaneity of our roadtrip (this was a last minute addition for us), or maybe it was that we lucked out with a week of very little rain in March. Or maybe it was that Scotland is a fairy land full of lochs, pools, and streams and people call it wild swimming when someone jumps in. Or maybe it was that we got to see friends that we've been missing dearly. Or maybe it was all the delicious seafood, or that every household serves toast on a rack at breakfast. Or maybe it was seeing hoards of sheep, living their best lives grazing in the countryside, many chomping away while lazily lying down.

It was probably all of these factors that made me truly love our visit to Scotland in March. After spending our first week in London, where our gracious friends Mike and Camille not only hosted us but led us on some excellent tours all around the city, we headed north to explore Scotland. As Mark drove excellently on the other side of the road, we made our way northwest up the coast.

Each day we hiked a different mountain or valley, seeing more lakes (or lochs) and streams than I ever imagined (and wanting to swim in them all). In Scotland, there are specific categories for mountains based on height. The most famous are the 282 munros that tower the countryside at above 3,000 feet elevation. Using the local app, Walkhighlands, it was easy to find hikes along our route, but much harder to know which one to choose. However, we quickly realized that we couldn't really go wrong. Every hike we went on had views, got us quickly up and away from the highway, and most included sheep or deer for me to gawk at. We'd bring our lunch of sandwiches and apples to the top, capture an image for Mark's new fake instagram account, sandwichesinbeautifulplaces, and feeling satisfied, head back to the car to continue to the next small town.

After meeting locals at a pub in Ullapool, we quickly realized that a) it seems like a lot of Scots love to hike and love to share their recommendations, b) the right to roam in the country means that you can really go anywhere (besides people's front lawns) including pitching a tent and c) everyone uses Walkhighlands! Each Scot we met was nicer than the last - each excited to hear where we had been, shared recommendations for what to do next, and taught us some colloquial phrases.

Our Scottish roadtrip ended in Edinburgh, where our friends Gavin and Kelly came to meet us for a wonderful weekend! Although the weather was rainy at times, we still had such a fun weekend exploring the city - a comedy show, a bike tour, and eating delicious food. But what was most memorable was catching up with friends we have dearly missed. More photos of our adventures can be found here!

On March 25th when the full moon rose, Mark and I had made it to Marseille, France, where we'll be for the next few weeks. To see the full moon off the Mediterranean coast was beautiful. We are halfway through our time abroad, still figuring out our next plans and enjoying the present days.

Highlights from this full moon:

• We traveled from the southern edge of the UK (touched the English Channel in Brighton) all the way to the north of the island in Scotland (dipped our toes in the North Sea in Durness).

• The best thing Mark ate was late-night shawarma on the streets of Edinburgh.

• The best thing Abby ate were the oysters at the Oyster Shed in Isle of Skye and the chicken pot pie at the Lochinver Larder.

• We skinny dipped in a creek fairy pool on the Isle of Skye- it was freezing but exhilarating! Abby wanted to jump in all the lochs we passed but Mark kept her from freezing her tuchas.

• This month, we hiked 40 + miles, and never quite bagged our first munro (only making it halfway up one due to snow/ice)

• Abby read Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, Babel by RF Kuang and Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld.