You know how some people are just several kinds of wonderful? Zoe’s one of them. She’s also just a big a fan of lists as I am and she made this one which just makes me want to squeeze her tight.
bodywithoutorgans:
I was just looking through photographs from my February trip to Scotland to visit my best friend Laala and as I clicked through them I realized how happy everything made me. So this is a positive post to remember things I love, inspired by my trip.
Laala’s father offered to treat us to one meal on his expense to celebrate her birthday and my flying across the continent to visit. This is only the appetizers! It was at a random hole-in-the-wall Thai place when we were starving after walking all day in Edinburgh and when anything would have tasted good. This was better than good though- it was insanely delicious and amazing. From tempura to spring rolls to curry to mango sorbet for dessert, even the dipping sauces were so amazing I wanted to fill travel-size cosmetics containers with them. I won’t tell you how big a bill we wracked up though ;)
Obviously this trip would have been nothing (and actually, would not have even happened, since she was what I was looking forward most to seeing in Scotland) without Laala. Laala is an incredible person, who not only showed me an amazing time once again, but has been there for me even before we met. Basically the world would be proportionally better to the number of Laalas that are in it, but I guess we have to settle with one. Good thing she’s my friend :)
I share this photo even though I look (and was) dead tired in it because we were on our way to Edinburgh for the weekend. It was my first full day in Scotland, a brand-new country, and I was about to experience a city I had never visited before. So basically I was jet-lagged and running on adrenaline- which is pretty much what traveling is all about for me. Plus this was a happier memory for me than the bus rides because the train doesn’t make me motion sick.
(Yes, they’re boots, so this is the best picture I have of them. I don’t usually photography my feet). I’m by no means a fashion guru, and I have no idea if these are trendy or ridiculous but I wore them every day of that trip and I love the guts out of them. They are comfortable, stylish (I think), waterproof and make every outfit look instantly better, which is important when you live in a country where there is snow on the ground 6 months of the year. Sadly they currently need to be resoled, probably as a result of me wearing them for three months straight.
I visited my first castle two years ago on my trip to see Laala in London, but while in Scotland I made it to my 2nd, 3rd, and 4th castle, including the one located walking distance from where she lives! Walking distance to a castle; I’m still in shock. Anyway it was beautiful and awesome, as they all were, and we got in for free by wearing these gowns which makes for a lot of colourful photographs as well. The castle, like the whole town, is right by the ocean so it was incredibly windy. Notice I’m also wearing my Scottish scarf, I went for an untraditional tartan picked purely because I like purple.
In my case it’s not actually a fisheye lens since they cost about a thousand dollars, but a $40 fisheye lens attachment I bought on Ebay which was wonderful enough to arrive the day before I left. Although it does have its place in the photography arsenal, I was really glad to have it along with me on the trip and we both had a lot of fun playing with it.
I am kinda in denial of the fact that I moving to a place where you won’t be able to see the ocean anymore… It is beautiful.
Because letters both go in and come out of them.
Also pretty self-explanatory I think. Her town has an insane number of secondhand book stores/ charity shops filled with books, and I came home with my suitcase significantly heavier with the amount I picked up. Even just being surrounded by books, borrowing them from libraries or friends, makes me happy. However there is nothing quite like book shopping with a fellow bookworm; placing books into each other’s hands and saying that you don’t know how that person existed without this book in their life, but they must must remedy the situation.
I challenge you to name one thing greater than this cow. Except puppies. Puppies always win. Anyway, I am a huge animal lover and, as Laala will attest to, getting to pet a Highlander Cow (which I sent everyone I know postcards of) was likely the highlight of my trip. He was very slobbery.
I live in a pretty flat place so mountains in general awe me, but the Highlands of Northern Scotland (of which I only saw a glimpse) are so incredibly beautiful I think it would take anyone’s breath away. Also this is one of my favourite pictures from the trip so I just wanted to share.
