Onward. Forward.

"You're strong! You survive! You stay alive, no matter what occurs. I will find you. No matter how long it takes, no matter how far. I will find you."

-Hawkeye. The Last of the Mohicans.

"Save me the night.

Let this dream take me back

and look in your eyes once again. 

Save me the night.

I'll look for that star 

and wish you back in my arms again.

Save me the night.

And dream you're with me as I close my eyes."

-No more tears. Side A feat. Keiko Necesario.

Been in a senti/hugot mode lately, but enough of that. For now.

For now, I look forward. Onward. 

The world's currently a mess, I know, but there will always be some bad no matter how good life may seem. The trick is to look for the things that make you happy, because, yes, even with the bad, there are always always some good too. Maybe even more. And that's something to be grateful for.

As Ted Lasso would say, "Be happy, be a goldfish." 

how do you even say goodbye to a love that never leaves?

"Don't cry because it's over; smile because it happened."

-Dr Seuss

I'll be fine. 

I just need to get through today.

I'll be fine.

But today, I just need to wallow; 

lick my hopefully only small wound a little.

I'll be fine.

If I say it three times, maybe it will come true.

Euro trip - Nov 2019 - Part 6 (Scotland Day 4)

I can't believe this trip is about to celebrate its 2nd anniversary. Talk about slow. 😜 Already, I can feel the memories of this trip slipping through my grasp. So dramatic. But also, true. Because, you know, senior moments. 😂  Anyway, here's the last day in Scotland for that trip.

21 Nov 2019 - Edinburgh

We had a 3PM flight to Stockholm that day, so we figured we had about until noon to explore Edinburgh one last time (for this trip, for sure). 

First on our list was to finally get some traditional Scottish breakfast, at the Edinburgh Larder.

Tummies satisfied and extremely full, we walked on the Royal Mile all the way to the Holyrood Palace since we hadn't seen this part of the Royal Mile yet.

We also went inside Saint Giles' Cathedral as we headed back up on the Royal Mile.

On our way to the next stop, snapped a quick photo of this street... can't remember what street this is now.

And then to the statue of Greyfriars Bobby - the most loyal dog that ever existed. 😄 Man, sometimes, I wonder how we ever got so lucky to have them. We definitely don't deserve them sometimes, I feel like.

As any Potterhead would know, JK Rowling wrote most of the Harry Potter books in Edinburgh and it is said that she got a lot of her character names from the names on tombstones, of all places. So naturally, we just had to check out Greyfriars Kirkyard and scour the graveyard for familiar names - the most sought after being Tom Riddle, of course. 😂

In that same kirkyard, you will find to this day a part of the old Flodden Wall, built in the 16th century to protect the city from an English invasion that never came. Still makes for a great photo though.

And that was all the time we had before we had to hustle back to our AirBnB, pickup our bags, and head to the airport (on a black taxi - my first time ever in one).

Later that night, we arrived in Stockholm, reunited with Meann. And thus, our trio was complete -- to start the Amazing Race-ish part of the trip.

The post for the remainder of the trip will be one big photo dump. I'm too lazy now to do a day by day anymore. Even this post feels forced, to be honest. 😂

This time,

there will be no tears

and there'll be no broken heart pieces to pick up.

This time,

there are no delusions of a happy-ever-after.

And this time may be the last

and this goodbye, forever. 

 “You deserve someone who makes you feel like you’ve been struck by f***ing lightning. Don’t you dare settle for fine.”

-Roy Kent (in Ted Lasso)

Euro trip - Nov 2019 - Part 5 (Scotland Day 3)

20 Nov 2019 - West Highlands, Lochs, and Castles

The tour started later than the previous one the day before -- a whole 15 minutes later! 😂  This tour though is supposed to be shorter than the previous day's with more time at each stop. So... yey!!!

There weren't a lot of places open for breakfast at 7 in the morning, so our choices were limited. We decided on a Costa Coffee by the Waverley train station to have our coffees and sandwiches and some pastries, on our way to the Rabbie's tour place. 

Much like the day before, after checking in, we were assigned our mini-bus and driver/tour guide. Another round of introductions -- a Filipino couple was actually in our same bus! -- and we were on our way (again).

Our first stop is at a lookout to view the iconic and historic Scotland's Forth Bridges -- three bridges spanning three centuries: the Forth Bridge, opened in 1890 and a UNESCO World Heritage site (voted Scotland's greatest man-made wonder in 2016); the Forth Road Bridge, opened in 1964; and the Queensferry Crossing, completed in 2017. (Not a great photo below - it was hard to get all 3 in a shot. That's my excuse. 😜) 

2nd Stop: The Kelpies. As we approached the site, our tour guide/driver told us a story/myth of how kelpies (shape-shifting water spirits) would charm children as these majestic white horses and then trap them and pull them into the water/river. Scary story. I couldn't believe how huge they (the sculptures, not the spirits) are in person.

Next stop: Doune Castle... or Castle Leoch in the Outlander world.😊 Originally built in the thirteenth century, this castle has actually "starred" in a few shows/movies -- aside from Outlander, it was used as a set for Winterfell in the Game of Thrones series, in the movie Outlaw King, and in the comedy film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The audio guide even has some spots narrated by Outlander's Jamie Fraser 😉.

Next is a quick bathroom/coffee stop at Loch Lubnaig -- the same stop on the previous tour. This time, it was on a gloomy and foggy morning so the Loch actually looked a bit different than the previous day's visit.

Next up is a quick photo stop by the side of the road to view Kilchurn Castle and Loch Awe from a distance. A bit disappointing, not because of the castle or the loch, but because we only got to view them from afar. I wish we could have gotten closer. 😞

Then a longer stop for lunch and some look-around at the charming town of Inveraray on the western shore of Loch Fyne. We had lunch at The George Hotel -- Michelle and I decided to be anti-social and had a table to ourselves 😁 ... there's only so much time we can stand being around people we don't really know 😂 and lunch time (or any meal, for that matter) was sacred. LOL!

After lunch, we walked around the town a bit and took some photos.

As we drove away from the town, we had a pretty view of the Inveraray Castle - it was either closed that day or it wasn't really part of our itinerary.

Next stop... the Rest and be Thankful Viewpoint. According to our guide, it is named as such because the climb out of the glen was so long and steep, it was customary for travelers to rest at the top and be thankful to have reached the highest point. Beautiful view from up there. (Harry seems to be enjoying the view as well)

Our last stop of the tour was the quaint wee village of Luss, on the west bank of Loch Lomond. Loch Lomond, by the way, is the largest lake in Great Britain by surface area. Our guide/driver played us a nice song "The Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond" as we were approaching our stop. 

I really liked this village; maybe someday hopefully 🤞, I will get a chance to stay a while and visit the place properly.

Then back to Edinburgh. We had dinner at Makars Gourmet Mash Bar... great food, yum!

Scottish eggs

sticky toffee pudding

We were going to do the Ghost walking tour later that night, but we had a little time before then so we decided to do some walking on the Royal Mile before the tour started.

Edinburgh Castle

I was a tad worried about the tour -- me having a wild imagination and all -- but it wasn't too bad... I just remembered to always stay in the middle of the group in case some incorporeal being decided to make itself known to anybody lagging behind. 😨😱  And by choice, I didn't take any photos during the tour. 😁 I had no desire to inadvertently capture anything I didn't want to see. Thankfully, no nightmares later either.

All in all, a great and productive day. 

 “Never underestimate the big importance of small things.”

“You don’t have to understand life. You just have to live it.”

Matt Haig, The Midnight Library 

Euro trip - Nov 2019 - Part 4 (Scotland Day 2)

 19 Nov 2019 - Loch Ness, Glencoe & the Highlands tour

This tour started at 8 AM and lasted for a grand total of... 12 hours!! Lots of driving and lots of ground to cover... with sadly only so much day time to see the places we're going to see.

We started early from the condo and walked to the Rabbie's tour place. We got there with enough time to get a breakfast of sandwich and coffee... not too Scottish, I'm afraid.

We were then assigned to our tour bus - a little bus with about 16 passengers, I think. Introductions all around and then we were on our way.

There were a few places that we passed along the way (that were unfortunately not part of the tour.. nor was there enough time to stop for them) that our guide/driver pointed out to us with some tidbit of info about each one. A couple of these places were included in the tour we are taking the day after fortunately.

The Kelpies

Stirling Castle

Doune Castle

Our first official stop was Loch Lubnaig, as we were welcomed to the Scottish Highlands. It is part of the Loch Lomond & the Trossachs National Park. There was an interesting fact about this park relating to the US national parks that our guide mentioned but alas this is one of those things that my brain has now filed under "senior moments".

After a brief lesson on Scots Gaelic - Bens are mountains, Glens are valleys, Lochs are lakes and sea inlets - we arrive in beautiful Glen Coe. Very famous - featured in movies and shows like Harry Potter, Skyfall, Outlander, etc. - with an infamous history - Massacre of Glencoe.

In the same area, we made a quick stop at Loch Achtriochtan -- the name very good for expectorating if spoken in a perfect Scottish accent. 😅

Then for a wee bit longer stop at Glencoe Visitor Centre where I met two cuties whom I adopted and brought home with me, and sometimes (a lot of times) now accompany me when travelling. Meet Harry and Heilan Coo. (If you haven't figured it out [well, duh... just kidding 😝], the names are a play on what they are -- two gorgeous hairy highland cows.) 😊 

Heilan (left) and Harry (right) with a wee birdie photombomber

And then on to the farthest point in our tour - Fort Augustus where we could see the also famous Loch Ness. We originally thought we'd be able to take the cruise on the loch, but we only had an hour and we were hungry. The stomach was the lord and ruler supreme of the whole body that time (or most times, to be honest) so we decided to sit down for lunch at Bothy Restaurant and Bar. We shared a steak and a fish between the two of us and our tummies were happy, even if our hearts were a little broken (just a tiny bit) over missing the cruise.

Armed with our cameras and with a determination that only comes with a full stomach 😂, we went searching for Nessie. Regrettably though, not a tail or spike (or whatever else Nessie is supposed to have) in sight so we settled on taking photos of the good ole loch... with a little help from our two new wee friends.

On our way back to Edinburgh, we saw a field full of Harry's and Heilan's brothers and sisters so we stopped by to say hello.

We also made a quick stop at Commando Memorial. It was starting to get dark and it was very windy.

At this point, we were really losing daylight but our tour guide was able to squeeze in one more stop for one more loch - Loch Laggan Dam. 

We made one last stop at a small village for a potty break that turned out to be ice cream/coffee/tea/hot cocoa break as well. And then our tour guide/driver told us a couple of horror stories the rest of the way... I think mostly to try to keep himself awake. 😁

Finally, arrived back in Edinburgh safe and sound. Michelle and I stopped by this Christmas Market/Fair on the Princes Street Gardens to look around and watch all these crazy people on these crazy rides on a crazy cold night 😂.

After looking for places for dinner, we ended up at a place quite close to our condo - Whiski Rooms. I had the Steak and Ale Mushroom pie. It was good. I think the place offers whisky tasting but we were pretty knackered at this point, we just wanted a quick dinner before crashing into bed.

I would usually DIY tours, but in this case, the places we covered were not easily accessible by public transport and neither of us were brave enough to drive on the left side (aka wrong side) of the road; so all in all, I would say this was money well spent. But I also think, this tour would be way better in the summer... more daytime is definitely better for this.