Some things in life are indescribable- true love, reuniting with a long-lost friend, seeing your family for the first time in ages at Christmas time, unstoppable laughter, discovering yourself, getting lost in a landscape unlike any you’ve ever seen- to name a few. I want to write about the last one.
I took a trip to Edinburgh, Scotland this past weekend. As the capital, it is probably the most popular city in Scotland for tourists. In fact, the number of visitors coming to this wonderful city has gone up around 18 percent over the last five years- to 3.85 million (Dickinson). What lies about two hours north of Edinburgh, though, is a wilderness so breathtaking you’d have to see it to believe it exists.
The culture completely transforms as the lowlands of Scotland turn into the Highlands.The terrain romanticizes, with snow-peaked mountains and powerful hills placed on either side of the narrow road. Still, clear lochs appear sporadically amongst the Highlands wilderness, making the scene evermore categorized with beauty.
You might be wondering why I want to share these memories, why I feel the need to attempt to describe what I witnessed during this trip. Part of me just wants to relive what I experienced and try to share that wonder in any way I can. However, I also want to talk about culture and how this trip expanded my worldview in a way I wasn’t expecting.
The culture of London is bustling, busy, enriched with history. The culture of Edinburgh is relaxed, spread out, also enriched with history.The culture of the highlands is vast, quiet, equally enriched with history.
I think oftentimes we forget to appreciate not only the incredible differences of each culture, but also the way they similarly put forth the effort to make our world what it is today.
With Gaelic origins, the Highlands were first inhabited by clans. These clans ultimately wound up in battle, fighting against one another. After these battles were over, many people migrated to other parts of the world- severely emptying out the Highlands and leaving it to savor in its stillness (Islay).
In some way or another, each culture plays a part in creating the history of the world. I have found a new appreciation for a culture’s uniqueness, for its role in the timeline of humanity, for the ways it contributes beauty to our Earth.
There are no words in the human language that could possibly describe how rejuvenating I felt as I took in the picturesque murals painted by nature in this wondrous place. Seeing the Highlands, roaming the countryside, running into the hills, and chasing the mountain peaks was an adventure I will never forget.
*all photos taken by me in Edinburgh/The Highlands*
Dickinson, Greg. “Are Tourists Ruining Edinburgh? Residents Fear Scottish Capital Is Turning into a Theme Park.” Telegraph.co.uk, The Telegraph, 25 Jan. 2018, https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/news/has-edinburgh-reached-tourist-capacity/amp/.
Islay. “The Scottish Highlands.” Scotland Info Guide, Scotland Info, 29 Sept. 2019, https://www.scotlandin fo.eu/scottish-highlands/.