11:11am and we’re driving through some of the most beautiful scenery I’ve witnessed. It’s day two on our Scotland trek and I feel like I’m in a Hogwarts Legacy fantasy flying through all the hills and hamlets. Huge snowcapped mountains will nothing but fields, streams, and sheep in between them. It’s hard to be writing and not just gawk out the window the entire time and I have to thank my boyfriend again for driving me through all of this. 

Yesterday, we took off from Manchester and hit the Sizergh Castle National Trust on our way to Glasgow. A single story dairy farm in the 900s was acquired and built into a castle in the 1200s. It was a really neat walkthrough with beautiful grounds and gardens. Sometimes it’s hard for me to walk through cool places like that because I want to explore every nook and cranny and it felt like only a portion of it is open for the public to walk through. The history and the gardens made it all worth the visit though. 

There was another stop we planned to make but we are going to hit some grand castles along our journey and have a handful of them on our must see list. So as it was our first day and my guy was still adjusting to the roads, we carried on straight to Glasgow from Sizergh. 

Now, Glasgow is a city that I absolutely want to explore to the fullest but we are also ending our trip there and it’s where I start my next house/pet sit so it was really just a one night quick stop. So we started off today and just left the CUTEST little fishing town called Luss Village. Oh em gee, it was nothing but adorably perfect. Small cottages with only a few main roads and sat right on a lake with mountains behind it. I really can’t get over the quaintness of it. 

You can walk through Luss in under 30 minutes so now we’re on the way to something very exciting for me. The Glenfinnan Viaduct bridge. The bridge that the Jacobite steam train, or the “Hogwarts Express”, rolls across in all the Harry Potter movies. It’s cloudy and moody and PERFECT outside so give me a couple hours and I shall report back my feelings on this stop…

Yeah so that was incredible. I was talking about wanting to see a train go across the bridge while we were there and literally manifested it happening. I may have shed some tears just rolling up and seeing it in the car. The bridge is huge and runs through a valley between mountains. We got to walk up on it, under it, and then hike up and look over it. Ugh, I am SO happy! 

I think we’ve picked a good time to be going on this journey because the crowds in these spots haven’t been bad at all and the weather with the fall colors couldn’t be more perfect. I feel so good after that stop. It was definitely a bucket list travel item for me so woohoo! 

We’re headed off to Mallaig which is another town on the water with a bridge for us to cross onto Isle of Skye tomorrow. I’m emotional in the best way. I’m full of gratitude and awe. Stay tuned for more adventures, the universe loves us!