live. move. be.

I have discovered the most beautiful place on Earth. Argue with me if you want, but I will stubbornly contend that the Isle of Skye is the most spectacular location known to man. I feel like I am at the very edges of the earth, in the secluded little town of Portree. I took a three hour bus journey here from Inverness, past Loch Ness (no monster sightings, I'm afraid) and then through the most gorgeous series of mist shrouded mountains and enormous lochs (the Scottish word for lakes). As we drove higher and higher into the mountains through pouring rain and thick fog, the landscape got progressively more mysterious and breathtakingly beautiful. I had planned to sleep on the bus, but I just couldn't turn my eyes away. When we finally arrived on the island, I was convinced that I had entered a magical fairy land. That may sound silly, but I don't know how else to describe this place. It is an epic, fantastical sort of beauty that looks like something I imagined in Narnia or Middle Earth. Pictures don't begin to capture the lush green of the mountains or the crystal blue of the water. I went with my friend Fiona and two of her brothers for a long drive around the surrounding countryside today and a great hike into the mists of Storr Mountain. I kept gasping every time we would drive around a new bend in the road, and the native Scots in the car were rather amused by how spectacular I found it to be. To them it's sort of an everyday occurance, but I felt as though I was walking through a dreamscape.I turned to Fiona at one point today and said, "I could not have imagined a place this beautiful even in my wildest dreams." We are moving on to another part of Scotland on Monday to prepare for the wedding on Thursday, but I know that I would be perfectly content to just stay here forever by the fireplace, sipping my cup of tea, surrounded by such a heavenly landscape and such wonderfully kind people.