A week of fabulous spring weather in Scotland.
We’ve just completed a week-long exploration of Scotland, just as the flowers were blooming, the landscape was beginning to green, and the young lambs pranced in the pastures. Wow! Ever since my 2011 visit to Scotland I have wanted to return. On this visit, with my wife and two dear friends, we packed a lot into one week. I’ll touch here on the highlights and share a gallery with highly selective subset of photos snapped that week.
Four short hikes.
We’re in the midst of a two-week driving tour of Scotland, about which I’ll post later. Meanwhile, a quick report about our hikes this weekend – my 31st consecutive weekend hike – in and around the small town of Ballater in the center of Cairngorm National Park. In addition to the natural beauty of the pastoral landscape surrounding this village on the shores of the River Dee, Ballater is known for the nearby Balmoral Castle (“the Highland home of the Royal Family”), built by Queen Victoria and a favorite retreat for Queen Elizabeth II. This area offers many interesting walks, from 4km to 70km. Given our schedule, I ended up doing four short walks, outlined after the photo.
David Kotz 