Photo Diary: Scottish Highlands in 35mm Film

After a month at home in Australia, I figure now is the time to start posting the latest rolls of film I had developed. It was so nice to pop into the photo shop and flick through these memories again, but there are so many photos that I think I will break it down into a few posts. Up first, my trip to the Scottish Highlands!

In late April, my friend Katy and I caught the train from Edinburgh up to Inverness for a few nights. We had booked a lovely Air BnB with a cozy living room because we knew that after a day of exploring we really needed to start studying for our Scottish Lit exam, and this space would be the perfect place to do just that. Needless to say, the apartment was so cozy we just drank tea and napped when we weren't outside, so that plan didn't quite work out... not helped by the fact that springtime in the Highlands isn't very 'spring-like' and it was sleeting/snowing for the majority of our trip. Oh well! We still had a blast. We walked around Inverness, visited Culloden Field, Clava Cairns and took a day trip up through the mountains to the Isle of Skye. Absolutely incredible.

One particular memory that stands out was stopping at a waterfall with our tour group, where we were given some time to climb up to the top and take pictures. I started the climb up, and quickly realized the terrain was exceptionally muddy. As in, so muddy my feet started sinking into the earth. I called out to Katy, who was watching from below, and lost my balance, ending up wrist-deep in the dirt. I ended up climbing down so that I could wash my hands, boots, and knees in the stream at the bottom, which was chillingly ice-cold. Ha!

I hope you enjoy these shots as much as I enjoyed exploring this beautiful part of the world!

x B

* Click 'Read More' to see all the photos!

Clan Fraser memorial stone at Culloden -- as a fan of Outlander this was simultaneously exciting/emotional 

Winding walk in the hail to get to Clava Cairns from Culloden

Europe on Film (Part II)

After a frightfully stressful week of exam study, I am done! Free! Until August, anyways. Now I have a few weeks in Edinburgh with no classes, to just explore and relax without thinking about academics. So, more posts about all of that coming soon.

In the meantime, here is part two of my Europe film series, as promised.

x B

Spring afternoon by the water in Bruges

Heavenly canals in Bruges

Bruges streets 

Monet's Garden, Giverny

Monet's House & Garden

Classic favourite, Shakespeare & Company bookstore

Parc Monceau

Au Vieux Paris d'Arcole -- the prettiest café in Paris 

Europe on Film (Part I)

Earlier in my semester abroad, I found myself with a lot of time on my hands. Given that Edinburgh classes meet far less often, and most of the semester requires only a small amount of study (the rest is reserved for the mountainous final exams), I kept wondering what to do with all my extra time. I signed up for a gym membership and started swimming regularly, and had more time to go on long walks, which I love! But I also needed some more creativity in my life. So, I bought a little film camera, the Olympus Trip 35, and I adore it! It was relatively cheap, and I easily found film in town. I took my new little camera on my trip to Europe, and recently had my film developed! To save you from infinite scrolling, I've split this post in two, and the rest will be up later this week. For now, here are some film photos taken around Berlin and Copenhagen last month. I hope you like them!

x B

In transit @ Amsterdam Schipol Airport

Mauerpark Flea Market, Berlin

Mauerpark Flea Market, Berlin    

Berlin 

Mitte, Berlin 

Frederiksberg Gardens, Copenhagen 

Nyhavn, Copenhagen

Long Overdue: A Photo Diary

I thought it was about time to share some of the highlights from my visit in England, as well as my time in Scotland and trips to Ireland and Northumberland. More travels in the next month means many more adventure photos to come! Many of these are just iPhone photos, so I'll try and get some HQ Canon images posted soon.

 

 

The Edinburgh List

Princes Street viewed from Calton Hill

Hello world!

Yesterday marked one month since I started my program in Edinburgh. Every day has been a whirlwind of adventure, excitement and wonder. It's nice to sit back and reflect on what I've been up to so far, but I also have a long and ever-growing list of things I want to do before June. So, here is where I'm going to keep my to-do list, marking things off as I go. And below, some photos from the last couple of weeks, out and about.

Art & Culture:

• National Museum of Scotland
• Scottish National Gallery
• National Portrait Gallery
• Camera Obscura Museum
• Bookshop Tour

Historic Sites:

• Holyrood Palace
• Edinburgh Castle
• Real Mary King's Close
• Underground Edinburgh
• The Georgian House
• St. Giles's Cathedral
• Greyfriar's
• HMY Britannia
• Nelson's Monument/Calton Hill

Towns & Natural Scenery:

• Portobello Beach
• Leith
• Stockbridge
• Dean Village
• Edinburgh Botanic Gardens
• Arthur's Seat

Food:

• Ting Thai Caravan
• Cuckoo's Bakery
• Forest Cafe
• Urban Angel
• Princes Street Starbucks (the view is great!)

Edinburgh Castle viewed from Princes Street

Early blossoms at a cemetery in Perth

More lovely cherry blossoms

View of Perth and the River Tay

Thoughts This Week: On Choice

I've been thinking quite a bit lately about choice and the role that our everyday decisions play in shaping our lives. While I was home for the summer and visiting friends and family I thought a lot about how my life would be different if I stayed in Melbourne and never chose to study overseas. What might be different? Would I have stayed in touch with certain friends that aren't in my life anymore? Would I love studying there as much as I enjoy studying here?

I can remember on the flight back to Melbourne in May, thinking to myself just how incredible the force of decisions can be. I thought to myself about how my reality is composed entirely of choices, just little mundane choices I make every day. I wouldn't be sitting here right now if I hadn't done the little things that often seem inconsequential, right? On a whim I chose to take a certain English class and we happened to read one narrative that played a huge role in my life for half a year (Hannah Duston, I'm looking at you). I don't know, I think it can be pretty incredible to look at the different choices that led you to where you are today.

Sometimes this is so overwhelming that I'm frightened into not making any choices for fear that the next one will be the one that changes everything. If that even makes sense at all.

In other news, I'm a week into my junior year and I am having a good time so far, though I can't recall being this exhausted maybe ever. I'm looking forward to a lot of things and have booked in to spend Christmas in London and then the next semester at the University of Edinburgh so I am ridiculously excited for that to come around.

Hope all is well with you, whoever you are and wherever in the world you are.

x B

Life Lately: December

As I sit down to write this I'm in Los Angeles Airport, waiting for my flight to Auckland. I feel like that's just my life lately, so busy I can hardly keep track of what I'm doing. Thanksgiving and Finals flew by. I spent the last weekend in Seattle with my brother, and now I'm heading home to Melbourne for some relaxation, hopefully! Anyways, here are some snaps from the last few weeks, which have gone by so quickly!

Clockwise from top left: this weekend, exploring Seattle; the view I had during Finals week; a walk on a crisp day; a rainy afternoon spent in bed (watching Skyfall, I think). Hope all is well, wherever in the world you are and whatever you are doing.x B