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

Life Lately: July

I had originally thought that I would use this summer break (although winter at home...) to pick up a new hobby or two, read lots of books, visit with friends, and explore Melbourne some more. While I have managed some of that, I underestimated how tired I would be when I arrived home. While I have been reading, cooking and seeing some friends, a great deal of my time is spent on the couch or in bed, either asleep or just lying awake and trying to calm down my whirring brain and thoughts. I am enjoying myself immensely, however, and thought I'd share a little of what I've been up to here. A little itty-bitty diary if you will.

This week the weather has been grey and dreary, not ideal for getting out and about, but perfect for curling up on the sofa with a good book. So today, that's exactly what I had planned to do. I got as far as wrapping myself up like a blanket burrito, and after that I was so sleepy I never got around to opening my book. The rain was tap-tapping away on the window and the whole house was filled with a sense of tranquility. I was asleep within seconds.

The book I had planned to read is Outlander by Diana Gabaldon: a 900-page feast of a novel, and I'm nearly halfway through and loving it. I had watched the first season of Outlander on Netflix before picking up the novel, so I'm enjoying the same story again with much more detail and perspective. It really is a fantastic read and I would highly recommend it. If you love watching Game of Thrones and/or reading historical fiction, it would be right up your alley. Sometimes with a novel of that length, I can get a little bit overwhelmed by all the reading to do and end up doing nothing, which is a hopeless excuse. So I'm slowly making my way through it, and loving it. Next on my shelf is The Light Between Oceans by M. L. Stedman, but I'm also thinking about The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion (I adored the first Don Tillman novel). But really, who knows... I may well just re-read Jane Eyre for the umpteenth time.

The other day I was out walking, and looked up to see a beautiful leaf fall from an oak tree. Perhaps it was my mood on that particular day, or maybe I was just exhausted, but for whatever reason I started to tear up and I'm not really sure why. The rest of the day I kept thinking about how many leaves there are in the world, and how many people/lives/stories exist at once and how many of them go untold. Simultaneously scary and beautiful, I think. In my opinion the best stories are those that go untold, and often this thought is so overwhelming that I need to sit down and/or take a nap. I don't know if that's just me... I feel a little vulnerable if the world as it is can have that big an impact on me, but in a way I suppose that thinking all the time does have its downsides... what do you think?

x B

Photo diary: Lake Morton & Kent

This weekend was Fall break, a four day weekend following midterms week. I spent a couple of days at Lake Morton with two of my good friends. We went on a walk in the rain and were soaked from head to toe; we spent an afternoon in pedal-boats on the lake; we visited a pumpkin patch; we danced around the supermarket and cooked fajitas for dinner, and on the drive back to school I felt like I'd found a little slice of heaven in this tiny Washington town. 

The sign said 'no trespassing' but how could you not walk down a path as pretty as this?

Emma in the rain

Something's not quite right...

It's actually really hard to look cute while swinging, but Emma pulls it off.

My friends are adorable!

The lake at sunset.