snowstorms and scenic seas

It's been a while since wonder | wander | women took a long train ride, and we didn't expect that Storm Eowyn would sweep in that weekend and strand us for a day. The next day we were worried, but the ominous weather seemed to have cleared and we finally got on the train. The rolling English countryside made the perfect backdrop for our quiet thoughts. 

National Galleries of Scotland: Modern One and Two

Last October wonder | wander | women took the train up to Scotland for the second time this year to see our good friends the Milligans. They had generously offered to host me when I mentioned coming back to see the tapestries at Stirling Castle.

countryside flooding, seen from train

Of course we didn't expect when we booked the trip that I would arrive in the middle of Storm Babet, a massive rainstorm that battered the North Coast and turned the creeks and pathways of Scotland and Northumbria into rivers. 

the North Sea battering coastal villages

Half the trains running that day had been cancelled. Luckily ours wasn't, but it crept up the countryside delayed by almost an hour, advancing at a cautious pace through icy sheets of rain.

unicorns of Scotland

When wonder | wander | women went to see Heavenly Bodies in the Met Cloisters, we checked something else off the bucket list: seeing the original Hunt of the Unicorn tapestries. Little did we know that someone had recreated them and hung them in a real Renaissance castle in Scotland.

From our Heavenly Bodies blog post

Fonab Castle and Pitlochry Dam, Scotland

In late July wonder | wander | women enjoyed a visit from family - my nephew had turned 14 earlier in the year and we were celebrating. As a present, my aunt took him and my cousin to the UK. 

Fonab Castle, with dining pod

I was excited to meet them in London and ride up with them to Scotland, where we walked our happy feet off through Edinburgh's most famous castles. 

As an extra treat, we went with some dear friends up into the beautiful and ancient Cairngorms area of the Scottish Highlands. We stayed at the Fonab Castle Hotel, a gorgeous Victorian castle with phenomenal views.

Christmas lights at the Edinburgh Botanical Gardens

It's always a whirlwind when the family comes to town. In this case we had some relatives briefly staying in Edinburgh before going home to the Philippines for Christmas, and we came up to see the sights with them for a weekend. And luckily it was Christmas at the Botanics!